The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
This week will be innovation themed, starting with a new manufacturing hub winner at SelectUSA and concluding with the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.
America’s capacity for creativity and invention is a major reason why our economy is the strongest and most durable in the world.
That capacity -- and the uniquely American spirit of innovation that fuels it -- has also inspired admiration from across the globe for generations. And since his first day in office, President Obama has worked to strengthen our innovation advantage -- through investments and reforms to drive technological and scientific breakthroughs that will power our economy and strengthen America’s leadership in the industries of the future.
Throughout this week, we’ll be taking stock of America’s innovative progress over the last seven-and-a-half years and announcing new steps we’re taking to build on those efforts -- including supporting advanced manufacturing and making, laying the groundwork for smart and connected cities, and expanding inclusive entrepreneurship across the United States.
That's what President Obama will be discussing today at the third annual SelectUSA Summit. He'll be joining 2,400 global business leaders representing more than 70 markets to discuss the role that innovation and smart trade policies like the Trans-Pacific Partnership play in attracting investment to the United States and supporting good American jobs.
During those remarks, he will announce that today the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition in Los Angeles won the ninth manufacturing hub competition, receiving an award of $70 million in Federal investment for smart manufacturing that enables seamless, real-time operation and control on the shop floor. The winning team has matched this with at least another $70 million across their nearly 200 partners. Smart manufacturing uses advanced sensors and process controls to reduce waste, save energy, and make our manufacturing industry more efficient.
Today’s announcement also puts the Administration on pace to launch 15 new, innovative manufacturing hubs funded with public and private investments, as the President called for in 2012 -- from 3-D printing in Youngstown, Ohio; to photonics in Rochester, New York; to flexible hybrid electronics in San Jose, California. It also sets the stage for manufacturing to grow into new domains, including cell and tissue repair that may one day help us eliminate the organ transplant waiting list.
The President will bookend this week with a sit-down with Facebook’s Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and three global entrepreneurs on the last day of the seventh annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit on Friday -- an event that will showcase the importance of empowering global entrepreneurs to make communities around the world more economically prosperous and secure.
And between those events, we will announce new actions that will help clear the path for the kinds of next generation technologies that can drive game-changing economic growth, along with new efforts to support American entrepreneurs and expand the benefits of entrepreneurship to all parts of our country.
Be sure to tune in to the President’s remarks today and the Global Entrepreneurship Summit conversation on Friday -- and join our ongoing conversation throughout the week about how we can continue to harness technology for the public good and foster the next great era of American innovation.
