February 14, 2011
Outreach tour makes first stop in Minnesota, helps create jobs by helping local businesses expand to new markets
St. Paul, MN - Governor Mark Dayton will participate in the first New Markets, New Jobs tour as it stops in Minnesota this Thursday, February 17th. The conference is aimed at helping small and medium sized businesses expand by increasing export opportunities, allowing for economic growth and new jobs.
Dayton will speak alongside Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Chairman Fred Hochberg of the Export-Import Bank, and Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak at the luncheon plenary session.
Details of the event for both public and media can be found on the advisory from the National Export Initiative, below.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 14, 2011
News Media Contacts:
Kevin Griffis, (202) 482-4883, kgriffis@doc.gov
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to Kick Off New Markets, New Jobs Tour to Help Small Businesses Export
Outreach tour will make first stop February 17 in Minneapolis
WASHINGTON - U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will travel to Minneapolis, Minn. on Thursday to kick off the first New Markets, New Jobs conference. Locke will be joined by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills, Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg, and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak will also participate in the day-long conference.
Announced on the one-year anniversary of President Obama's National Export Initiative, New Markets, New Jobs is a year-long, interagency, multi-city outreach campaign designed to help connect small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) with the resources they need to sell more of what they make overseas.
Minneapolis marks the first stop for the conferences, which were called for in September's
Report to the President on the National Export Initiative, and are intended to reach, over the course of the next 11 months, more than 3,500 small and medium sized companies interested in exporting. The Minnesota stop will be followed by events in Los Angeles, Calif., Louisiana and Wilmington, Del.
The conference will feature:
A breakfast plenary session with remarks from Ambassador Kirk, Administrator Mills and Deputy Secretary Merrigan;
A trade resource panel on key export topics, including the spectrum of federal resources that can help businesses begin exporting or expand their exports;
A lunch plenary session featuring remarks from Locke, Hochberg, Dayton and Rybak;
Breakout sessions highlighting topics that include exporting to new countries, expanding within existing areas and lessons on export financing in Minnesota;
Materials and resources to guide companies in the process of selling their products to consumers all over the world, and;
Lessons learned from area businesses that have succeeded in utilizing federal resources to expand into new markets and expand their businesses.
The NEI aims to double U.S. exports in five years to create several million new jobs. It enhances the U.S. government's trade promotion efforts, increases credit to businesses - especially small and medium sized businesses - looking to export, and continues to improve efforts to remove trade barriers for U.S. companies in foreign markets.
Companies that are interested in attending the conference may still register at
http://www.export.gov/newmarketsnewjobs/eg_main_024190.asp.
WHO: U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk
Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills
Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak
WHEN: Thursday, February 17, 2011
8:00 a.m.: Media arrival time for breakfast plenary and trade resources panel
11:30 a.m.: Media arrival time for lunch plenary
Note: Afternoon breakout sessions are closed press.
WHERE: McNamara Alumni Center
University of Minnesota
200 Oak Street, S.E. (Media should check-in at the Walnut Street entrance)
Minneapolis, MN 55455
RSVP: Media should RSVP to Kevin Xu at KXu@doc.gov. For more information, please contact the Commerce Department Office of Public Affairs at 202-482-4883.
Note: Media availabilities for each speaker vary. For more information on interviews, please contact the agency's press office:
Department of Agriculture: Courtney Rowe, Courtney.Rowe@oc.usda.gov, (202) 720-7971
U.S. Trade Representative: Nkenge Harmon, NHarmon@ustr.eop.gov, (202) 395-3230
Small Business Administration: Joe Zepecki, Joseph.zepecki@sba.gov, (202) 205-6420
Export-Import Bank: Moira Policelli, Maura.Policelli@exim.gov, (202) 565-3200
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