dept of commerce

Small businesses often are surrounded by a myriad resources and potential partners that could help leverage their products and services to innovate and grow, but they are not always aware of how to access them.

Last week, the Obama administration announced that it would commit $200 million to establish three new manufacturing innovation institutions in 2013 (see the May 8, 2013 issue of the digest).

To encourage communities to strengthen their industrial ecosystems, the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced it will make awards to up to 25 communities to launch implementation strategies. The solicitation for the awards will be released in May, and awards of up to $200,000 each will be issued by the end of September. The awards are one part of a four–phase plan announced by Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank last week that also includes listening sessions and a proposal to award five to six communities $25 million each.

SBA and the Department of Commerce launched Startup University in response to a series of roundtables with accelerators and universities that highlighted the need for a forum to share best practices and build connections between universities and startups. Users can post and comment on specific programs or general ideas that foster these positive relationships. Many programs listed in the forum will be presented at this week's NCET2 Conference. Explore the online forum here...

The Patent and Trademark Office of the U.S. Department of Commerce published final rules of practice for implementing the first-inventor-to-file provision of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) that will take effect on March 16. The AIA is a major step towards harmonizing the patent systems of the U.S. and its major trading partners. The legislation will aid the U.S.

Two organizations have in recent weeks called on the United States to create a national federal office of innovation to help focus and concentrate innovation across the country.

The Obama administration announced winners of the Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge on Tuesday. The challenge — publicized earlier this year — is one of the key initiatives of the interagency Taskforce for the Advancement of Regional Innovation Clusters and is sponsored by a partnership between the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Departments of Energy and Labor, and the Small Business Administration.

The White House announced the Make it in America Challenge, a $40 million multi-agency initiative to help regions across the country provide the critical infrastructure, strategic planning, capacity building, technical assistance and workforce development resources necessary to foster insourcing by U.S. firms. Led by the Economic Development Administration, an interagency panel will make up to 16 awards to projects that encourage businesses to bring production back to or expand their operations in the United States.

Unless Congress and the White House take action by the end of the year, across-the-board spending reductions will go into effect for all federal agencies as a result of provisions in the Budget Control Act of 2011. The budget sequestration would reduce defense discretionary funding by 9.4 percent and non-defense funding by 8.2 percent from the 2011 baseline.

The Department of Commerce announced the winners of the Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) Challenge, the Economic Development Administration-led competition seeking to help cities and regions develop a comprehensive economic development strategy. Greensboro, North Carolina, Hartford, Connecticut, and Las Vegas, Nevada each were awarded $1 million to assist in the refinement and implementation of their respective plans.