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America Is Open for Business

Yesterday, President Obama traveled to Disney World to announce new initiatives to significantly increase travel and tourism in the United States. The fact is, each year, tens of millions of people from around the world visit the U.S.  In 2010, the travel and tourism industry generated over $134 billion dollars for the American economy.  It supported 7.5 million jobs in 2010. The President wants these numbers to grow. 

He traveled down to the Magic Kingdom yesterday to deliver one message: America is open for business. 

The President wants the United States to be the number one tourist destination in the world. It’s good for businesses and it’s good for the economy as a whole. More tourists means more money spent in our cities and towns across the nation. It means more people will be renting cars, dining out, checking into hotels and checking out the sights and sounds of America.  That means more jobs. 

The President will continue to do everything he can to rebuild an economy where hard work pays off, where responsibility is rewarded, and where anyone can make it if they try. He wants to restore the economic security for the middle class and those trying to reach it. Yesterday’s announcement was an important step to put folks back to work, and he’ll keep at it and continue to do everything he can to strengthen the economy.

The President’s announcement will have an impact on communities all over the United States. Let’s take a look at the coverage from local media outlets across the country:

Orlando Sentinel – Obama at Disney: 'America is open for business'

President Barack Obama promised Florida's tourism industry Thursday that he intends to open the door wider to international tourists and was greeted with cheers in a state where increased foreign visitors are seen as one of the best hopes for future jobs.

Even Obama critic U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, welcomed the presidential directives, if only with a "what took him so long?" spin.

Arizona Republic – Obama touting tourism for jobs

President Barack Obama said Thursday that he wants to create more jobs by drawing more international tourists to the United States, a plan White House officials said would especially benefit states like Arizona, home to the Grand Canyon and other national parks.

Creating jobs has become a central part of Obama's re-election campaign. On Wednesday, Obama will visit the Valley as part of a five-state tour to build upon themes -- likely jobs and economic development -- that he will emphasize Tuesday in his annual address to Congress.

2012: Focusing on Military Spouse Employment

Last Friday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce kicked off a first-of-its-kind hiring fair focused exclusively on military spouses. The Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Career Forum, held in Washington, D.C., was the first of 10 planned hiring fairs for military spouses sponsored by the Chamber around the country in 2012.

This was a huge event and, walking around, I could not help but notice the incredible energy among employers and spouses alike. There was good reason for it -- more than 100 employers came to the forum with hundred of employment opportunities for the 1,000+ spouses in attendance.

With military spouse employment well above the national unemployment rate, this forum was a great start to a 2012 focus on military spouse employment by the Chamber of Commerce. Joining the effort is the Department of Defense's Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP).  MSEP was rolled out by Dr Jill Biden at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in June 2011. To date, the 96 organizations and companies in the partnership have hired more than 13,000 military spouses around the world.

Regional Roundup: Insourcing American Jobs

Yesterday, the White House hosted the “Insourcing American Jobs” forum with business leaders from across the country to discuss one topic: bringing jobs back to the United States.  For too long factories have closed their doors and companies have shipped jobs overseas, where workers were cheaper. It’s damaged the economy and hurt middle class families all across the nation.  The President believes we can change that. 

Right now, we have a great opportunity for those jobs to come back – and the business leaders that joined President Obama yesterday understand that.  We’re seeing an increasing trend of insourcing, where companies are bringing jobs back and making additional investments in America. Over the past two years American manufacturers have now added 334,000 jobs. Manufacturing production has increased by 5.7 percent. That’s a good thing, but we need to do more. That’s why the President called on companies to follow this trend and invest in America.  

The President is working to restore the economic security for the middle class and those trying to reach it. He’ll continue to build an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded. He knows this is a make or break moment for the middle class, and he’ll continue to do everything he can to give folks a fair shot and a chance to succeed.  

He knows that America shouldn’t be a nation known for financial speculation and outsourcing. As he said yesterday, America should be known for making products and selling them all over the world stamped with three proud words: “Made in America.”  

The next generation of manufacturing jobs shouldn’t take root in countries like China or Germany – they should take root in cities across America. Some companies are already leading the way. Let’s take a look at news coverage of yesterday’s event from across the country: 

McClatchy/Charlotte Observer/Miami Herald - Rebuilding a business, bringing jobs back

WASHINGTON – North Carolina has lost tens of thousands of furniture-making jobs over the past decade. 

But Bruce Cochrane, who worked as a consultant in China and Vietnam after his family sold their furniture business in 1996, says rising Chinese wages and an increase in shipping costs have created an opportunity for him back home. 

Cochrane has invested $5 million and is hiring 130 workers to build middle- to higher-priced solid-wood furniture in the same sprawling Lincolnton, N.C., warehouse that his family once ran. He even moved into his dad’s old office. 

Now, President Barack Obama wants to know what Cochrane saw and why he’s taking such a chance in a region and industry battered by outsourced jobs. Cochrane stood Wednesday in the East Room of the White House as Obama said the Lincolnton man was proof that you don’t have to be a big manufacturer to make a difference. 

Everything You Need to Know About Insourcing

What is insourcing?

After decades of watching American companies take jobs to other countries, we're beginning to see entrepreneurs and manufactures make the decision to keep factories and production facilities here in the United States—or even bring jobs back to the U.S. from overseas.

How do we know this is happening?

For the past 22 months, the private sector has been hiring—to the tune of 3.2 million jobs. In 2011 alone, we saw private companies bring on almost 2 million new workers, more than in any year since 2005.

That's good news, even if we still have a lot of ground to make up. And if you dive into the numbers (like those compiled in this new White House report), you'll notice something interesting:

• Business investment is up, growing by 18 percent since the end of 2009;
• We're exporting more goods and services to the rest of the world. As of October, American exports totaled $2 trillion -- an increase of almost 32 percent above the level in 2009; and
• Perhaps most importantly, the manufacturing sector is recovering faster than the rest of the economy. Through the course of the past two years, the economy has added 334,000 manufacturing job, and that's the strongest two-year period of manufacturing growth since the 1990s. 

Each of those facts is evidence of a growing trend of insourcing.

By the Numbers: 170,000

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was in Detroit on Monday, kicking off the opening of the North American International Auto Show and highlighting the resurgence of the American auto industry. Since Chrysler and GM emerged from bankruptcy in June of 2009, the auto industry has added 170,000 jobs—the best period of job growth for the industry in more than a decade.

When President Obama took office, the American auto industry was shedding jobs by the hundreds of thousands and GM and Chrysler faced the possibility of liquidation – which would have caused at least 1 million more jobs to be lost. The President made the tough choice to help provide the auto industry the temporary support it needed to grow and prosper.

Today, GM and Chrysler have repaid their government loans, and the “Big Three” automakers-- GM, Ford, and Chrysler-- are all adding jobs, generating profit, and investing in their U.S. facilities. Auto sales climbed in December for the seventh consecutive month and GM, Chrysler, and Ford saw their market share increase to over 47 percent in 2011, the second straight year that Detroit gained market share against their foreign competitors, something that had not previously happened since 1995.

This industry and our economy have a long way yet to go to repair the damage from this recession and return to full health. But the distance these companies and the auto industry have traveled over the past two years is a bright spot on the road to recovery.    

The Employment Situation in December

Today’s employment report provides further evidence that the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the economic policies that are helping us to dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the recession that began at the end of 2007.  Most importantly, we need to extend the payroll tax cut and continue to provide emergency unemployment benefits through the end of this year, and take other steps the President has proposed in the American Jobs Act.

Private sector payrolls increased by 212,000 jobs and overall payroll employment rose by 200,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage point to 8.5 percent, the lowest level since February 2009. The drop in unemployment over the month was mostly due to employment growth, not lower labor force participation. The unemployment rate has fallen by 0.9 percentage point in the last 12 months. Despite adverse shocks that have created headwinds for economic growth, the economy has added private sector jobs for 22 straight months, for a total of 3.2 million payroll jobs over that period. In the last 12 months, 1.9 million private sector jobs were added on net, more than in any year since 2005. Nonetheless, we need faster growth to put even more Americans back to work.

Sectors with net job increases in December included transportation and warehousing (+50,200), health care and social assistance (+28,700), retail trade (+27,900), manufacturing (+23,000), leisure and hospitality (+21,000), and construction (+17,000).  Local governments lost 14,000 jobs and state government employment was unchanged.

The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment estimates can be subject to substantial revision. Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report.

America’s Ideas to Support Entrepreneurship in Education, Energy, and Health Care

In December, the Obama Administration announced the Startup America Policy Challenge to identify high-impact ideas to support entrepreneurship in areas of national interest: education, energy, and health care.

To kick off the challenge, Secretary Arne Duncan (Department of Education), Secretary Steven Chu (Department of Energy), and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (Department of Health and Human Services) each asked the American public for ideas about how the U.S. government can break down barriers to entrepreneurship and enable the use of clean energy, digital learning, and health information technologies.

 On Quora, a public question and answer website, I asked the America people to respond to these specific questions:

• In the U.S. education system, what can the government do to best enable the use of new learning technologies?
• In the U.S. energy system, what can the government do to best enable the use of new clean energy technologies?
• In the U.S. healthcare system, what can the government do to best enable the use of new health information technologies?

  The response has been thoughtful, wide ranging, and inspiring. 

• On the subject of learning technologies, respondents had ideas to increase the flexibility of existing funds, spread best practices of what works, and improve basic infrastructure.  And a number of respondents provided feedback about reducing bureaucracy and empowering teachers.
• On the subject of clean energy technologies, respondents had ideas on how the US Government could support consumer awareness of clean energy, be an anchor customer, and invest in research and development. Respondents also suggested including negative externality costs into the price of fossil fuels, and were adamant that government not pick a “winning technology.”
• On the subject of health care IT, respondents proposed ideas to promote interoperability standards, ensure a greater focus on the end user experience, share industry best practices, and measure the impact of specific technologies.

 This is just a sampling of the great dialogue and answers – please feel free to vote on which ideas resonate with you and/or provide your own feedback.  In the White House and in the Agencies, we are reading your responses.

 To sharpen the dialogue a bit further and solicit additional input, I posted follow-up questions on Quora about specific barriers that customers face:

• Learning Technologies: Parents and teachers – what’s your biggest barrier to educating your kids that technology could solve?  How important is the ability to access your child’s assessment data in electronic form?
• Clean Energy:  Building and business owners – what’s your biggest barrier to using clean energy in your building or business?  How important is the ability to access your building energy usage data in electronic form?
• Health IT:  Doctors and patients – what’s your biggest barrier to using information technology to improve health outcomes?  How important is the ability to share or receive your health records data in electronic form?

 We look forward to hearing your feedback – so please keep it coming!

Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer

We Can't Wait to Help Young Americans Find Jobs

Your first job brings you more than just a steady paycheck – the experience teaches young people life and work skills that serve them long after the job is done. But as our nation continues to recover the deepest recession since the Great Depression, American youth are struggling to get the work experience they need for jobs of the future.

Today President Obama announced a new initiative, Summer Jobs+, that will make a difference.

“America’s young people face record unemployment, and we need to do everything we can to make sure they’ve got the opportunity to earn the skills and a work ethic that come with a job. It’s important for their future, and for America’s. That’s why I proposed a summer jobs program for youth in the American Jobs Act – a plan that Congress failed to pass. America’s youth can’t wait for Congress to act. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. That’s why today, we’re launching Summer Jobs+, a joint initiative that challenges business leaders and communities to join my Administration in providing hundreds of thousands of summer jobs for America’s youth,” said President Obama.

Summer Jobs+ is a call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for low-income and disconnected youth in the summer of 2012. The President proposed $1.5 billion for high-impact summer jobs and year-round employment for low-income youth ages 16-24 in the American Jobs Act as part of the Pathways Back to Work fund. When Congress failed to act, the Federal government and private sector came together to commit to creating nearly 180,000 employment opportunities for low-income youth in the summer of 2012, with a goal of reaching 250,000 employment opportunities by the start of summer, at least 100,000 of which will be placements in paid jobs and internships.

A centerpiece of the program will be the Summer Jobs+ Bank , a one-stop search tool for youth to access postings from participating employers that is targeted to launch in 60 days, which will use the same technology that powers the Veterans Jobs Bank that was launched late last year. Employers who want to offer opportunities to America’s young people can find out more here.

Related:
Find out why one intern tells her peers it is "critical" for them to take advantage of this opportunity

President Obama: Extending Payroll Tax Cut Is a "Boost We Need Right Now"

Watch President Obama's full remarks here.

President Obama today signed into law a two month extension of the payroll tax cut, which means that 160 million American workers will not see their paychecks shrink starting Jan 1, 2012. The President thanked Congress for ending the stalemate and urged them to keep working to reach an agreement that extends this tax cut as well as unemployment insurance through all of 2012, saying it is the right thing to do for American families and for the economy, and called it "a boost that we very much need right now."

The extension came after tens of thousands of working Americans turned to the internet to let politicians in Washington know just how much they were relying on that tax break, which amounts to about $40 per paycheck for a family making $50,000 a year, and the President acknowledged just how valuable their contributions had been to the conversation happening in the Capital:

Finally, I want to take a moment to thank my fellow Americans for bringing their voices to this debate.  I met with several here at the White House yesterday.  I really think it takes courage to believe that your voice can make a difference.  And I promise you, the American people, your voices made a difference on this debate.  Whether you tweeted or called or wrote, you reminded people in this town what this debate and what all of our debates should be about -- it’s about you.  It’s about your lives.  It’s about your families.  You didn’t send us to this town to play partisan games, and to see who’s up and who’s down.  You sent us here to serve and make your lives a little bit better; to do what’s right.  And fortunately, that’s how this week ended.

The President called on Congress to redouble their efforts to make sure the economy is growing and that jobs are being created, and called this period  a make-or-break moment for the middle class in this country..