Manufacturers from around Michigan met today with government officials to discuss industry needs and work with officials as they develop the Obama Administration’s new “one-stop shop” initiative to streamline government bureaucracy and bring services directly to the businesses and entrepreneurs that are creating and sustaining jobs in Michigan. Representatives of 12 Michigan companies participated in the roundtable discussion hosted by the U.S. Commerce Department at the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center in Plymouth, Mich.
“We had a great discussion today with a variety of Michigan manufacturers,” said Roger Kilmer, director of the Commerce Department’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership. “As we work to turn this economy around, we need to rely on American companies to innovate and adapt but the government can help foster an environment where businesses can succeed. It’s long past time we made it easier for companies to access the tools available to help them. Today’s roundtable proved immensely valuable as we move forward in designing a system that will be useful to end users.” The new initiative, announced by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in June, will integrate department programs that can assist businesses at nearly every point of their life cycle. Locke has tapped Kilmer to lead this effort. Under Kilmer’s leadership, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership helped create over $5 billion in new sales for partner businesses in fiscal year 2007 alone.
Kilmer is in the process of assembling an interdisciplinary team from across Commerce’s varied agencies to support this initiative. The department’s goal is to unveil by the end of the summer a virtual “one-stop shop” in Michigan, making more accessible to business services offered by Commerce’s Patent and Trademark Office, Minority Business Development Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and International Trade Administration, among others, and including the Small Business Administration and related programs supported by the State of Michigan.
Representatives from the following agencies participated in today’s roundtable: U.S. Commerce Department, U.S. Export Assistance Center, the Small Business Administration, the University of Michigan Institute for Research on Labor, Employment and the Economy, The Right Place, Inc, National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center, Michigan Minority Business Development Center, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Economic Development Administration, and Michigan Dept. of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth.
The following individuals and manufacturers also participated in today’s discussion:
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
