Speeches

Remarks as prepared for delivery: John Fernandez, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, St. Patrick Center Performance Award, St. Louis, Missouri

AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY

Thank you, Dan, for the kind introduction and for leading our group through the workings of this impressive Center. I am pleased to be in St. Louis today and to see for myself the St. Patrick Center's truly innovative approach to encouraging entrepreneurship and helping to create higher-skill, higher-wage job opportunities for all who wish to succeed.

My thanks to you, Bishop Hermann, for your blessing and for being with us today.

Mayor Slay, thank you for your warm welcome to St. Louis and for the important work you are doing to fortify the region's economic future. I look forward to a close working relationship with you.

With us today is a special guest - Cedric Grant, the Commerce Department's Director of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

When I first met Cedric, he mentioned that he was hungry to learn more about EDA success stories in partnering with faith-based organizations. He's here with us today because the St. Patrick Center represents the pinnacle of our involvement in faith-based economic development. I know Cedric is impressed with what he has seen here.

I would like to also thank Bob Olson, EDA's Denver Regional Office Director, and Mark Werthmann, EDA's Economic Development Representative for Missouri, for being with us today. Thank you Bob and Mark, for your work in helping to create jobs and economic opportunity here in the St. Louis region and beyond.

As a member of the Obama Administration's economic team, I am proud to be working to implement the President's ambitious agenda to turn the economy around, put people back to work, and provide economic security for every American.

The President has taken bold steps to secure America's economic future. The administration's policies have brought stability to our financial system and have begun to restore confidence in the economy.

The President's comprehensive Recovery Act has stopped the economic free fall we were in; provided tax relief to millions of families; and is laying a new foundation to secure America's competitiveness in the 21st century global economy.

But the President knows we've got a long way to go, based on recent jobs reports issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This Administration will not consider the country to be at full recovery until every single American who wants a job - can get one.

At the Department of Commerce, Secretary Locke is committed to getting people back to work by helping businesses grow and by advocating for our nation's economic competitiveness.

To further these priorities, Secretary Locke recently announced plans to create a new "Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship" within the Department. This new office will focus specifically driving policies and programs to ease access to government resources for entrepreneurs in order to help them translate new ideas, products, and services into economic growth.

In addition, Secretary Locke recently announced a major new program to help companies grow and create jobs at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the Department of Commerce's first one-stop shop, named CommerceConnect, at Plymouth, Michigan.

CommerceConnect brings together under one roof all the Department of Commerce's services to make it easier for local businesses and entrepreneurs to access them.

Experts will assess a business' full spectrum of needs, whether it's access to capital, intellectual property protection, export promotion or guidance on how to make operations more efficient to help businesses compete at every point of their life cycle.

Based on the success of the Michigan shop, the Secretary plans to continue to roll out these important business resource shops in cities across the country.

This administration's policies and initiatives accentuate our belief that America's creative thinkers and innovators must lead the way to global economic recovery.

At the Economic Development Administration, we are also working with this philosophy in mind by focusing on grants that will accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship to advance regional competitiveness; create higher-skill, higher-wage jobs; generate private investment and fortify and grow industry clusters.

The award that we present today recognizes the St. Patrick Center's innovative and exceptional work in helping individuals from all walks of life to succeed.

In September 2006, EDA invested $3.5 million to support the renovation of the vacant 4th and 5th floors of the St. Patrick Center to create the BEGIN Center.

The Performance Award we celebrate today is being given in recognition of organizational leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, and collaboration in the development of Project BEGIN. Construction began and ended much earlier than target dates given at the time of investment approval in September 2006.

As of June of this year, there were fifteen incubating companies within the BEGIN New Venture Center, exceeding the Center's business plan forecast, and these companies have created 26 jobs.

And, the BEGIN training and education center will create an additional 170 jobs. Also, the new Culinary Suite and training initiatives to be implemented with this performance award will help the center meet its goal of fostering 22 incubator companies within the New Venture Center by 2011, with annualized revenues of $1.9 million and 44 employees, many of whom will be former St. Patrick Center clients.

EDA is proud of its work with the St. Patrick Center and I am glad to be here to celebrate a project that will bring new hope and new jobs to the under privileged in the St. Louis area.

So now - if I could have Dan Buck join me…

On behalf of President Barack Obama, it is my pleasure to present the St. Patrick Center with this check for $250,000.

Congratulations on a job well done.