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Blog Category: Colorado

Readout of U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker’s Meeting with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker today met with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and the Director of the Denver Office of Economic Development Paul Washington to talk about issues facing the city’s economy and local businesses. As part of her nationwide listening tour, Secretary Pritzker is meeting with state and local leaders who are undertaking creative projects to attract business investment. Secretary Pritzker and Mayor Hancock talked about his vision for the Denver International Airport, as Mayor Hancock has proposed the development of an “aerotropolis,” a plan that would concentrate aviation-intensive businesses and related enterprises around the Denver International Airport (DIA), which is the fifth largest airport in the United States. DIA currently employs 30,000 and has an economic impact on the region of more than $20 billion.

They also discussed the importance of public-private partnerships focused on skills training and workforce development, as well as President Obama's Select USA initiative. Select USA is a federal effort to showcase the United States as the world’s premier business location in order to attract investment and create jobs, and Secretary Pritzker is leading the administration’s efforts on the initiative.

Secretary Pritzker and Mayor Hancock also discussed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s satellite space in Denver, which is helping entrepreneurs and businesses in the region. The secretary looks forward to finding ways to work together in the future, and invited the mayor to visit the next time he is in Washington, DC.

Readout of U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker’s Visit With Commerce Employees in Boulder, Colorado

Readout of U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker’s Visit With Commerce Employees in Boulder, Colorado

While in Boulder, Colorado, as part of her nationwide listening tour, U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker today met with employees from the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Approximately 1,600 department staff and affiliates are located at the Boulder facility, and the Commerce Boulder Laboratories is the largest  department facility outside Washington, DC.

Secretary Pritzker first held a town hall with approximately 350 employees from the three agencies as part of her commitment to engage with and hear directly from all Commerce employees about their work. The secretary emphasized how their work is crucial to creating a better quality of life for Americans and more opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses. She also asked employees for their input in the department’s ongoing efforts to protect, promote and inform what America needs to be competitive and innovative in the 21st century.

NIST Improves Microscope's Stability for Nanomanufacturing Biology

Ian an atomic force microscope (AFM), force is measured by a laser beam, yellow in this artist's rendition. AFM photo.

Photo: G. Kuebler/JILA/CU

A research team from the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado has improved by 100 times the stability of a workhorse tool in nanotechnology, known as the atomic force microscope, potentially improving a wide range of areas from nanomanufacturing to biology, where sensitive, atom-scale measurements must be made at room temperature in liquids. (More)