On July 18, USDA Rural Development State Director Virginia Manuel joined Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office David Kappos for a White House Business Roundtable hosted by local lender Bangor Savings Bank. Participants in the discussion included 15 leaders from the Bangor region representing a variety of sectors including business, healthcare, medical research, transportation, and energy.
During the Roundtable entitled Winning the Future with American Business, Maine leaders had the opportunity to voice their concerns about economic growth and the challenges they face as business owners/leaders. This Roundtable discussion also provided a chance for the Administration to ensure local business leaders are taking advantage of the resources and programs designed to help them create jobs and compete.
The valuable and candid feedback provided by the participants in this Roundtable has already been conveyed back to Washington for the Administration to take under consideration.
Senior Administration officials will visit at least 100 communities across all 50 states by year-end for similar discussions. These Roundtables provide officials with the opportunity to listen, learn and begin a dialogue with local business leaders and to take concrete action in each of these communities to grow jobs and increase competitiveness.