White House Roundtable on Investing in America

President Obama announces second-ever SelectUSA Summit to be held in Spring 2015

At a time when our businesses have created 9.2 million new jobs in just over four years, and more companies are considering bringing jobs here, we have a choice to make.  We can make it easier for businesses to invest in America – or we can make it harder.  It has been a top priority for this administration to do all we can to help businesses invest in the U.S. and support good jobs for American workers, and the President wants to work with Congress to continue to create jobs and expand opportunity for more Americans.  But where Congress won’t act, the President will. 

In 2011, the President launched SelectUSA – a global team in embassies abroad and agencies at home focused on encouraging and supporting companies to bring job-creating investment to the United States.  Last October, the President hosted the first-ever SelectUSA Summit, bringing more than 1,300 people - business executives from more than 60 countries, governors, mayors, and economic development officials from 48 states – to see the benefits of doing business and creating jobs in the U.S. and establishing the connections to make that happen. 

The insourcing trend continues to grow, with survey after survey showing companies choosing to invest in the U.S. An AT Kearney survey ranked the U.S. #1 in the world for the first time since 2001.  A 2013 Boston Consulting Group survey of U.S. manufacturers with production abroad found that the majority (54 percent) are looking at re-shoring to the United States from China, up from 37 percent in 2012.  An Organization for International Investment (OFII) / PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP survey showed that executives see the U.S. as the preferred location amongst advanced economies.

Today, the President, with Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, and National Economic Council Director Jeff Zients will host a roundtable with companies that have recently chosen to invest in the United States.  These companies have recognized the many advantages of locating, growing, and hiring in the United States, and they will discuss the key reasons they chose to invest and hire in the U.S. and what more we can do together to bring even more job-creating investment to the U.S.  Together, the roundtable participants are investing billions of dollars in the U.S. and creating thousands of new jobs.

Second SelectUSA Investment Summit Ø  Today, the President is announcing the second SelectUSA Summit to be held in Spring of 2015 in Washington, D.C. With the success of the first summit, this event will be twice the size with more than 2,500 people from around the world to help bring more job-creating investments to the U.S and to share stories about what Made in America really means. Ø  SelectUSA has directly assisted in winning more than $18 billion in job-creating business investments for the United States in 17 different states and territories, and since October has assisted nearly 500 businesses, encouraging them to invest in the U.S. and helping them to navigate the Federal government.

SelectUSA Progress Report

The White House and Department of Commerce released a new report Winning Business Investment in the United States that highlights the growing attractiveness of investing in the U.S., the importance of inbound investment, and progress on the President’s SelectUSA initiative.

·         Investment is growing and plays an important role in the U.S. economy:

o   Investment in the U.S. is growing due to one of the most highly-skilled and productive workforces, low-cost and abundant energy resources, global leadership in innovation and invention, access to global markets, and rising costs abroad. 

o   Business fixed investment from companies choosing to grow and invest in the United States accounts for more than 20 percent of the rebound in real GDP since 2009.

o   The U.S. manufacturing sector has added 647,000 new jobs, the fastest pace of manufacturing job growth since the 1990s.

o   Since 2006, the United States has been the world’s largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) and receives the majority of all inflows to the G7.  U.S. affiliates of non-U.S. firms employ 5.6 million Americans.

·         U.S. is an increasingly attractive as a location for investment and job creation: 

o   In a 2013 survey of 300 global executives, the U.S. was ranked the top destination for global business cross-border investment, the first time the U.S. has been at the top since 2001. [AT Kearney]

o   The share of U.S. executives actively considering bringing back production from China rose to 54 percent in survey released September 2013, compared with 37 percent only 18 months earlier. [The Boston Consulting Group]

o   In a survey of company financial officers in 2014, more than 80% surveyed believe the U.S. business climate is getting stronger, and 60% surveyed prefer the U.S. to all other advanced economies compared to just 25% making the same claim in 2011. [Organization for International Investment and PricewaterhouseCoopers]

·         The President’s SelectUSA is the first-ever, comprehensive federal effort to actively compete to bring job-creating investment to the United States:

o   In the U.S. and around the world, SelectUSA works to encourage investment from companies, advocating for the U.S., providing companies with the information they need, and connecting them to the resources that will bring them to the U.S., with country-specific strategies in 32 markets representing more than 90% of FDI.

o   SelectUSA serves as a single point of contact for ready investors, assisting companies in navigating the federal government and regulatory system

o   SelectUSA coordinates advocacy by federal officials up to and including the President – working with our mayors and governors to compete and win jobs and investment for the United States.