REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY SANDY K. BARUAH ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY FOR THE TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY - BUSINESS INNOVATION CENTER - MELBOURNE, FLORIDA

THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2007

AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY

Introduced by Chester Straub, TRDA Executive Director

Thank you, Chester, for that kind introduction.

It’s always good to see former U.S. Assistant Secretaries doing well. I take special interest in that, as I too will be a former Assistant Secretary some day.

Chester, I want to thank you for your service to EDA and the American people during President Clinton’s Administration. Your Administration provided us a good platform in which to build, and I’m sure you take pride in your accomplishments during your Federal service.

It’s a pleasure to be here with you on this special occasion to celebrate Brevard County’s economic future, and I thank you for the invitation.

I’d like to introduce and recognize Lola Smith of EDA’s Atlanta Regional Office. Lola is a true professional and it is because of her hard work that this investment in TRDA has become a reality.

As the 21st Century takes shape, we realize that we are truly living in a world-wide marketplace. While America is the leader today and has immense competitive advantages, we cannot take our leadership for granted. Maintaining our competitive edge will not simply just happen.

At the end of the day, our ability to innovate is our only sustainable competitive advantage. It’s not location. It’s not the cost of doing business. It’s not currency rates or even the technology development of the moment. All these factors will continually shift in a dynamic world-wide economy. But if we maintain our edge in our ability to innovate, America will continue to lead the world in growth and opportunity.

And that’s what the TRDA Business Innovation Center is all about. The Center will strengthen the region’s innovative capacity, helping to develop new technologies, improve the small business environment, and provide resources needed by entrepreneurs at all levels throughout the region.

As we celebrate the success of Brevard County and the surrounding economic region, it is important to understand what’s happening at the national level. After all, it is difficult for a region to grow without a strong national economy, and our national economy can’t be strong without growing regional economies.

Our national economy is strong. Thanks to the hard work and innovation of American workers and businesses, America has experienced 47 straight months of job growth, with 136,000 new American jobs created each month since the beginning of the year. The unemployment level remains at a low 4.6%, which many economists say is lower than the full employment level.

The economy has created about 2 million jobs over the past year. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s over 8 million new American jobs since August 2003, more jobs than all the other major industrialized countries – combined.

The American economy grew at 3.4% in the second quarter of 2007, providing for nearly 6 straight years of uninterrupted economic growth, showing that ours is a very resilient, diversified, and flexible economy.

So, it is clear that our economy is strong – and it’s getting stronger based on America’s ability to innovate.

And as a result of our ability to invent – spurred on by places like TRDA Business Innovation Center –

and make the products and services the world is demanding, our nation is competing successfully in the world-wide marketplace.

Nationwide, exports are growing more than twice as fast as imports. U.S. exports have increased by 11% over 2006. Our trade deficit has narrowed. And the jobs associated with exports have higher wages than other jobs, which helps drive our national prosperity.

Here in Florida exports in 2006 totaled $39 billion, up 57% from 2002. Florida companies are selling their goods and services in 222 countries.

That’s why it is important to open world-wide markets to U.S. goods and services. A key tool to accomplish this is Free Trade Agreements – FTAs.

When President Bush took office, we had Free Trade Agreements with just 3 countries – Israel, Canada and Mexico. Today, we have free trade agreements with 16 countries with 4 more pending Congressional approval.

FTAs help our companies, farmers, manufacturers and workers sell American goods and services to new markets around the world.

The critical role exports play in Florida’s economy highlights the importance of the Free Trade Agreements the President is pursuing with Columbia, Panama, Peru and South Korea.

These FTAs will provide U.S. companies, farmers, manufacturers and workers access to 75 million consumers in emerging markets across the globe.

So, thanks to our ability to innovate, American exports are on the rise, and the American economy is resilient and our economic foundation is strong.

This is important not just for the nation, but for the Brevard County region as well – because a growing national economy provides the folks here in Brevard County a better opportunity to realize economic growth right here at home. It takes both smart national policies and forward looking regional initiatives to ensure that the American dream reaches all parts of our great nation – and we are celebrating both here today.

The TRDA Business Innovation Center represents a strong example of how the public and private sector, in partnership, can combine capital resources to advance the art and science of innovation.

As Chester knows, there is nothing more rewarding at EDA than seeing an investment truly pay off. And that is what I see here in Melbourne. Commerce Secretary Gutierrez and I share high hopes for this important project and the role it will play in growing high-tech businesses in this region of Florida, and EDA is proud to be a partner with you in this effort.

I would like to thank everyone involved in making EDA’s investments in this project possible.

Chester, congratulations to you and your team, and thank you again for the invitation to be here.

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