Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness
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13th Meeting of the
Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness
Port of Houston
20 - 21 April 2016
20 April - Agenda
Full Audio of the Committee Meeting is available below.
The 13th meeting of the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness was held at the Port of Houston on April 20th and 21st. Acting Director for the Office of Supply
Chain Professional and Business Services, Bruce Harsh began the meeting with introductions of the new members appointed to the committtee.
Committee Chair, Rick Blasgen provided an overview presentation of the Committee and highlighted the individual subcommittees, their goals and activities.
Deputy Director of the Office of Trade Relations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection(CBP), Valarie Neuhartprovide the committee an update on the progress of the development and implementation of the North American Single Window and the Automated Commercial Environment.
Harris County Judge, Ed Emmett provided the Committee a breifing on the transporation and logistics policies for the Houston region and the impacts theses policies have on the nation level.
The Executive Director for the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Matthew Rooney, provided a briefing on the institution's "North American Competitiveness Scorecard." The scorecard compares the competitive positions of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in the global economy, benchmarking North America’s performance in international rankings on issues like business climate, innovation, openness to trade, and good governance against the performance of other major countries and trade groupings.
Chair Rick Blasgen and Acting Director Harsh then concluded the first day's meeting and the Committee members proceeded to a boat tour of the Houston port.
The second day of the meeting began with a briefing from the Director of the Houston office of the U.S. Commecial Service, Richard Ryan. Mr Ryan higlighted the role that Commercial Service plays in helping to increase U.S. business competitiveness on the international stage and provided an overview of the services that the office provides to U.S. businesses.
The Subcommittee Chair for Freight Policy and Movement, Rick Gabrielson, provided updates on the subcommittee's current activities.
Permit Speed and Reform Ad Hoc subcommittee members Dean Wise, Leslie Blakey, Jim Cooper and Paul Fisher provided a briefing and a draft reccomendation letter on Permit Reform. After group discussions and adjustments to the draft, the Committee approved a final version of the Permit Reform Recommendation Letter for the Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker.
IT & Data Subcommittee Chair, Tiffany Melvin provided a briefing on current status of work developments. After discussions, the Committee approved a recommendation letter on the North American Single Window.
Workforce Development Subcommittee chair, Anne Strauss-Wieder provided an update on the subcommittee's progress toward a recommendation proposal. Ms. Strauss-Wieder also announced Laurie Hein-Denham will serve as co-chair for the subcommittee.
The Senior Director for Small Business and Education Outreach for the Port of Houston, Gilda Ramirez, provided a presentation on the Port of Houston's partnerships with local high schools and colleges to provide the next generation of supply chain leaders the skills necessary to to build successful careers in through international trade.
Trade and Regulatory subcommittee co-chairs Shawn Wattles and Jevon Jamieson provided an update on the current state of subcommittee work. The committee highlighted U.S.-Mexico crossborder issues which focusing on drayage and wait times.
The Finance and Infrastructure subcommittee discussed subcommittee chair recommendations, and topics for future reccomendations.
Committee Chair Blasgen and Acting Director Harsh concluded the meeting by reminding committee members of the next meeting which will be held June 22-23, 2016, at the U.S. Department of Commerce Headquarters in Washington DC.
20 April - Audio
21 April - Audio - Morning
21 April - Audio - Afternoon
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