WASHINGTON, December 14 — Commerce Acting Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank discussed women in business at a forum today at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Blank highlighted key findings from a recent Commerce Department report on “Women-Owned Businesses in the 21st Century,” produced by ESA, and addressed the prospect and opportunities of starting a business in today’s economy.

Washington, DC- Under Secretary Blank was inducted as an Eleanor Roosevelt Fellow by the American Academy of Political and Social Science. The event was held at the Newseum in Washington, DC. In appointing its first set of Fellows in 2000, the Academy sought to recognize and honor individual social scientists for their distinguished scholarship in the social sciences, sustained efforts to communicate that scholarship to audiences beyond their own discipline, and professional activities that promise to continue to promote the progress of the social sciences. Each Fellow is designated to a position named after a distinguished scholar and public servant.

Washington, DC—The U.S. Department of Commerce released newly-developed Gross Domestic Product (GDP) statistics for American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The statistics are a product of a joint effort of the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Interior Department’s Office of Insular Affairs. Policy makers will now have an objective view of the size of these economies, their growth or contraction, and their major components in order to conduct economic-impact analysis on the effects of local and national policy decisions. (More)

Washington, DC - One of the goals of the Council on Women and Girls is to call attention to the inspirational women working in the Federal Government and to learn more about their paths to their current positions. In the first of this series, Meet the Women of the Administration, we asked Dr. Rebecca Blank to reflect on how she developed an interest and expertise in economics and to weigh in on how she balances work and family. Take a look and find out what keeps Dr. Blank going! (More)

Washington, DC – Under Secretary Blank was a featured speaker and panelist at the “Working for Change” poverty policy forum on Capitol Hill.  Blank said, “the new Supplemental Poverty Measure will provide an alternative lens to understand poverty and measure the effects of anti-poverty policies.”  The forum presented information to congressional staffers and other organizations about how poverty is defined, and the new poverty measure that is being implemented in New York.  The “Working for Change” policy forum is sponsored by the Community Service Society (CSS) which is a nonprofit organization that has been fighting poverty in New York for over 160 years.  In recent years, their work has focused on using work and employment opportu