Join the Conversation with National Leaders September 15-16 in Washington, D.C.

The third annual American Energy & Manufacturing Competitiveness (AEMC) Summit September 15-16 in Washington, DC is shaping up to be our best yet, and I hope you can join us.

Three years ago, the Energy Department convened a unique set of American manufacturers, industry groups, researchers, universities, and government agencies to tackle one central challenge: “What can we do to give the United States a competitive advantage in the global manufacturing marketplace while achieving the vision of an America powered by efficient and clean energy technologies?” It was a big question with few easy answers. But we rolled up our sleeves and sat down with these important stakeholders at a series of regional and national meetings to gather input and craft a national agenda for growing American clean energy manufacturing.

In March of 2013, we launched a comprehensive new Department-wide initiative, the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI), focused on growing American manufacturing of clean energy products and boosting U.S. competitiveness through major improvements in manufacturing energy productivity.  One key focus of CEMI is rebuilding America’s shared manufacturing innovation infrastructure. We’ve made tremendous strides in this area, already establishing two new institutes in the President’s National Network for Manufacturing Innovation—focused on next generation power electronics and advanced composites—in addition to a new Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory focused on additive manufacturing. And we have plans to continue to expand this infrastructure in the year ahead and to establish additional shared national capabilities in the area of advanced materials. We’ve also been stepping up our manufacturing innovation investments across all of EERE, including more than $600 million in funding for CEMI across all of our technology offices in the President’s FY16 budget.

We’re already seeing these investments begin to bear fruit for the U.S. economy, including the announcement by a major additive manufacturing materials producer of the relocation of their major operations from Canada to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, creating more than 600 American jobs and committing to invest more than $300 million in the local economy.

Another key thrust of CEMI has been to dramatically increase the impact of the Department’s National Laboratories on the competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing sector. Through new lab-industry partnership programs like Labs Corps, Small Business Vouchers, Cyclotron Road, and Technologist in Residence, in addition to a number of other new Energy Department policies to encourage more lab-industry partnerships, we are helping the private sector access and leverage the world class technology capabilities at our National Labs to a greater extent than ever before.

We’ve also focused on addressing industrial efficiency deployment barriers to boost energy productivity across the entire U.S. manufacturing supply chain. Through programs such as Better Plants, U.S. manufacturers are increasing their competitiveness with energy-efficiency upgrades, combined heat and power systems, and low-cost domestic energy sources such as biomass and natural gas.

These exciting new CEMI programs, resources, and some exciting CEMI announcements will be showcased at the 2015 AEMC Summit. The Energy Department and our partner, the Council on Competitiveness, are inviting all of our clean energy manufacturing partners and stakeholders to come together on September 15-16 in Washington, D.C. at the AEMC Summit to celebrate the tremendous progress we’ve achieved together over the past three years.

The summit will feature keynotes and panel discussions featuring Energy Department officials, national lab leaders, and top U.S. manufacturing CEOs. We’ll showcase successful public-private partnership models we’ve discovered through CEMI’s work. You’ll learn how to tap into the country’s growing clean energy and advanced manufacturing innovation ecosystem, which has been strengthened by CEMI-led efforts. Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to hear national leaders, including U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, and U.S. Senator Chris Coons, announce new opportunities for leveraging federal and innovation ecosystem resources.

The summit’s technology showcase will give you an up-close-and-personal look at some of the many exciting manufacturing innovations of today. Magna International and Ford Motor Company's Mach 1 multi-material lightweight vehicle, our Manufacturing Demonstration Facility’s 3D-printed Shelby Cobra, and a demonstration of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s high performance computing for manufacturing are just some of the  cutting-edge technologies that will be on display throughout the two-day summit.

This event is open to the public and free of charge, and I encourage you to take part in this important clean energy manufacturing discussion with national leaders. Visit the AEMC Summit Web page for the full list of attendees, summit details, and to register (username and password are “aemcsummit”).

To learn more about the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative, check out our website and sign up for breaking news email alerts.