Roosevelt Room

11:05 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  For the press, I just want to point out these are some outstanding companies, all of whom are investing in the United States, are representing major companies that see the U.S. as a great place to do business.  We have made enormous strides over the last several years not just recovering from a Great Recession, but taking advantage of and now marketing the advantages of doing business in the United States — whether it’s low energy costs, an incredibly productive workforce.

Obviously, we have the most dynamic and creative and innovative economy in the world, but we don’t always do what it takes to go after business around the world and make sure that they know the benefits of investing in the largest market on Earth.  And we want to be more systematic about it.  We want to make sure that the federal government is working in sync with state and local governments when it comes to locating businesses here in the United States. 

SelectUSA turned out to be an enormously successful process where we’re coordinating between agencies as well as other stakeholders.  And we want to make sure that it’s even more successful the next time.  So this is a terrific venue for us to learn from some outstanding companies.  And we’re announcing that we’ll have our next SelectUSA conference — give me the exact date, Jeff.

MR. ZIENTS:  March of 2015.

THE PRESIDENT:  March of 2015 — which is right around the corner.  (Laughter.) 

So thank you for participating.  We’re very excited about it.  Thanks, everybody.

END               
11:07 A.M. EDT