US Treasury official Don Graves to speak at EXPO May 25

US Senator Patrick Leahy announced today that Deputy Assistant Secretary Don Graves, one of the US Department of Treasury’s top policy advisors on small business finance and community development and the executive director of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, will speak at the Vermont Business and Industry EXPO’s Leahy Business Breakfast Wednesday, May 25 at 8 am.
Leahy invited Graves to Vermont to speak about the Treasury Department’s efforts to create jobs across the country and in Vermont. Leahy noted that as the executive director of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competiveness, Graves will also give Vermont businesses a chance to share their vision for economic prosperity with a top member of President Obama’s job creation team.
Graves manages several programs at Treasury that have made substantial investments in Vermont to help the state emerge from the recession. In March Leahy announced a $13.2 million investment in the Vermont Economic Development Authority through Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative. Following the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Leahy announced a $30 million allocation of New Market Tax Credits to Vermont Rural Ventures. And last year, Leahy announced that three alternative lenders had received $6 million from the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution Fund to increase lending activity. Leahy noted that Graves oversees all three programs for the Treasury Department.
As director of Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, Graves has been traveling across the country with members of the council to meet with business leaders. Obama announced the creation of the council in January.
Graves will speak at 8 a.m. Wednesday, May 25th, at the Leahy Business Breakfast, the first event of the Vermont Business and Industry EXPO at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington. The Vermont Chamber of Commerce organizes the EXPO and the Leahy Business Breakfast. For more information, including registration instructions, visit www.vtexpo.com. Onsite registration is permitted, but space is limited.