President Obama last week appointed Clackamas business leader Chandra Brown, Oregon Iron Works vice president and United Streetcar chief executive officer, as the U.S. Commerce Department’s deputy assistant secretary for manufactuing.

Brown begins her new job on March 18, although Obama has yet to select a new U.S. Secretary of Commerce who would be Brown’s boss.

The U.S. Manufacturing Council in August 2010 appointed Brown to help provide a forum to identify and recommend ways for the federal government to respond to the challenges facing U.S. manufacturers and to help them increase their competitiveness, both at home and abroad.

The 24 leaders of the domestic manufacturing sector represented a broad cross section of U.S. industry, with the secretaries of Labor, Energy and Treasury serving as ex-officio members. Originally established in April 2004, the council was re-chartered on July 14, 2010.

Kevin Clarke, who was named president of United Streetcar in January, will likely take Brown’s duties while she’s in Washington, D.C.