Since our nation’s earliest days, Americans have excelled at envisioning new ideas and transforming them into the products that make the world run. From the Bell telephone, to the Wright brothers’ airplane to the first personal computer, innovation has driven American enterprise from generation to generation, creating jobs in the process.
Americans overwhelmingly believe if America is to be great in the decades ahead it will be because we continue to make things and sell them here and around the world. Only by tapping into our tradition of innovation can we continue to lead the global economy of the twenty-first century. Investments in innovation will enable us to move our economic recovery forward and lay the groundwork for a new generation of well-paying jobs for the middle class that won’t be shipped overseas.
Our foreign competitors are investing heavily in research and development and graduating more scientists and engineers. They are working hard to replicate the innovation culture that made us the world’s economic leader. However, I believe — and I know most Americans agree — that we cannot afford to cede that leadership role or allow our innovation edge to erode.
According to a New York Times feature in January, when the late Steve Jobs was preparing to unveil the original iPhone in 2007, Apple executives determined that finding the 8,700 trained engineers in the United States needed to supervise its 200,000 assembly line workers would take up to nine months. In China, however, it would take only two weeks. Part of the reason is because China and other countries have been investing in science, technology, engineering, and math — or “STEM” — education, skills training, and basic research at unprecedented levels, building a workforce well prepared to compete for these jobs. According to the National Science Board, ten Asian nations have increased their research and development expenditures to equal ours. Furthermore, the number of Chinese graduates earning doctoral degrees in engineering has doubled since 2000 and has now surpassed the number of engineering doctorates earned here.
Across the world, our competitors are investing in their future. We cannot afford to fall behind. As former President Bill Clinton wrote in his latest book Back to Work, it’s time Americans got into the future business again. Much like the successes of our past, our economic future will be fueled by our limitless energy to innovate. And the best way to tap into that innovation energy is through House Democrats’ Make It In America plan, for which I have been proud to take the lead in Congress.
Make It In America is the comprehensive jobs plan this country needs, and it aims to restore certainty to American businesses and help them expand so they can create jobs and compete overseas. It combines strategic tax reform that encourages manufacturers to move production back here with investments in education, innovation, and infrastructure.
A great example of this is the America Invents Act, which Congress passed last year. That legislation will help clear the current patent backlog, speed the processing of new applications, and provide for greater intellectual property protection. When innovation drives an economy, safeguarding intellectual property is vital to making sure those who develop new products can manufacture and sell them profitably.
Other Make It In America proposals to increase innovation await action by Congress. One would establish a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, which would bring manufacturers, academics, and government leaders together to create an innovation infrastructure that will speed the development of manufacturing technologies. Another calls for a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that will help close persistent achievement gaps, graduate more students who are college and career-ready, and include robust funding for STEM education programs from an early level. Our plan would also update and modernize the Workforce Investment Act to make job skills training more accessible to those currently out of work. A Make It In America bill I introduced last year would partner manufacturing businesses with local colleges and universities to provide training in essential skills and create a pathway to careers.
Our plan also encourages businesses to produce more of their goods here in order to take advantage of co-locating design and production, which we believe further feeds innovation as engineers move between the laboratory and the factory floor. These are just some of the ways the Make It In America plan aims to help businesses innovate and find the skilled workers they need for the jobs that investments in innovation will help create.
When Democrats first introduced Make It In America legislation two years ago, we did so in the hope that Republicans would join with us in a bipartisan effort to put more Americans back to work by investing in business growth. Unfortunately, not only have House Republicans refused to do so but they have yet to propose a comprehensive jobs plan of their own after nearly 20 months in the Majority. A glimmer of hope may be found in the 10 Make It In America bills that were able to draw bipartisan support and be passed into law — a good start but nowhere near what must be done to meet our challenges and move our economic recovery forward.
Make It In America is about more than just promoting innovation; it is about recapturing the spirit that long made us the world’s innovation leader. If we can do so, there is no limit to what we can achieve and the future we can create. It’s up to Congress to embrace that future and make it possible.
Voters Want U.S. Manufacturing Back
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamSCOTT PAUL
A substantial majority of voters rate manufacturing as the industry “most important to the overall strength of the American economy,” according to an Alliance for American Manufacturing national poll released in July. An impressive 89 percent of voters support a national manufacturing strategy to restore U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, and they want aggressive action by Washington to help create manufacturing jobs.
How important is creating manufacturing jobs to voters? It ranked higher than even such pressing issues as the deficit, cutting spending, and reforming immigration. Two-thirds of voters think the U.S. needs a strong manufacturing base if future generations of Americans are to thrive and succeed, vs. only 29 percent who think new areas like high-tech or services can fill the void if America’s manufacturing sector disappears.
Are the presidential candidates responding? So far, voters aren’t satisfied that either candidate is matching rhetoric with action. Even when politicians talk more about manufacturing, as they have in recent years, they don’t lay out clear plans to create more manufacturing jobs, according to the voters surveyed.
So what do voters want? The poll showed overwhelming support for government action to discourage outsourcing, strongly enforce trade rules, provide retraining and education, implement Buy America policies, and create incentives for U.S. investment.
Voters understand a fundamental truth about the erosion of America’s manufacturing base: It has occurred in large part because of misguided trade policies. The federal government has failed to systematically confront predatory practices, like currency manipulation and massive subsidies, used by our trading partners.
China was a top concern of the voters surveyed. More than two-thirds of respondents said that China’s trade violations were responsible for U.S. job loss. And 62 percent want the federal government to get tougher on China for violating trade agreements.
By keeping its currency undervalued relative to the dollar, China artificially raises the price of agricultural equipment, machinery, wood products and other goods made in Iowa and shipped to China, while lowering the price of Chinese products sold here — a practice that cost Iowa more than 21,000 jobs from 2001 to 2010.
Some argue that confronting China could “start a trade war.” But voters don’t buy it; more than 60 percent preferred a policy of confrontation over one of diplomatic passivity. And 83 percent had an unfavorable view of companies that outsource jobs to China.
Voters strongly endorsed the federal government’s 2009 rescue of the auto industry: Sixty-one percent of those polled supported the government’s action and 57 percent think the quality of U.S. cars has improved since the government acted. However, 72,000 workers in Iowa remain vulnerable to China’s massive subsidization of its auto-parts industry.
Iowa’s burgeoning clean-energy industry remains a manufacturing bright spot for the state, but its future is threatened by massive subsidies that many countries, including China, provide to their own manufacturers of solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable energy products. U.S. clean-energy manufacturers need their government to stand up for them with tax and investment incentives and other common-sense measures, such as requiring infrastructure projects to use American-made components.
In fact, 87 percent of voters support strong Buy America preferences to ensure that their tax dollars are spent on American-made components for the next generation of bridges, rail, and other infrastructure projects.
The most encouraging news from AAM’s national survey? Voters remain optimistic about America’s economic future. Though 56 percent say the U.S. is no longer the world’s strongest economy, nearly nine in 10 think it could be again. One sign of hope: the favorability rating of America’s manufacturers has risen from 68 percent to 91 percent in the past two years.
Voters fervently hope for a day when America again leads the world in making things. They want their leaders to share that dream — and to do what’s necessary to make it a reality. A presidential candidate who fails to articulate a bold national manufacturing strategy will have trouble winning in November.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SCOTT PAUL is executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a non-profit, non-partisan partnership of America’s leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers. Contact: spaul@aamfg.org
Reshoring Jobs in The Furniture Industry
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamEmail: whereford@wtva.com
The Reshoring Initiative could be part of the answer.
Officials say that Mississippi and other states across the country have taken a beating the last several years in the manufacturing sector, in particular the furniture industry.
This gathering of interested officials is interested in hearing how to turn that trend around.
They found answers from people like Jay Moon, the C.E.O. of the Mississippi Manufacturers Association.
“I think what we can do is lower the costs of what manufacturers in the furniture industry have. Lower the regulatory costs and enhance their ability through workforce training of their employees so that they can produce world-class products in a global marketplace,” said Moon.
The organizers of today’s event say that bringing those jobs back to Mississippi and the United States as a whole will not be easy, but they say it’s a job that can be done, if they get the right kind of support.
Enter the Reshoring Initiative.
It’s a program featured at this event that offers free advice to manufacturers looking for a way to keep the manufacturing jobs at home.
“The Reshoring Initiative helps companies understand what it really costs them when they off-shore, when they produce or source in another country. When they understand that cost they decide to bring that manufacturing back. So specifically we find that about 25 percent of what’s been offshore would come back if companies looked at the total cost of ownership,” founder of the Reshoring Initiative Harry Moser said.
Moser adds that when they decide where to buy, they generally decide based on price.
Doing business with the U.S. is generally more expensive than with China, but he says, on average, the total cost is the same.
That’s why he believes when companies take a closer look they will come back.
Besides, he says Chinese companies have geared up so much for the furniture industry, that there is now a shortage of workers which is driving up wage rates.
Moser says that is closing the total cost gap between the U.S. and foreign manufacturers.
Jay Moon says North Mississippi has fared reasonably well despite global manufacturing trends, but he says the state can not, in his words, rest on its laurels.
Wake-up Call for Industry
in Uncategorized/by MAM Team08/20/2012
China is expected to face fiercer-than-ever competition from the United States in the manufacturing sector, making it all the more urgent for Beijing to expedite its industrial upgrade.
The “Buy America” movement launched by the Barack Obama administration, the Manufacturing Enhancement Act it has passed, the plan to double US exports within 5 years and the measures to increase employment, all aimed at helping the US revive its declining manufacturing sector, have produced and are producing some positive results.
Statistics show that an additional 237,000 jobs were created in the US’ manufacturing sector alone in 2011, and this momentum has gained steam. The US’ manufacturing output is estimated to grow by 4 percent this year and 3.5 percent the next, both higher than its expected GDP growth during the same period.
In his third State of the Union Address early this year, Obama set themes for his 2012 presidential re-election race and promised to build four major pillars – manufacturing, home-generated energy, labor technology training and American values – to bolster the US’ economic development.
As part of its efforts to rejuvenate the slackened US economy, the Obama administration has even said that it will set up a special trade enforcement agency to investigate trade activities of countries such as China to wrest its lost manufacturing advantages.
The speed with which the US is “returning” to manufacturing poses a major challenge to China’s size-focused manufacturing sector, large as it may be. The “factor dividend” has long been the largest driving force behind China’s fast-growing economy. The world’s largest population and its demography have not only supplied sufficient labor for China’s economic growth, but also created favorable conditions for its high accumulation rate and enormous capital inputs.
Because of its abundant resources and their comparatively low prices, China’s marginal return ratio on capital has usually been higher than that in developed countries. As a result, global production capital allocation has favored China under the principle of profit maximization and made it the world’s “manufacturing workshop”.
However, this situation is undergoing some delicate changes with the change in China’s factor prices, especially the weakening of its “demographic dividend”. Latest data show that the gap between the production costs in China and the US is narrowing because of a decline in the US’ manufacturing labor cost, although China’s labor cost is far below that of the US average.
In 2010, the US’ manufacturing productivity increased by 6.1 percentage points and its labor cost per unit of output fell by 4.2 percentage points, according to official data. In fact, its labor cost per unit of manufacturing output fell by an accumulated 10.8 percent from 2002 to 2010.
In comparison, the growth rate of labor cost in China has been much faster than that of its productivity over the past years. Figures show that workers’ pay in China on average grew 19 percent year-on-year from 2005 to 2010, compared to just 4 percent in the US. An ever-growing labor cost will pose a major challenge to China’s manufacturing that has long been profiting from cheap labor.
To make its manufacturing sector more attractive to overseas capital, the US has taken measures to reduce tax burdens through some policy adjustments and is trying to make temporary tax cuts a permanent affair.
The Obama administration is also trying to review and revise the North America Free Trade Agreement and its agreements with Colombia and the Republic of Korea for setting up a free trade area with them. With these, the US aims to repeal the preferential policies that American companies were offered to shift their businesses overseas and make them return to the US.
Apart from the ever-narrowing labor cost with the US and various stimulus measures that Washington has taken, China also faces the challenge of promoting innovation in and development of its manufacturing technologies.
The US has vowed to continue leading high-end manufacturing and seems well poised for a new “industrial revolution”. This will lay the foundation for the US to achieve more technological breakthroughs in manufacturing, and ensure faster economic growth and increase in competitiveness.
To push forward its “re-industrialization” strategy, the US is aiming to promote industrial upgrade and raise its high-end manufacturing level. As concrete steps toward this goal, the US has released a high-end manufacturing plan and expedited the flow of funds and technological inputs into nanotechnology, high-grade batteries, energy materials, bio-manufacturing, new-generation microelectronics and advanced robots.
The US expects these moves to boost the development of high-end technologies and help it become the leader in high-end manufacturing technologies.
The US’ “re-industrialization” strategy, which coincides with changes in and upgrade of China’s industrial structure, will result in some direct competition between the two countries in the manufacturing sector.
Given that the US is on the threshold of a new “technological and industrial revolution”, China should change its manufacturing strategy in order to overcome its insufficient technological innovation capacity and low competitiveness.
The author is a researcher in economics at the State Information Center.
Mississippi Aims to Lure Factories From Other Countries
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamHarry Moser, president of the Reshoring Initiative, said Monday at Mississippi State University that industries have mistakenly ignored many of the hidden costs of making goods for the American market overseas. He says increasing awareness of those costs, as well as increasing wages in China, are leading many companies to bring work back to the United States.
MSU is focusing on bringing back furniture and auto parts factories, saying the state can provide higher productivity and shorter delivery times than overseas factories.
Reshoring – Made in America
in Uncategorized/by MAM Team9am – 11am
The methods presented help define the benefits of producing near the consumer. Thus, the workshop is relevant to attendees from all countries.
Presented by:
Speakers:
For registration, and cost information, please visit them online: REGISTER NOW
Innovation Is Key to Helping Businesses Make It In America
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamU.S. Representative, Maryland’s 5th congressional district
08/20/2012
Our foreign competitors are investing heavily in research and development and graduating more scientists and engineers. They are working hard to replicate the innovation culture that made us the world’s economic leader. However, I believe — and I know most Americans agree — that we cannot afford to cede that leadership role or allow our innovation edge to erode.
According to a New York Times feature in January, when the late Steve Jobs was preparing to unveil the original iPhone in 2007, Apple executives determined that finding the 8,700 trained engineers in the United States needed to supervise its 200,000 assembly line workers would take up to nine months. In China, however, it would take only two weeks. Part of the reason is because China and other countries have been investing in science, technology, engineering, and math — or “STEM” — education, skills training, and basic research at unprecedented levels, building a workforce well prepared to compete for these jobs. According to the National Science Board, ten Asian nations have increased their research and development expenditures to equal ours. Furthermore, the number of Chinese graduates earning doctoral degrees in engineering has doubled since 2000 and has now surpassed the number of engineering doctorates earned here.
Across the world, our competitors are investing in their future. We cannot afford to fall behind. As former President Bill Clinton wrote in his latest book Back to Work, it’s time Americans got into the future business again. Much like the successes of our past, our economic future will be fueled by our limitless energy to innovate. And the best way to tap into that innovation energy is through House Democrats’ Make It In America plan, for which I have been proud to take the lead in Congress.
Make It In America is the comprehensive jobs plan this country needs, and it aims to restore certainty to American businesses and help them expand so they can create jobs and compete overseas. It combines strategic tax reform that encourages manufacturers to move production back here with investments in education, innovation, and infrastructure.
A great example of this is the America Invents Act, which Congress passed last year. That legislation will help clear the current patent backlog, speed the processing of new applications, and provide for greater intellectual property protection. When innovation drives an economy, safeguarding intellectual property is vital to making sure those who develop new products can manufacture and sell them profitably.
Other Make It In America proposals to increase innovation await action by Congress. One would establish a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, which would bring manufacturers, academics, and government leaders together to create an innovation infrastructure that will speed the development of manufacturing technologies. Another calls for a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that will help close persistent achievement gaps, graduate more students who are college and career-ready, and include robust funding for STEM education programs from an early level. Our plan would also update and modernize the Workforce Investment Act to make job skills training more accessible to those currently out of work. A Make It In America bill I introduced last year would partner manufacturing businesses with local colleges and universities to provide training in essential skills and create a pathway to careers.
Our plan also encourages businesses to produce more of their goods here in order to take advantage of co-locating design and production, which we believe further feeds innovation as engineers move between the laboratory and the factory floor. These are just some of the ways the Make It In America plan aims to help businesses innovate and find the skilled workers they need for the jobs that investments in innovation will help create.
When Democrats first introduced Make It In America legislation two years ago, we did so in the hope that Republicans would join with us in a bipartisan effort to put more Americans back to work by investing in business growth. Unfortunately, not only have House Republicans refused to do so but they have yet to propose a comprehensive jobs plan of their own after nearly 20 months in the Majority. A glimmer of hope may be found in the 10 Make It In America bills that were able to draw bipartisan support and be passed into law — a good start but nowhere near what must be done to meet our challenges and move our economic recovery forward.
Make It In America is about more than just promoting innovation; it is about recapturing the spirit that long made us the world’s innovation leader. If we can do so, there is no limit to what we can achieve and the future we can create. It’s up to Congress to embrace that future and make it possible.
The Red Party Cup: Trudeau USA Introduces the Reusable Red Party Cup
in Uncategorized/by MAM Team“We are very enthusiastic and proud to be manufacturing our new reusable Red Party Cup in the U.S.A. in partnership with American workers in a first-class Midwest factory,” said Marty Armstrong, Executive Vice President of Trudeau USA. “Americans across the country can continue to celebrate and reuse their personal Red Party Cup over and over again while also saving the environment.”
The Red Party Cup by Trudeau, MADE IN THE U.S.A., is similar in look but not feel to the iconic disposable red cup. The new 16oz. hot & cold party-approved cup is red on the outside and white on the inside. It is sturdy, chip-resistant and has a thicker body and smooth, comfortable drinking lip. The durable, double-walled insulated design keeps drinks cold and offers hand-held comfort with hot beverages. The reusable cup is eco-friendly, BPA-free, and can be washed on the top rack of the dishwasher.
The Red Party Cup by Trudeau is available as a single cup, a 4-pack, and a 6-pack. The cup will be the first product in a complete Party Collection by Trudeau. The Trudeau reusable cup will soon also be available in blue, yellow and green and will include an easy peel-off nametag for personalizing.
Manufacturers: This is Your Day
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamAugust 16, 2012
Now is our chance to do something collectively to make a difference for this industry. High schools, colleges, local chambers of commerce, unions, trade associations, government entities, and manufacturers can work together to propel U.S. manufacturing to the next level. Through individual open houses and plant tours that will take place in cities and towns across the nation, we can show the public what manufacturing really looks like. We can do something to teach young people about interesting, challenging, well-paying jobs they could train for in manufacturing. We can help provide a stream of good, qualified workers our manufacturers so desperately need and help keep more things “Made in America.” We can do something to rally together in support of what has been, and what can always be, the driver of economic vitality and strength in the U.S. Be a part of this effort and sign up by Labor Day to host an open house/plant tour for Manufacturing Day and tell your manufacturing contacts about this great opportunity too.
Redoubling Efforts to Support American Manufacturing
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamAugust 16, 2012
This matters because we know that manufacturing jobs are good jobs that pay more than average and provide greater benefits. They strengthen economic security for middle class families.
There is a powerful link between America’s ability to make things and America’s ability to innovate, compete, and create good jobs. We have come to realize that you can’t separate innovation and production—they have to sit near each other. Manufacturers perform 70 percent of all private sector R&D, investing in and producing technological advances that accounted for 90 percent of U.S. patents. Economic research indicates that innovation – in new products or new processes – was central to three-quarters of the nation’s economic growth since World War II and it is not an accident that the manufacturing sectors where America is most competitive are all advanced manufacturing, where new technologies, new products or new production processes are central to the success of specific firms.
And, of course, manufacturing doesn’t just support production jobs; it also supports non-manufacturing jobs up and down the supply chain.
That is why across the Administration, we are redoubling our efforts to promote a vibrant manufacturing sector. We are acting on the findings of a report that we released entitled, “The Competitiveness and Innovative Capacity of the United States.” It outlined steps needed to support America’s innovators and entrepreneurs. The report outlines a number of investments this country needs to make to remain competitive over the next two decades.
President Obama has proposed several things that we need to do right now to build on our strength in manufacturing. First, we should stop rewarding companies for outsourcing jobs overseas and start rewarding companies for bringing jobs back through insourcing. Second, we should put construction workers back on the job to repair our crumbling infrastructure. This will help our manufacturers send their products to customers as quickly as possible. We need to extend the middle class tax cuts for the 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of America’s small businesses making less than $250,000 for another year, as President Obama has proposed. With these cuts, a typical family of four would see taxes rise by $2,200 if we don’t extend this through 2013.
Finally, the President is calling for a network of institutes focused on manufacturing innovation. At these hubs, we will bring together our top researchers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and other partners who can ensure that we continue to out-build and out-compete the rest of the world in the years ahead. Proposals for a pilot institute went out from the Department of Defense earlier this year. And very soon we will be announcing the winner.
Having an opportunity to discuss these and other important issues with U.S. manufacturers served as an important reminder that our collaboration is absolutely essential to ensuring that Made in America remains a strong slogan well into the future.
Dr. Rebecca Blank is the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce
New Manufacturing Institute in Ohio
in Uncategorized/by MAM TeamAugust 16, 2012
The new initiative, which White House officials announced Wednesday, creates partnerships among manufacturing firms, universities, community colleges and nonprofit organizations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia and will be based in Youngstown, Ohio, an area hard hit by manufacturing-job losses even before the economic recession.
“I’m pleased that we are taking steps to strengthen American manufacturing by launching a new manufacturing institute in Ohio,” Mr. Obama said. “This institute will help make sure that the manufacturing jobs of tomorrow take root not in places like China or India, but right here in the United States of America. That’s how we’ll put more people back to work and build an economy that lasts.”
The consortium will focus its efforts on developing additive manufacturing, known as 3-D printing, a new way of making products and components from a digital model. A range of industries, including defense, aerospace, automotive and metals manufacturing plan to use the new technology, and the Department of Energy estimates that the additive process would be able to save more than 50 percent in energy use compared with current manufacturing processes.
In addition to the $30 million government investment, the partnering entities will provide another $40 million to the pilot program. The Obama administration is touting the initiative as part of a plan announced in early March to invest $1 billion on a national network of up to 15 manufacturing hubs created to try to boost the manufacturing sector and encourage investment in the United States.