AEM Applauds Legislation to Strengthen Manufacturing in America
July 9, 2020 - “The Association of Equipment Manufacturers commends the introduction of the National Institute of Manufacturing Act to strengthen the manufacturing sector and ensure the future competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing in the global economy,” said Dennis Slater, president of AEM. “Equipment manufacturers represent twelve percent of the entire U.S. manufacturing sector and supports 2.8 million family-sustaining jobs across the country. We need a comprehensive, coordinated, and competent national effort in support of the manufacturing sector and its workforce. This legislation will reduce redundancies and improve efficiencies across existing federal manufacturing programs and ensure that the federal government is better positioned to respond to rapid changes in the global manufacturing landscape. Senator Gary Peters knows firsthand the challenges and opportunities facing equipment manufacturers, and he has been a steadfast advocate for the industry in the United State Senate. We applaud the Senator for his vision and leadership to ensure the federal government is better positioned to support the industry and urge all Democrat and Republican Senators to support this important legislation.”
“With a long and rich history of manufacturing hundreds of world class products in Winn, Michigan, we know first-hand the critical role that manufacturing plays as the engine that drives the economy by creating jobs, opportunity, and prosperity for Americans,” said John Foote, senior vice president at Morbark. “This has been especially true in our rural central Michigan area. We also recognize the need for a more far-reaching and strategic approach to ensure that the manufacturing sector and its workforce receives the resources and leadership they need to continue to innovate and manufacture in Michigan and across the United States. We would like to thank Senator Gary Peters for his steadfast leadership to strengthen the sector and ensure the future competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing in the global economy. Senator Peters has personally met with us in the past, listened to our needs and responded proactively. We hope that his colleagues in the United States Senate will support his legislation and work in a bipartisan and collaborative fashion to make America the best country in the world to manufacture.”
AEM was the first trade association to call for a comprehensive national strategy for manufacturing “to develop and implement a comprehensive national strategy for manufacturing to strengthen the economy, create new jobs and opportunities, and ensure the U.S. is the best place in the world for equipment manufacturers to innovate, manufacture, and do business.” Currently, there are 58 manufacturing-related programs across nearly a dozen federal agencies, making it unnecessarily difficult and expensive to carry out missions and impossible to estimate total federal investment in manufacturing. AEM believes a coordinated national effort would significantly increase efficiencies and collaboration across existing federal manufacturing programs, reduce wasteful spending and improve the ability and accountability of the federal government to respond to rapid changes in the global manufacturing landscape.