NAM launches growth agenda for manufacturing resurgence

February 12, 2013

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) today released A Growth Agenda: Four Goals for a Manufacturing Resurgence in America, which sets a roadmap for economic growth and enhanced competitiveness for manufacturers. Manufacturers are hopeful that the President will discuss these pro-growth policies in tonight's State of the Union address.

"Manufacturers are urging policymakers to support and enact the pro-manufacturing policies that will spur job creation, provide a skilled workforce, and help improve the pace of U.S. economic growth," said Doug Oberhelman, chairman and CEO of Caterpillar Inc. and chair of the NAM Board of Directors. "Manufacturing has the highest multiplier effect of any sector of our economy—investment in manufacturing creates a ripple effect of job creation and growth throughout the United States. We hope the President will include concrete actions in his address tonight that will put manufacturing in the United States front and center as part of the plan for sustained economic recovery."

The most recent GDP numbers show that the U.S. economy has shrunk. Unemployment remains high and manufacturing growth has been stuck in neutral. Pro-growth policies are needed now, more than ever, to grow and create jobs. A Growth Agenda will enable manufacturers to continue to make America strong and will ensure that:

• The United States will be the best place in the world to manufacture and attract direct foreign investment.
• Manufacturers in the United States will be the world's leading innovators.
• The United States will expand access to global markets to enable manufacturers to reach the 95 percent of consumers who live outside our borders.
• Manufacturers in the United States will have access to the workforce that the 21st-century economy demands.

"Manufacturers have the capacity to transform a difficult and sluggish recovery into a high-octane economic revival. However, current policies in Washington are holding manufacturers back," said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. "It’s 20 percent more expensive to manufacture in the United States, excluding the cost of labor, and that cost disadvantage is largely our own doing. We need our leaders in Washington to commit to pro-growth policies that will make America more competitive."

Click here to read A Growth Agenda: Four Goals for a Manufacturing Resurgence in America.