NTMA’s Chairman’s Corner for March 2011

NTMA’s Chairman’s Corner for March 2011

www.ntma.org

 On April 5^th and 6^th we will be having our 3^rd annual NTMA – PMA One Voice Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.  Many of you have never attended this conference. I’m sure the reasons for not attending are numerous and are well thought out. For example, I have to run my business; the things that Washington decides won’t have any impact on my business, or if it does there is nothing I can do about it; I’m just one person, they will never listen to me. However, I think it might be time to rethink those decisions as we are at a major inflection point in our industry. This would be a positive inflection point!

 You might have noticed something lately: U.S. manufacturing is starting to be mentioned more and more in the press.  U.S. manufacturing is one of the drivers in returning our economy to growth. The Wall Street Journal recently reported “U.S. manufacturing, viewed as a lost cause by many Americans, has begun creating more jobs than it eliminates for the first time in more than a decade.”  Since our theme this year is Marketing Manufacturing to America it is nice to see that the press has already started helping us. As you read these positive articles on manufacturing you say to yourself, “I have known that for years” or “yes, that is clear to me.”  Please notice you said “I” or “me” or you might have said “us.” Of course we get it and our friends get it. It is the American public and elected officials that are outside of our inner circle that don’t get it and it is our fault!

 Recently I was asked to be on a committee that selects the Youth of the Year for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver. While interviewing one of the high school students, she mentioned that she was taking Chinese at the Community College. I asked her why she was taking Chinese and her response to me was “I think we all need to learn Chinese since that is where everything is made.”  Ladies and gentlemen, I am here to tell you that’s how the American public views U.S. manufacturing, and it is not their fault. We have spent years not telling our story, not showing the public what we do, and not letting our numbers out.

 Jeff Threadgold, an economist who has spoken at NTMA conferences in the past, recently wrote and posted an article on U.S. manufacturing at his website (www.threadgold.com). I would encourage you to go there and read it in its entirety – it will make you realize how important YOU are to the U.S. economy. In his article Jeff states, “It might surprise you that the U.S. continues to lead the world in manufacturing output. We produce more than the Chinese, the Japanese, the Germans, etc.  U.S. output exceeds that of China by 40%. It might surprise you that the U.S. share of global manufacturing output, at 20%-25%, is essentially the same as it was 40 years ago. It might surprise you that output per U.S. worker is three times what it was in 1980 and twice as high as it was in 1990.”

 We know these numbers are facts, yet we do nothing to let the American public know. NTMA is committed to getting this information out, but are you? It is time we all step up and promote our companies and industry to the public and our elected officials. Let them know we are a much stronger and healthier nation if we have more engineers and machinists employed at $22.00 per hour then if we are a nation of $11.00 per hour baristas working at coffee shops. The only way we can reshape the American public’s view of manufacturing is to tell our story and show them how much we contribute to the greatest economy in the world.

 NTMA needs your help in getting our story out; we need you in Washington on April 5^th and 6^th.  It’s time we show our elected officials that it’s manufacturing that will return our nation to growth and prosperity.  Let them know if they want to get rid of the deficit, manufacturing can do that for them. A country that “makes things” reinvests much more back into the economy than a country that is serviced based. We have to let them know that it’s manufacturing that makes the fuel to drive the economy, not investment banking.

 I ask you, no I implore you to attend this year’s Legislative Conference and help us all get our manufacturing message to our elected officials, which will enable us to reestablish ourselves as the drivers of the American economy.  With out us, Wall Street doesn’t exist.