Manufacturers: Defense and Aerospace Sectors Vital to Manufacturing’s Future
09/01/11 - The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) announced a defense manufacturing initiative today that will bring together manufacturers in the defense and aerospace industries and their suppliers to highlight the critical importance of the defense sector to our nation’s innovation and economy. As policymakers discuss programmatic changes to the sector, manufacturers are working aggressively to illustrate their roles as innovators and creators of many of the products and technologies used to protect our nation and improve the daily lives of its citizens. Manufacturers know this sector is vital to helping our country maintain its competitive edge in the world.This initiative will be spearheaded by the NAM’s Defense Manufacturing Working Group and will focus on issues such as export controls, procurement efficiencies, rare earth minerals and the extension of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) bill. The group will also work to address concerns about deep defense budget cuts in Congress that would hurt our national security and cripple a vital part of manufacturing that will affect tens of thousands of small and medium-sized manufacturers and up to 3 million workers directly and indirectly, as the ripple effects impact many broad sectors of manufacturing.
“As a supplier to this industry, I know firsthand that the continued success of our defense and aerospace manufacturing sectors is critical to America’s ability to compete,” said Click Bond COO Collie Hutter. “Manufacturers across the supply chain, both large and small depend on the defense and aerospace industries to grow and to create high quality jobs. We cannot afford to fall behind as the world’s leader at this critical time in our economic recovery.”
“Manufacturers fully acknowledge we have to get our fiscal house in order to ensure a healthy economy, and that includes hard choices on our spending,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “Those decisions must be smart decisions and should not be at the expense of our nation’s competitiveness or national security or at the risk of adding to the already high unemployment rate. Much of the innovation essential to our economic development comes from important research and development in the defense and aerospace industries. Manufacturers firmly believe advanced defense and aerospace manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. should not be taken for granted because once they are gone it could take decades to rebuild them.”
Other countries are moving forward in developing their own defense and aerospace manufacturing industries. Brazil, China and Russia are racing to develop new aircraft to project their power internationally and continue to grow their economy through exports. It is critical that manufacturers not stand on the sidelines while other countries seek to minimize strong lead of the defense and aerospace sectors in the United States.
