On Sunday the Chillicothe Gazette in Ohio ran an op-ed (“Manufacturing changes my family — and world — for the better“)  from National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons about what manufacturing has meant to his family and what the future holds for manufacturing in the United States. 

Here is a brief excerpt from the op-ed:

During the Great Depression, my grandfather waited in line for six months for a job at the Mead paper mill. For proud Americans of my grandfather’s generation, a manufacturing job represented a promise of security, a better quality of life and a path to the middle class.

As the years passed, the growth of once-vibrant manufacturing cities slowed, in part because of the changing global economy and emerging competitors abroad. And although manufacturing means jobs — exceptionally good-paying jobs — policy-makers in our nation’s capital, Republican and Democrats alike, failed to respond.

So, as a result of Washington’s neglect and misguided policy choices, it is now 18 percent more expensive to manufacture a product in the United States than in any other country. That figure doesn’t include the cost of labor.

Now more than ever manufacturers need pro-growth policies from Washington that will enable them to create jobs and compete globally. This is why the NAM will contiue to advocate for the policies outlined in the Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and a Competitive America to boost the competitiveness of manufacturers in the U.S.