Forty young manufacturers in their 20s and 30s from companies across the country, known as the Next Generation of Manufacturers, visited Washington Wednesday to try to gain support for an Agenda for the Future of Manufacturing in America.
The group consists of managers and future company leaders of steel-consuming companies. Several are second and third generation owners of long-standing companies.
The agenda includes support for key issues such as an end to China currency manipulation, support for Small Business Health Plans, establishing consumer standing in trade cases, as well as repeal of the estate tax.
“Although our manufacturers are doing better these days, they still face severe challenges from low-wage overseas competitors,” said Rep Donald Manzullo (R-IL). “I join today with this new generation of manufacturers to urge my colleagues to support legislation that will make American companies more competitive. We have the most qualified workers in the world who can compete with anyone as long as they are on a level playing field.”
“Like me, many of my colleagues’ fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, grandparents, and great-grandparents operated manufacturing facilities that have been the backbone of America for decades,” said Jeanne Swanson, 26, Director of Public Relations at E&E Manufacturing, and a fourth generation in the metalforming industry. “We formed this group because we have a choice: We can sit back and watch others fight for the future of manufacturing in this country, or we can take the matter into our own hands.”
The Next Generation of Manufacturers represents companies that are members of the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA). The PMA has close to 1,200 member companies involved in metal stamping, fabricating, spinning, slide forming, and roll forming, as well as equipment, materials and service providers for the industry.
For more information, visit http://www.metalformingadvocate.org.