WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) manufacturing jobs legislation that would create the first-ever national network of manufacturing hubs was included in the Omnibus budget legislation that passed the Senate last night. The bill is now headed to the President’s desk.
“I thank Congressmen Reed and Kennedy for advancing this through the House and to Sen. Blunt for his partnership in the Senate,” Brown said. “This bill focuses our nation’s strengths toward a common goal: revitalization of American manufacturing and innovation. When American manufacturing moves to other countries, we don’t just lose production – we lose innovation. A Network for Manufacturing Innovation would foster public-private partnerships that give small businesses, industry leaders, and research institutions the tools they need to compete on a global scale. These regional, industry-led hubs will leverage local expertise and will create thousands of high-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs for American workers. We’ve seen it work in Youngstown, now it’s time to advance this effort nationwide.”
Cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act (RAMI) would establish a National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) and create thousands of high-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs while enhancing the United States’ role as the world’s leader in advanced manufacturing. The House passed companion legislation, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY-23), in September.
“I’m pleased Congress passed this common-sense, bipartisan bill to boost manufacturing and create jobs in Missouri and nationwide,” Blunt said. “Supporting innovation and manufacturing in America will help us continue to compete in a global economy. I look forward to building on this success in the new Congress and working with my colleagues to pass policies that encourage more economic opportunity and jump-start good-paying jobs for workers in Missouri and nationwide.”
RAMI would bring together industry, universities and community colleges, federal agencies, and all levels of government, to accelerate manufacturing innovation in technologies with commercial applications. These public-private institutes would leverage resources to bridge the gap between basic research and product development.
Using this model, the Administration recently announced two new advanced manufacturing innovation institutes. One, the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII), will establish a unique public-private partnership jointly led by The Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, and the Columbus-based Edison Welding Institute (EWI). The project is projected to create more than 10,000 jobs in the next five years. The other, NNMI’s pilot is Youngstown’s “America Makes,” formerly the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII).
The legislation is supported by more than 150 companies, universities, and industry organizations. A full list is below.
Associations/Organizations
- Aerospace Industries Association
- Alliance for American Manufacturing
- Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
- America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA)
- American Association of Community Colleges
- American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC)
- American Chemical Society
- American Chemistry Council
- American Federation of Labor-Committee for Industrial Organization
- American Iron and Steel Institute
- American Small Manufacturers Coalition
- American Society for Engineering Education
- ASME (founded as American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
- Association of American Universities (AAU)
- Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)
- Association of Equipment Manufacturers
- Business Roundtable
- Cambridge Area Chamber of Commerce
- Center for Innovative Food Technology
- Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
- City of Dayton
- Columbus Chamber of Commerce
- Columbus Partnership
- Dayton Development Coalition
- Dayton Region Manufacturers Association
- Delaware BioScience Association
- Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership
- Edison Welding Institute
- Forging Industry Association
- Global Automakers
- Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF)
- International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW)
- Jordan Valley Innovation Center
- Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership
- Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET)
- Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus, OH
- Medical Device Manufacturers Association
- Missouri Association of Manufacturers
- Missouri Biotechnology Association
- Missouri Economic Development Council
- Missouri Enterprise
- Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA)
- National Association of Manufacturers
- National Composites Center
- National Confectioners Association
- National Modeling and Simulation Coalition
- The New England Council
- Ohio Aerospace Institute
- Ohio Association of Community Colleges
- Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition
- Ohio Manufacturers’ Association
- One Voice – the joint effort between the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) and the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA)
- The Optical Society
- PolymerOhio, Inc.
- Saint Louis Economic Development Partnership
- Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI)
- Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)
- Society for Modeling and Simulation International
- Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative
- Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce
- Tech Columbus
Companies
- Alcoa
- ANSYS
- Applied Materials
- Appvion
- AT&T
- Autodesk
- BAE Systems
- Ball Corporation
- BASF Corporation
- Battelle Memorial Institute
- Boeing
- Brewer Science
- Caterpillar Inc.
- Corning
- Delphi Automotive
- DJW Technology
- Dow Chemical
- DSP North America
- Dupont
- Eastman Chemical Company
- First Solar
- GE
- Goodyear
- Graftech
- Honda
- Honeywell
- IBM
- Intel
- Libbey Glass
- Lockheed Martin Corporation
- Navistar
- Nestlé
- New Balance
- Nucor
- Owens Illinois
- Procter & Gamble
- Raytheon
- Rockwell Automation
- Siemens
- Silfex, Inc. and Lam Research Corporation
- Smiths Group
- SRC Holdings Corp
- SunEdison
- TechSolve
- Texas Instruments
- United Technologies
- U.S. Steel Corporation
- Volkswagen Group of America
- Walmart
- Whirlpool
- Xerox
Universities
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Case Western Reserve University
- Cincinnati State Technical & Community College
- Delaware Technical Community College
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Indiana University
- Iowa University
- Iowa State University
- Kent State University
- Miami University
- Michigan State University
- North Central State College
- Northwest State Community College
- Oberlin College & Conservatory
- The Ohio State University
- Ohio University
- Ohio University Innovation Center
- Ozark Technical Community College
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Stark State College
- University of California – Berkley
- University of California – Davis
- University of California – Irvine
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Colorado-Boulder
- University of Illinois
- University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota
- University of Missouri
- University of New Hampshire
- University of North Carolina – Charlotte
- University of Northern Iowa
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Southern California
- University of Tennessee Knoxville
- University of Toledo
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- University of Wisconsin System
- Washington State Community College
- Youngstown State University
- Zane State College
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