WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today convened 15 Northeast Ohio manufacturers for an industry roundtable at AK Steel’s Mansfield plant. Brown led the discussion, which focused on challenges Ohio manufacturers face, including limited access to credit, global competitiveness, and retooling for the clean energy.
“Ohio manufacturing isn’t optional, it is indispensible,” Brown said. “As manufacturing goes, so go our national security, our global economic leadership, and our stability as a democracy. Our state and our nation need a strong, stable middle class, and a stable middle class needs manufacturing jobs.”
Brown, recently described as “Congress’s leading proponent of American manufacturing,” has been working with President Obama, Vice President Biden, and members of the administration on the creation of a national manufacturing policy. As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy, Brown held a hearing on Friday entitled, “Restoring Credit to Manufacturers,” which was the fourth in a series examining challenges the industry faces in the current recession. More information about the hearing, which featured expert testimony from the manufacturing and banking sectors on ways to reverse the credit crisis can be found HERE.
Brown is committed to restoring access to credit for manufacturers and to providing retooling assistance for the clean energy economy. Brown is the author of the Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology (IMPACT) Act, which would establish a $30 billion Manufacturing Revolving Loan Fund. Brown’s IMPACT Act was included in the House-passed clean energy bill and has received support from more than 2,000 organizations and businesses including the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). The IMPACT Act is estimated to create more that 680,000 direct manufacturing jobs and nearly 2 million indirect jobs over five years.
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