During his first State of the Union address Tuesday, President Joe Biden shared his outlook on the latest of American manufacturing.
“There’s something happening in America,” Biden said. “Just look around and you’ll see an amazing story. The rebirth of the pride that comes from stamping products ‘Made In America.’ The revitalization of American manufacturing. Companies are choosing to build new factories here, when just a few years ago, they would have built them overseas.”
On Long Island, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced a new bill designed to support domestic manufacturing, create jobs, and strengthen domestic supply chains. She said the Made in America Manufacturing Communities Act of 2022 will “create good, family supporting manufacturing jobs that stabilize our national supply chain and our local economies.”
Her announcement was made in Hauppauge, which is home to the nation’s largest industrial park, second to Silicon Valley. She named the example of Ignite Long Island, an industry group that represents 3,000 manufacturers and contains 70,000 employees in the region.
The legislation would allow the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to designate for financial benefits industry groups known as “manufacturing communities.”
Gillibrand said the legislation would help strengthen the U.S. manufacturing base through increased financial benefits, public-private partnerships and recovery for local businesses hurt by post-pandemic supply chain disruptions.
“We have the innovative spirit, the drive and the dedication that we need to build that future right here in New York,” she said. “This bill already has wide bipartisan support, so I will keep fighting until we pass it, which I am hopeful we will be able to do in the next few weeks.”
Alluded to in Biden’s picture of the U.S. workforce, the bill is a successor of the Obama-era government-wide initiative “Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership,” according to Gillibrand. When operated, it profitably enrolled 24 locally organized public-private consortiums.
The “Made in America” legislation also includes the following provisions:
- Eligible consortiums include partnerships between commercial industry, state and local government organizations, and academic or nonprofit organizations to convene community stakeholders and set the foundation for long-term investments in manufacturing communities.
- Eligible consortiums can be designated as a manufacturing community for a five-year period, after which they can apply for re-designation for two additional two-year periods.
- Approved manufacturing communities will receive assistance and investments in equipment or facility upgrades; workforce training, retraining, or recruitment and retention; business incubators; advanced research and commercialization; supply chain development; and assistance for small business concerns.
