By: Rhett Buttle
For more than a century, production has played a critical role in our country’s good fortune by creating jobs in communities across the country, strengthening our supply chains, and expanding America’s economic prosperity. As the U. S. manufacturing industry continues to emerge from the pandemic, the federal government and companies have invested billions of dollars in production investments, strengthening this industry for the future.
Federal investments implemented through Biden’s administration have helped ensure that U. S. production is well supported while also encouraging the country to do more in the U. S. Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), has been at the forefront. of conversations with the White House in his barely thirteen years in office.
In addition to being a leader in production and work, Jay has been an active leader in democracy. In the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 riots in the capital, Jay took a public stance to inspire accountability and protect the dignity of elections. In addition, Jay has led the National Association of Manufacturers to defend democracy and Ukrainian manufacturers.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Jay about his thoughts on the current state of manufacturing, the economy, recent federal investments, and democracy. Below is our conversation, edited for clarity.
Rhett Buttle: Jay, after thirteen years as president and CEO of NAM. What percentage would you give to what you have learned during your tenure?
Jay Timmons: One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in painting is the importance of defining your vision and taking the time to explain it. Part of that was defining the vision with staff and building a greater sense of culture. You’ve established it, strive to stick to it. You may make a misstep, but if you’re committed to a vision, you deserve to put yourself on a positive trajectory.
The deal has been well placed for the decade. And the biggest challenge for the NAM during my tenure has undoubtedly been the pandemic. In the U. S. , production had an incredible time during the worst days of the pandemic, pledging to take the initiative and, especially in the case of the brands that developed the vaccine, literally saved the world.
The NAM responded by turning our agreement into a crisis relief agency. We’ve been working to make sure that brands are designated through government officials as must-haves and we’re making sure that they’re allowed to remain open to manufacture a must-have medical materials and critical needs. In turn, we provide brands with real-time updates and data from government and federal and state agencies, coordinate the availability of private protective devices and other critical supplies, and work with policymakers to shape the law. around the response to the pandemic. In addition, we encouraged others to wear masks and follow healthy social distancing practices and after the progression and rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, we introduced ‘This Is Our Shot’, a large-scale crusade to combat vaccine hesitancy and support brands to help them get through the pandemic. All of this was to ensure the protection of our staff and the opening of the facilities.
We are now living in a new global post-pandemic and brands have made sure that we can succeed at this point.
Rhett Buttle: What do you think about the current state of production and the economy in the United States?
Jay Timmons: Today, the American people trust manufacturers more than most other institutions. This can be seen not only in the numbers on the ballots, but also in the political discourse. Can you think of politicians or elected officials who don’t want to take action?Credits for good fortune and expansion of production in the United States?
When politicians focus on the competitiveness of the productive sector, we get smart policies. The Clinton, Obama, and Bush administrations laid the groundwork for strong industrial agreements that improve our industry’s access to global markets. The Trump administration has presided over tax reform and helped streamline some regulations, while the Biden administration has helped deliver on priorities such as infrastructure, the CHIPS and Science Act, and some provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act that promote sustainability.
Even with underlying fears of a recession, there are plenty of reasons to be positive about our economy. Since the pandemic, the U. S. ‘s economic expansion has outpaced that of all other G7 countries, France, Italy, the U. K. , Japan, Canada, and Germany. of those economies are even smaller than in 2020, and for those same countries, the U. S. had the lowest inflation rate.
Manufacturers have a lot to do with this success. Our industry is now larger in terms of workers than it has been in more than a decade. However, there are many headwinds that are holding back the expansion of the productive sector.
One of the most demanding situations is the avalanche of unbalanced regulations at the federal level. In dozens of agencies, we are seeing successive waves of bureaucratic red tape in the productive sector, and this point of regulatory uncertainty is slowing down investment and slowing down job creation and wages. growth. In NAM’s Q2 Manufacturer Outlook Survey, two-thirds of brands say they would buy more gadgets if the regulatory burden weren’t so high, 47% say they would increase compensation, and 43% would increase hiring. About 63% of brands also reported that they spend more than 2000 hours a year to comply with federal regulations. Data recently released through NAM shows that the federal regulatory burden now charges small brands $50,000 per worker per year. The regulation, estimated at more than 3 trillion dollars, has exceeded the economic output of the entire productive sector.
This bureaucracy generates many invisible costs. In the worst-case scenario, we see that suppliers of critical inputs, such as semiconductors, are forced to build services in the EU and not in the US. U. S. government due to regulatory and permitting issues.
So we have all the ingredients we want to keep the industry growing, leading the economy, creating abundant jobs and quality of life for all. But self-imposed obstacles, such as the current regulatory onslaught, can take us two steps back. for each and every step forward. This wants to change.
Rhett Buttle: Under his leadership, NAM and its nonprofit partner for progression and education, the Manufacturing Institute (MI), have led vital projects similar to progression. What are the promising opportunities to meet conversion desires in the production industry, especially in the soft sector?of technological advancements and convertability requirements?
Jay Timmons: The modern production industry has a strong desire to expand its professional workforce, now and for the foreseeable future. A study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute reports that brands will need to fill four million jobs by the end of this decade, 2. 1 million of which could become vacant if we don’t incentivize more people to pursue modern production careers.
A lot of it has to do with building a workforce that drives virtualization, or what we call Manufacturing 4. 0. Manufacturers were early adopters of complex technologies. In fashion workshops, see 3D printing, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and device learning, robots and co-bots, drones and virtual twins, to name a few. All of those technologies are force multipliers that help make our groups more productive and our industry more impactful.
Therefore, it is now up to the industry to exercise the next generation of production groups to fill those positions. Part of that has to do with education, adding technical and vocational schools, networked colleges, and other establishments that teach the required skills, without the debt that comes with typical four-year schools. Another set of must-have tools is learning or learning systems that help students gain the skills they need to excel in the modern production sector. MI oversees the so-called Advanced Manufacturing Federation. Education (FAME), founded through Toyota and now controlled through MI. Each year, FAME graduates advance into diverse, high-paying careers in specialized disciplines that are critical in the production industry and across the country.
Then there’s NAM and MI’s Creators Wanted crusade, the production industry’s largest crusade, designed to inspire, educate, and empower the next generation of production teams. Creators Wanted has created a list of 1. 6 million scholars and professional mentors interested in learning more about fashion production. careers, generating more than $5. 35 million in positive earned media over production careers and offering a one-of-a-kind immersive production delight to more than 10,000 in-person scholars. In addition to a roadtrip featuring demonstrations of complex production technologies and an immersive mobile experience that tests students’ problem-solving skills, the campaign includes Creators Connect. Creators Connect is the first and only unified platform on which to search and explore career paths, with hundreds of thousands of assignment posts and skills education systems across the production industry.
Policymakers also have a vital role to play in building the workforce, and one of the main tactics they can contribute to is through immigration reform. If lawmakers can come together to pass historic and critical priorities like the infrastructure bill and CHIPS if they act, they can do the same with immigration reform. Our industry and economy cannot function in a closed-door immigration system, and NAM has strived to lead the business network in calling for answers to our broken immigration system.
Rhett Buttle: Recent federal investments through the bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the CHIPS and Science Act have had a huge effect on the production industry. What are the opportunities for this federal investment?
Jay Timmons: Bipartisan infrastructure law is the kind of bipartisan technique that rises above policy, personality, and process. This is how consensus will be achieved and a law that will stand the test of time will be downloaded.
The Non-Aligned Movement supported this legislation. It included many of the NAM’s priorities, adding investment for roads, bridges, highways and ports, but also other critical modernization projects, such as laying the groundwork for 5G across the country. It also includes provisions that will contribute to combating climate change.
U. S. brands are already reaping big benefits from this law. We hear from members about doubling orders, expanding sales, expanding production, and attracting new customers.
The same can be said for the CHIPS and Science Act, which NAM strongly supported and helped shape. When this law was developed, the production industry and the economy at large were affected by severe disruptions in the supply chain, especially in the case of semiconductors. All U. S. brands take advantage of the CHIPS and Science Act, whether they make chips, make products that require chips, or are components of a supply chain disrupted by the semiconductor shortage. The law also provided investments for the advancement of complex technologies, supporting the STEM workforce, mineral excavation, blank energy, and much more.
But, as I mentioned earlier, the regulatory onslaught is an obstacle to the successful implementation of those legislative achievements. The Biden administration is right to point to the infrastructure bill and CHIPS as successes that grow production in the U. S. In the U. S. , however, the president’s production legacy is under threat of being derailed by his administration’s regulatory agenda.
Rhett Buttle: After January 6, you exposed some of the demanding situations you had observed in the executive branch during the Trump presidency. Why did he do this?
Jay Timmons: American brands strive to advertise the values of lax enterprise, competitiveness, individual freedom, and equivalent opportunity. These values have made America and kept production strong, and all of this is the basis of our democratic formula of government.
Our industry cannot thrive and we cannot lead the world if our democratic formula and our establishments are threatened or weakened. Just as brands have been the “arsenal of democracy” throughout history, we will need to resolutely protect freedom at home and around the world and remain a beacon to the world.
Rhett Buttle: What role do you think is in the conversations about democracy in our country?
Jay Timmons: Going back to what I said about trusting brands. Brands strive to advertise lax company pricing, competitiveness, individual freedom, and equivalent opportunities. Around the world, those same prices and democratic principles are under siege by regimes that reject the lax market and refuse to respect the individual’s right to his or her own right. own destiny. Here at home, too, we have become aware of those who go out to sow doubts about the price of our establishments and the formula that makes our way of life possible.
U. S. brands know that can’t happen. That’s why we’re running to strengthen partnerships between the United States and our allies, and that’s why the NAM Board of Directors voted unanimously for a solution that supports the other peoples of Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion. That’s why we’ve been working with our allies in that country in their reconstruction efforts, and that’s why President Zelensky delivered a speech to the U. S. business network at the NAM board meeting.
We will have to stand in solidarity not only with the rest of Ukraine, but also with all the other peoples of Europe. We want to develop transatlantic relationships, grow and engage in industry with our allies and our global institutions and systems. In other words, we will have to unleash the strength of industry to preserve, protect, and expand democracy.
Some wonder if democracies can be resilient and thrive in the modern world. That’s why part of the job of brands, as business leaders, is to help our institutions in this time of uncertainty, to make the freedom-based formula work even better, and to prove that it’s superior, either almost or morally.
Our democratic formula of free business may not be perfect, but it has done more for humanity’s quality of life than any other formula in history. We know it has lifted other people out of oppression and poverty, helping to find answers to life’s upheavals while also allowing billions of people to build the lives they choose.
Rhett Buttle: What would you add?
Jay Timmons: Working intensively with the women and men of the production industry every day allows you to appreciate their strength to make things better and replace things for the better. Manufacturing is, in fact, a unifying force, bringing other people together around answers. to all kinds of problems, from small-scale quality of life issues to massive social problems, such as climate change.
Political discourse also wants to unite other people around solutions. Policymakers could be more attuned to companies’ problem-solving strategy and less focused on policy, personality, and processes. sides – to ensure that our country remains globally competitive and in a position of leadership. Our government could have a much greater effect if policymakers put aside rhetoric and focus on their role as solution providers.