A Manufacturing Renaissance
Guest: Dan Swinney
Saturday, May 8, 2021
10 AM EST
www.enlightenradio.org
from the Enlighten Radio Studio
Harpers Ferry, WV
John Case, Randy and Tina Shannon, Carl Davidson, James Boyd, Scott Marshall, JB Christensen
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A post from Carl Davidon on Swinney's views:
Proposal: A National Manufacturing Renaissance Strategy
By: The Century Foundation, Democracy Collaborative, Manufacturing Renaissance, Progressive Democrats of America
Establish the National Manufacturing Renaissance Council (NMRC), which develops and monitors the national manufacturing strategy that addresses supply chain weaknesses. The NMRC administers its programs via local multi-stakeholder Manufacturing Renaissance Councils (MRCs).
Rationale
A manufacturing renaissance is at the heart of our ability to strategically address the crises of racism, climate change, and income inequality. As part of Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda, we must build back our manufacturing sector.
But this must be done in a way that is “better” than in the past when Black, Indigenous, and workers of color, as well as women, were last hired, first fired, disproportionately affected by deindustrialization, and excluded from the critical decisions in the productive process. Embracing inclusion and empowerment of non-traditional manufacturing populations in all aspects of manufacturing should be our competitive advantage. Further, only a revitalized manufacturing sector can create the products and processes that will achieve our goals to address the climate crisis, including the strategic development of domestic supply chains that strengthen economic resilience to future economic and environmental shocks. The manufacturing sector provides good, family-supporting jobs, paying an average wage of $84,000 a year including benefits.
Design
National Manufacturing Renaissance Council
The National Manufacturing Renaissance Council (NMRC) is a multi-agency initiative within the Economic Development Administration, which is comprised of representatives from:
Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Administration
Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration
Department of Defense
Department of Energy
National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (Manufacturing USA)
Manufacturing Extension Partnership
National Science Foundation
The members of the Council will be appointed by the heads of the respective authorities and be subject to removal at their discretion. The members will elect a Council Chair every two years. The NMRC develops the national manufacturing strategy every 4 years, with the first strategy developed by the end of 2022. The body sets strategic objectives, including:
Manufacturing representing 20% of GDP by 2035
Net-zero greenhouse gas emissions sector-wide by 2030
Ensuring the diversity of owners in manufacturing sectors is representative of the relevant local areas by 2030
Closing identified industrial capacity gaps to zero
Manufacturing Renaissance Councils
The NMRC achieves this strategy through locally established Manufacturing Renaissance Councils (MRCs). Regions submit competitive bids to the NMRC to create a local MRC with the goal of establishing 30 MRCs over the next three years. The MRCs will be composed of public, private, and community stakeholders, including:
Labor unions
Manufacturing employee associations, such as the Young Manufacturers Association
Faith or Community Based organizations
Manufacturing business associations
Local governments
Community colleges
Minority serving institutions of higher education
The applications to establish MRCs will be reviewed by the following criteria:
Economically distressed communities, measured by magnitude of job loss in the relevant jurisdiction over the past 20 years
Socially disadvantaged communities, measured by proportion of the jurisdiction’s population that identifies as Black, Hispanic, and/or Indigenous
Industrial capacity, measured by location quotient of manufacturing subsectors, history of manufacturing capacity and the strength of its existing community, financial, and technical stakeholders
The MRCs will submit annual reports to the NMRC on its spending and programmatic success in line with the nationally determined strategy. To achieve the national manufacturing strategy, the MRCs will establish and administer the following programs, using federally appropriated funds:
Anchor Institutions: support a place-based anchor institution (e.g., universities, local government) to bring together diverse stakeholders in support of local manufacturing sector, and to develop and execute a strategic plan.
Early Warning Systems: proactive outreach to smaller companies facing closure risks to identify short and long-term technical and financial needs
Re/Cast: develop acquisition and ownership succession strategies for aging firms, focusing on employee ownership and Black, Indigenous, and Latino entrepreneurs
Public Finance: partner with the local governments to capitalize and establish publicly-owned industrial development funds
Education Pipeline: provide resources and training for cultural and technologically competent instructors in local K-12 career education, pre-apprenticeship, skills training, and community college programs, focusing especially on creating leadership and ownership pathways for people of color and women in manufacturing.
Wraparound Services: provide grants to local governments and community-based organizations for supportive (i.e., child care and transportation), mentoring, and social services.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: provide non-traditional manufacturing populations (i.e., women, Black, Indigenous, and Latino entrepreneurs) leadership development, mentoring, alongside DEI efforts within manufacturing corporations.
Funding and oversight
The proposal will be funded by a newly established Community Revitalization Fund (CRF) with an initial $20 billion appropriation by Congress. MRCs will submit annual budgets to the NMRC, which will have the authority to transfer funds from the CRF to the MRCs. In the event the CRF is fully deplenished, the NMRC is authorized to request the U.S. Treasury to issue Treasury securities not subject to the public debt limit under 31 U.S. Code § 3101. The proceeds of the Treasury securities will be used to replenish the CRF on an as-needed basis, as determined by the annual budget submitted by the NMRC.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee and Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oceans, Fisheries, Climate Change, and Manufacturing will review the NMRC’s budget, programs, and fund recipients on an annual basis. The Chair of the NMRC will make themselves available for relevant hearings.
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