President Obama Hosts "Insourcing American Jobs" Forum at the White House
January 11, 2012
Marlin Steel Wire President Drew Greenblatt was invited to participate and speak about the global economic trends that led companies to start, expand, or relocate to the United States, including the changing environment for investment around the world and the comparative advantages that make the U.S. an attractive place for making goods and providing services.
Drew Greenblatt Advises the White House and the Secretary of Commerce on Obstacles for American Manufacturers
President of Marlin Steel Wire, Drew Greenblatt, was invited to the White House Conference on Insourcing American Jobs on January 11, 2012. There were long speeches by officials who said they were in favor of creating more jobs in America. During the Question-and-Answer period, however, Greenblatt was very specific in pointing out the problem faced by every company: the high corporate income tax rate. He outlined his difficulty in competing with Canadian wire and sheet metal fabricators. Their income tax rate is less than half that of American companies AND the health insurance is free. The answer from the Secretary of Commerce indicated there would be no solution soon. Then Drew mentioned that the President’s own economics advisor, Gene Sperling, wants to support change that would help private companies, but there are no visible signs going forward. It appears we will have to wait for a while longer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU4s1fhjKUg
Partial Transcript:
DREW GREENBLATT:
We applaud what you're trying to accomplish here in America and make this a place to grow and build things. I own a steel factory in Baltimore. Like Intel, we make everything in the U.S.A. out of Baltimore. We export to 35 countries. One of the things that hamstrings us is our tax policy. I compete with Canada; they have an 18% rate and it’s declining. That includes health insurance for all their employees. Intel pays 32% taxes; I have a higher tax rate than that because everything goes through me personally. I have to pay for Blue Cross and Blue Shield for my employees on top of the high 40% rate. I think that something that you could do to help us; what President Obama could do to help us, is to make our tax rates competitive so that we could beat Canada, we could beat Germany and we could beat China. More jobs would be created here and then we will be able to hire more unemployed Baltimore City steel workers.
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE JOHN BRYSON:
That’s powerful and absolutely critically important. I think you likely know that the President is committed to doing that. A reality is that right now, at this time, this Congress, where it’s been so hard to get anything passed, may not be the time where this gets done. But I can tell you candidly, I’ve been part of a very large number of planning dialogues across this Federal Government on how we can do that, how to structure; there’s a lot of work being done on this. I hope something could be done as soon as possibly could be achieved.
DREW GREENBLATT:
When Gene Sperling talked about how incentives for manufacturing should be a guiding principle; I think he’s right. I think we should do it.
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE JOHN BRYSON:
Yes, perhaps you know that the President also asked me to lead a manufacturing coordination effort across the Federal Government, so it’s a big focus of mine. Gene will do the White House policy, but the practical, reaching out to all of you, I’d like to get your name and follow-up and have a direct conversation
Lee Branstetter (Senior Economist of the Council of Economic Advisers) and Drew Greenblatt in the White House discuss European debt crisis and its impact on USA exports and how factories are impacted.
US Ambassador Ron Kirk and Drew Greenblatt in the White House discussing Marlin Steel's exports to Japan from Marlin Steel's brand new USA Made Laser.
President Obama discusses growing USA Jobs and how important it is to be globally competitive.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2012
WEDNESDAY: President Obama Hosts “Insourcing American Jobs” Forum at the White House
On Wednesday, January 11, 2012, President Obama and Vice President Biden will host an “Insourcing American Jobs” forum at the White House focused on the increasing trend of companies choosing to “insource” jobs and invest in growing in the United States.
As part of the “Insourcing American Jobs” forum, the President will meet with business leaders, as well as experts on the topic, to discuss why it’s competitive to locate in the United States and what more can be done to work with companies to take similar steps to insource American jobs. Following the meeting, the President will deliver remarks to a group that will include leaders from the government and the private sector that are taking steps to encourage companies to insource and invest in America. In the afternoon, Cabinet officials will host panel discussions with both small and large businesses and experts on insourcing and investing in America.
Further logistical details about coverage of the forum will be released in the coming days.
Over a dozen large and small businesses that have made decisions to bring jobs to the United States and to increase their investments here will attend the forum. Attendees include:
Master Lock: Master Lock is the world's largest manufacturer of padlocks and related security products. Since mid-2010, Master Lock has returned approximately 100 jobs back to Milwaukee, WI that had previously been off-shored. The decision to bring these jobs back was partially motivated by economic reasons related to increasingly higher labor and logistics costs in Asia, and further, ongoing labor availability challenges especially in the coastal areas of China, which have negatively impacted continuity in supply to its key customers. Master Lock plans to continue bringing jobs back to Wisconsin, citing a more competitive overall cost structure, greater control, and the ability to provide better service to its customers.
Lincolnton Furniture: Lincolnton Furniture, a small specialty furniture maker opening in North Carolina, is adding 130 new jobs and re-starting operations at a once vacant plant. Bruce Cochrane, the current owner and CEO, comes from a family that manufactured furniture in North Carolina. The family business was sold and eventually the new owners moved manufacturing to China. Bruce worked as a consultant in Asia for twelve years, importing furniture to the US. Two years ago, he decided the time was right to start his own furniture company back in the US, in North Carolina, in the same plant his family once ran. He recently opened operations and is adding 130 jobs to the area.
GalaxE Solutions: GalaxE.Solutions was established in 1990 and specializes in custom software application development for Fortune 50 corporations, with a particular focus on health care. A little over a year ago the company created the "Outsource To Detroit" program that is a model for repatriating jobs back to the United States. Key benefits include complex, quality solutions, geographic proximity to U.S. customers, cost efficiencies, and elimination of linguistic issues. GalaxE.Solutions opened operations in Detroit in 2010 and, with 150 professionals on board, is well on its way to its goal of hiring 500 IT specialists. The firm is also working with the area's universities and community colleges to train and retrain IT professionals for the future.
DuPont: As part of broad investments the company is making across its portfolio, DuPont started up a new $500 million plant last year to produce Kevlar anti-ballistic fiber near Charleston, South Carolina, that created over 500 construction and 135 full time jobs. The company has made a recent $150 million investment in an expansion of its photovoltaic film production in Circleville, Ohio creating over 70 jobs, and is investing some $150 million to expand agricultural research in Iowa, Pennsylvania and Delaware creating over 500 jobs.
Marlin Steel Wire President Drew Greenblatt was invited to participate and speak about the global economic trends that led companies to start, expand, or relocate to the United States, including the changing environment for investment around the world and the comparative advantages that make the U.S. an attractive place for making goods and providing services.
