In the survey report, the NAM states that, “business leaders are cautiously hopeful that pro-growth policies from Washington will allow the country to emerge from the sluggish expansion seen in the years since the Great Recession.”
Marlin Steel’s CEO, Drew Greenblatt, is the NAM’s Small and Medium Manufacturers Chair. Because of this, he was invited to the White House to discuss with the Administration new tactics for alleviating the burdens that are holding American manufacturers back.
The President: We have some really good news today that's really fantastic -- these numbers. Today I'm delighted to welcome the National Association of Manufacturers to the White House. It's a great group of people. I know many of them well. And I want to thank your president and CEO, Jay Timmons, for being here with us today. Great job.
Mr. Timmons: Thank you.
The President: Great job, Jay. My administration is working every day to make it easier for manufacturers to build, hire, and grow in America. We're removing job-killing regulations and lifting the burdens on American industry like I would say have never been lifted before. We've done a lot of work over the last 60, 70 days, and I think you're seeing some real production. I think we can say this, Mike -- like never before. Earlier this week, I signed an executive order to end the war on coal. We had coal miners up at the office. It was an amazing scene. You had very tough, very strong, very powerful men that were crying actually; and they were crying with happiness. And produce more American energy and more American jobs, which is how I got elected in the first place.
We've created the task force in every agency to eliminate wasteful regulations. And today at 3:30 p.m., with the Department of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, who will be up, and we're signing two very powerful executive orders. That will be something very important -- very, very special. And that will be with Commerce.The President: One of the reasons we're here today is to announce the extraordinary results of a new survey from the National Association of Manufacturers. Your survey shows that 93 percent of manufacturers now have a positive outlook on the future of their business in this country - 93 %. And it was just a few months ago, 56 [percent]. That's a slight difference. That's a slight difference. That's a 20-year, record high -- highest it's been in 20 years, and it's going higher. Believe me, you could come back next month, Jay. I don't know how much higher it can go. And so I'm very proud of that, and we're all very proud of that. And the manufacturers are really starting to invest big money, and a lot of things are happening. It's a new surge in optimism, which is sweeping all across our land.
Mr. Timmons: Well, I do. And I want to reemphasize for the media here that this quarterly survey of our 14,000 members has been going on for 20 years. And to the point you made, this was the highest level of optimism that our manufacturers have expressed in 20 years.
The President: That's fantastic.
Mr. Timmons: And the other statistic that I think you'll find interesting is the right-track/wrong-track question that our manufacturers answered. Just the month before Inauguration Day, the right-track number was only 26 percent. Today it is over 60 percent. So that's a huge growth, as well.
Patricia Miller: I own a plastics manufacturing company in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. We're a three-year entrepreneurial in growth phase with a 40-year legacy. It's great to be part of manufacturing in the U.S.
Ed Paradowski: I'm Ed Paradowski, president of Apache Stainless Equipment. We're in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. We manufacture capital equipment out of stainless steel and other high alloys. We employ 175... We are a 100 percent S Corp, and we would love to have you out in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
Steve Staub: I'm Steve Staub with Staub Manufacturing Solutions in Dayton, Ohio. Hopefully you got a chance to see the "First Day" video that we did with the National Association of Manufacturers.
Joe Eddy: My name is Joe Eddy. I'm the president and CEO of a company in northern West Virginia called Eagle Manufacturing... I bring from West Virginia a major thank you for the work you've done for coal.
Julie Copeland: I am Julie Copeland. I am CEO and co-owner with my sister of Arbill, a Philadelphia-based company that protects people in the workplace.
Chuck Wetherington: Chuck Wetherington. I'm the President of BTE Technologies. We're based in Baltimore, Maryland and Denver, Colorado. We're a manufacturer of high-tech medical devices used in physical therapy and industrial rehab.
Drew Greenblatt: My name is Drew Greenblatt. I'm the owner of Marlin Steel... We make everything in Baltimore City, Maryland. We import nothing. We use steel from Illinois, we use steel from Indiana. We're thrilled with the policies that you are pursuing.
Tom Riordan: My name is Tom Riordan. I'm the CEO of Neenah Enterprises. We're a casting and forging operation in Wisconsin -- 145 years old. Today most of our product are related to infrastructure in terms of street casting, sewer covers, and so on.
Doug Magyari: My name is Doug Magyari. I'm the CEO of IMMI, Inc... we've built the most advanced augmented reality and virtual reality glasses in the world... we've made a commitment to manufacture it here in the United States.
Karen Buchwald-Wright: I'm Karen Buchwald-Wright. And I'm the president and CEO of a family business that manufactures natural gas compressors... I'm especially thankful that you have gotten the Keystone --
Matt Barr: I'm Matt Barr with Carolina Color. We manufacture colors for the plastics industry. We're a family-owned business -- we also celebrated our 50th anniversary this year.
Kellie Johnson: I'm Kellie Johnson, president of ACE Clearwater Enterprises. It's a 60-year-old family business... We're a supplier to the aerospace and power generation industries.
The President: Thank you, everybody. Thank you.
The Press: Any comment on Michael Flynn, Mr. President? Are you looking forward to your visit with the Chinese President?The President: Yes, I am.
For years, business-as-usual operations in Washington have produced layer upon layer of overlapping federal mandates on everything from healthcare, to energy use, to even workplace conversations. These mandates make it harder and harder for employers to keep their doors open.
In fact, for the average small manufacturer with less than 50 employees, regulatory compliance costs are roughly $35,000 per employee per year. How many more workers could manufacturers hire and how much more could each worker get paid if these regulatory burdens were removed or lessened?
According to data from the NAM, manufacturers face over 297,000 restrictions on their operations from federal rules and regulations. This doesn’t include any restrictions from specific states. With so many rules to follow, and so much overlap and confusion, it’s easy to see why regulatory compliance is such a heavy burden on small manufacturers.
We all want cleaner air, safer factories, and happy customers. But, excessive & redundant regulations just don’t contribute much to these goals while they strangle small manufacturers to the brink of extinction.
Being able to work with Congress and the White House directly is an enormous opportunity for advocacy groups like the National Association of Manufacturers. This is a chance for smaller manufacturers to bring the real-world costs of overregulation to the attention of the Trump Administration directly.
It’s a chance to bring about real change that will drive job growth and revitalize the manufacturing sector.
As Drew said before the meeting:
We are grateful for the chance to meet with the President today and share with the White House directly which regulations remain obstacles to manufacturers’ success. We are optimistic about the future, however, we know there is much work to be don, not only on regulatory reform but also on infrastructure investment, workforce development and comprehensive tax reform. –Drew Greenblatt, CEO, Marlin Steel Wire Products
President Trump has worked to alleviate the burdens on employers so that they can focus less on struggling to keep the doors open and more on adding more jobs and innovation to their respective industries.
This meeting between NAM leaders and the President represents a huge step forward for American manufacturing—but there’s a lot of work left to do if we’re going to secure American prosperity for the generations to come. We have to:
We all look forward to the time when American regulatory systems are a competitive advantage for manufacturers rather than a barrier to success. Now is the time to work together to make manufacturing greater than ever before.