Nash-Hoff: Even though California is perceived as bad for manufacturing, it is the eighth largest market in the world and ranks first in manufacturing for both jobs and output.
Two Top Issues Facing Manufacturers
After lunch, the attendees were split into three groups for the breakout sessions, in which five issues were discussed and voted against each other, one pair at a time, to determine the top two issues. The five issues were:
- Trade Reform
- Tax Reform
- Intellectual Property
- Regulatory Reform
- Manufacturing Strategy
After voting, the groups reconvened to share the outcome of their voting. The top two issues voted as most critical to be addressed were: Regulatory Reform and Manufacturing Strategy. Regulatory Reform was chosen as the top issue by all three groups because they felt manufacturers needed to have their immediate "pain" alleviated before other issues could be considered. A manufacturing strategy was deemed the second most important issue because if you have a strategy that supports manufacturing, it will encompass intellectual property protection and trade reform.
Attendees were invited to sign up to participate in a Task Force to be formed. I will be chairing the Task Force, so please contact me at michele@savingusmanufacturing.com if you would like to participate.
If our elected representatives will work with business, civic, academic, and labor leaders, I believe we can make manufacturing in California thrive again and once more be the "Golden State" of opportunity.
Michele Nash-Hoff is president of ElectroFab Sales and author of “Can American Manufacturing be Saved? Why we should and how we can.”
