Manufacturing Council to Meet April 30th

The Manufacturing Council will hold its first meeting of the newly appointed members to discuss and identify the priority issues affecting the U.S. manufacturing industry on April 30, 2013, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will be an organizational meeting to discuss priorities that will be addressed in future meetings. The Council was re-chartered on April 5, 2012, to advise the Secretary of Commerce on government programs and policies that affect U.S. manufacturing and provide a means of ensuring regular contact between the U.S. Government and the manufacturing sector.

BACKGROUND

The Manufacturing Council was created in June 2004 to ensure regular communication between the Federal Government and the manufacturing sector, as well as to foster collaboration across all U.S. industry sectors to promote new ideas for continuously improving manufacturing competitiveness.

The Manufacturing Council is comprised of up to 15 private-sector executives who reflect a balance of U.S. manufacturing industry sectors, geographic locations, and business size. The Council advises the Secretary of Commerce on government policies and programs that affect U.S. manufacturing and provides a forum for proposing solutions to industry-related problems. The Council also works to ensure that the U.S. remains the preeminent destination for investment in manufacturing throughout the world.

The Council’s work concentrates on enhancing the government’s focus on manufacturing competitiveness, creating the favorable conditions for economic growth and manufacturing investment, lowering the cost of manufacturing in the U.S., investing in innovation, strengthening education, retraining, and economic diversification, and promoting open markets and a level playing field.

The Manufacturing Council meets quarterly.

David Hastings of Mount Vernon Mills is the textile representative on the Council and was appointed in 2010. Daniel Harding Stowe, President and Chief Executive Officer, R.L. Stowe Mills, Inc. had been a member of the Council since June 2004