The Cutting Edge™ - November 2003

Association News

By Ken Hutton, Executive Vice President, WMMA khutton@fernley.com

As many of you know, WMMA has been actively pushing NAM to raise the awareness about the importance of manufacturing to the future of this country and then to articulate a series of legislative and regulatory positions that will allow U.S. manufacturing to survive and thrive. As such, WMMA has joined the newly formed Coalition for the Future of Manufacturing.

The NAM has formally announced the launch of a “Coalition for the Future of Manufacturing,” which will help coordinate the efforts of organizations around the country as they campaign for pro-manufacturing policies. I encourage your organization to join this effort.

A statement of mission, principles and activities can be found at www.nam.org/renewal, where interested parties – associations, manufacturers and nonprofit allies – can sign up. The coalition is dedicated to raising awareness, particularly among elected officials, of the critical importance of a strong manufacturing base to American prosperity and the challenges facing U.S. manufacturers today, and to seeking pro-growth public policy changes that will ensure a vibrant U.S. manufacturing base in the future.

The immediate emphasis of the coalition over the next 12 months will be to enact a handful of achievable policy changes, probably including efforts to level the international playing field (currency manipulation), lower the cost of doing business in this country (class action reform, natural gas, OMB analysis of manufacturing regulations), and promote innovation and investments here (permanent R&D tax credit). There may be others, including a permanent manufacturing advocate on the White House staff as well as in Commerce.

If this coalition is successful in achieving meaningful policy changes in the above areas, manufacturing in all industries, not just the wood processing industry, will benefit. Therefore, I again urge your organization to join WMMA and other manufacturing associations in working as partners under the Coalition for the Future of Manufacturing to help secure the future of the wood processing industry in this country. There is strength in our numbers working together.

Click here to view the brochure which simplifies the Popkin study. NAM printed 5,000 copies and encourages others to do the same.

For more information on NAM, visit http://www.nam.org.