NAM logo 1896-1930

The Beginning of the NAM

Origin. The NAM was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1895. The U.S. was in the midst of a deep recession in the mid-1890s, and many of the nation's manufacturers perceived a strong need to locate new markets for their products in other countries. An influential Southern newspaper, The Dixie , was among those calling for a "national association of manufacturers."

A group of Cincinnati businessmen, largely composed of members of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Manufacturers Association, convened in Oddfellows Hall in Cincinnati on January 22-25, 1895. A total of 583 association and manufacturing executives from all corners of the U.S. attended. Thomas Dolan of Philadelphia was chosen as the non-partisan association's first president. Ohio Governor William McKinley addressed the convention and the city of Cincinnati gave the delegates a gala welcome.

Objectives. The organizing convention, under the leadership of Thomas Eagen, adopted the following objectives:

• Retention and supply of home markets with U.S. products and extension of foreign trade;
• Development of reciprocal trade relations between the U.S. and foreign governments;
• Rehabilitation of the U.S. Merchant Marine;
• Construction of a canal in Central America; and
• Improvement and extension of U.S. waterways.

The first annual convention was held in Chicago in January 1896. The name "National Association of Manufacturers of the United States of America" and a constitution were adopted.

Early Years

The NAM began primarily as an association of associations. Individual manufacturers were only secondary members. Within three years, however, the emphasis was shifted to individual manufacturers to generate sufficient financial support and better represent manufacturers' interests.

Trade Promotion. The NAM established warehouses overseas and sent representatives to key foreign countries to enhance U.S. exports. The NAM also advocated higher tariffs and bilateral reciprocity, both of which were substantially achieved during the administration of President McKinley from 1897-1901.

Commerce Department. As early as 1896, the NAM called for the creation of the Department of Commerce, which became a reality seven years later.

Employee Relations. The genesis of the NAM's commitment to sound employee relations policies was the anthracite coal strike of 1902. The following year, the NAM established an internal department to advocate open shop labor policies.

Intellectual Property. The NAM's involvement in intellectual property issues was evident as early as 1904, when it sought improvement in the administration of the U.S. Patent Office and the creation of a Court of Patent Appeals.

Business Organizations. In 1905, NAM headquarters was established in New York. Sometimes called the "mother of business organizations," the NAM helped launch the National Council of Commerce (later the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) in 1907. The NAM also spearheaded the organization of the National Industrial Conference Board (now the Conference Board) in 1917, the National Safety Council and the National Industrial Council (NIC). Established in 1907, the NIC (State Associations Group and Employer Association Group) continues to serve as liaison between the NAM and local and state associations. One branch of the NIC, the Manufacturing Trade Associations Group, eventually became the NAM Associations Council in 1981. It is now known as the NAM Council of Manufacturing Associations.

Vocational Education. The NAM developed recommendations for vocational education programs in 1910-11 which led to the adoption of such programs in schools throughout the country.

Safety. During the period from 1908 to 1916, the NAM exercised leadership in the field of workplace safety. The NAM and three other associations established a program to begin standardizing safety devices in 1916, an effort which won plaudits from President Woodrow Wilson's Commission on Industrial Relations. Earlier, the association launched intensive studies of accident problems both in the U.S. and abroad. The NAM also called for workmen's compensation laws--two years before the American Federation of Labor advocated them.

Parcel Post. After years of work, the NAM's influence helped lead to the establishment of the Parcel Post System in 1913.

Trade. The NAM held its first international conference to facilitate commercial trading--with 800 delegates from 30 countries--in 1915.

War Preparation. In anticipation of this country's entrance into a World War, the NAM in 1916 adopted a resolution stressing the need for a broad plan of military and naval preparedness.

Fiscal Responsibility. The NAM's work to encourage fiscal responsibility was evident as early as 1919, when the association proposed a tax reform plan and the adoption of a national budget system.

1920s

Public Affairs. The NAM produced a Platform of American Industry, large parts of which became planks in the Republican and Democratic 1920 platforms.

Voter Participation. In 1924, the NAM developed its first "Get out the Vote" campaign on the premise that full participation in the rights of citizenship would maximize the quality of government.

Tax Reform. The NAM devoted much of 1925-26 to advocating tax reforms and tax cuts conducive to economic growth. The association also worked for the long-term reauthorization of the Federal Reserve Bank system.

Trade. The NAM phased out its trade promotion activities on behalf of individual companies in the 1920s. The NAM increasingly emphasized the promotion of broad policies that foster international trade.

NAM logo 1931-1947

1930s

Public Relations. In 1934, concern over many of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal proposals and key labor issues prompted the NAM to launch a public relations campaign "for the dissemination of sound American doctrines to the public."

During the next 13 years, the NAM's National Industrial Information Committee spent more than $15 million on leaflets, movie shorts, radio speeches, films for schools, reprints of articles by economists, and other public relations efforts. A daily NAM column appeared in 260 newspapers with a circulation of more than 4.5 million persons in 1936. The NAM's movie shorts were seen by six million persons in 1937.

During the same period, the NAM's membership and dues income also grew significantly.

War Preparation. The NAM formed a Committee on National Defense and Industrial Mobilization well before World War II began. This panel helped the federal government anticipate the economic strains of war preparation.

1940s

World War II. In conjunction with its NIC affiliates, the NAM prepared and presented to the U.S. Office of Production Management a nationwide inventory of plant facilities on May 1, 1941.

During World War II, the NAM engaged in many activities including a plant-level employee morale program entitled "Soldiers of Production." The association also conducted community relations efforts and assisted companies with such wartime problems as priorities, allocations, etc.

Before the end of the war, the NAM concentrated on preparing for postwar reconversion problems, such as contract termination, disposal of surpluses, reconversion to civilian production, and rehabilitation of veterans.

Trade. A 1944 trade conference cosponsored by the NAM in Rye, New York drew business community participants from 52 allied and neutral countries, including Russia. It was the largest international business conference held up to that time.

Price Controls. In the immediate postwar years, the NAM successfully lobbied for the removal of wartime price controls.

Labor Relations. The NAM played a leading role in the 1947 enactment, overriding President Harry Truman's veto, of the Taft-Hartley Act, which served to level the playing field in labor relations.

NAM logo 1948-1957

NAM logo 1958-1959

1950s

Public Relations. Following the advent of commercial television, the NAM launched its own 15-minute television program, "Industry on Parade," in 1950. By 1952, the Peabody Award-winning show was being telecast in 76 of the 78 U.S. television markets. After communicating a pro-free enterprise message on television, the educational films were deposited with schools for classroom use.

NAM members and staff also made hundreds of "HOBSO" presentations on "How our Business System Operates." A traveling exposition entitled "Americade" dramatized America's progress and opportunity.

Employee Relations. Throughout the 1950s, the NAM's popular Industrial Relations Institutes provided insights on employee relations topics. The NAM also conducted hundreds of local clinics on company-employee communications, employment stabilization and salaried employee issues.

Labor Legislation. A major NAM effort to document the abuses of union power led to the 1959 enactment of the Landrum-Griffin Act, which was designed to ensure proper handling of union funds and to guarantee union members the right to a democratically-run union.

NAM logo 1960-1966

1960s

Trade. President John Kennedy's speech to an NAM audience in December, 1961 helped initiate the effort that led to enactment of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which resulted in lower tariffs.

In 1964, nearly 100 manufacturing executives participated in a highly successful NAM trade mission to Europe. Members of the NAM delegation met with President Lyndon Johnson before departing and with Pope Paul VI during the mission.

Civil Rights. Following passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the NAM conducted more than 100 seminars around the country explaining to employers their responsibilities under Title VII of the new law. The NAM also cosponsored Equal Employment Opportunity-Affirmative Action conferences in 1968 that featured speakers from the EEOC and were attended by over 1,700 members of the business community.

Public Affairs. In presentations to the Republican and Democratic Platform Committees in 1964, the NAM called for a halt to the government's "spending explosion," a fiscally responsible reduction in the federal tax burden, re-evaluation of U.S. labor policies and steps to increase international trade.

Training. The NAM developed a program called Solutions to Employment Problems (STEP), which provided case examples of what individual companies were doing to hire and train the hard-core unemployed.

NAM logo 1966-1992

1970s

Teleconferences. Taking advantage of new technology, the NAM in the early 1970s held four closed circuit television conferences reaching as many as 8,000 business executives in 26 cities at one time. The teleconferences addressed equal employment opportunity, OSHA, pollution control and the Nixon administration's wage and price controls.

Trade. The NAM placed a high priority on international economic affairs in the 1970s. The association played an instrumental role in a 1973 Soviet-American trade conference. The NAM was also a catalyst in trade missions to Europe and the Middle East.

Move to Washington. In order to increase its presence in the nation's capital, the NAM moved its headquarters from New York to Washington in January 1974.

Proposed Merger. A proposed merger of the NAM and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was approved by the Chamber's Board in 1976. In September of that year--after several months of negotiation and review--the NAM's Board rejected the merger and proposed instead a "joint council" to coordinate activities and minimize duplication.

Weekly News Publication. The NAM launched its award-winning weekly legislative news publication, Briefing, in 1976. The association discontinued publication of NAM Reports.

Labor Law Reform. The work of the NAM and its members helped derail union-backed "labor law reform" legislation via a Senate filibuster in 1978. The legislation would have provided unions with unfair legal powers in organizing activities, with adverse consequences for the economy.

1980s

Program To Revitalize American Industry. In October 1979, the NAM became the first major business association to press for a national industrial revitalization effort. The NAM released a six-point "Revitalization Agenda" designed to combat inflation and reinvigorate manufacturing and the economy. Three elements of the NAM's agenda--fiscal policy reforms including spending cuts; promotion of capital formation; and reduction of excessive government regulation--became the first three components of the Reagan economic program in 1981. NAM staff and member company executives testified and delivered speeches on the effort. More than 437,000 copies of a Revitalization Program brochure reinforced the message with employees, shareholders and civic and school groups.

Social Security. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed into law a package of reforms needed to ensure sounder funding of the Social Security system. NAM President Alexander B. Trowbridge was a member of the bipartisan National Commission on Social Security Reform, which devised the plan. The association also lobbied for the plan on Capitol Hill.

Exchange Rates. A dramatic rise in the value of the dollar in the mid-1980s had contributed to a massive U.S. trade deficit and had inflated the price of U.S. goods in overseas markets. In 1985, the NAM assembled and led a delegation of key member company executives, urging the Treasury Department to take immediate action on exchange rates. Following that important meeting, the Reagan Administration reversed its exchange rate policy and persuaded world leaders to conduct a major international effort to lower the value of the dollar.

Civil Rights. The NAM received an award from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in 1986 for its work in defending goals in the controversy over the federal executive order on affirmative action.

Legislative Information System. Long before the Internet became commonplace, the NAM provided its members with customized information electronically through NAMnet, a subscription electronic legislative information network that was launched in 1987. The network was vastly expanded over time, and moved to the Internet in 1996. The NAM Internet Web site was recognized for excellence by the International Association of Business Communicators in October 2004.

Trade Issues. The work of NAM and the Canadian Manufacturers Association led to the 1988 ratification of the historic U.S.-Canada free trade accord. The treaty, which eliminated bilateral tariffs and nontariff barriers, increased U.S. trade with Canada and was later expanded to include Mexico. The NAM also helped secure enactment of a positive trade bill the same year.

NAM logo 1993-Present

Spreading the Good News About Manufacturing. The Manufacturing Institute. Research by Peter D. Hart Associates in the early 1990s showed policy-makers, congressional staff and the media had an antiquated view of U.S. industry and insufficient knowledge upon which to base sound policy choices. That perception has changed considerably in the 1990s, thanks in part to the work of The Manufacturing Institute, our 501-C(3) educational and research arm. Endeavors have included mailings to Congress, Earth Day events, issue reports, roundtable forums, plant tours, ground-breaking research on small manufacturers, technology and exports, public opinion polls, books, and educational CD-ROMs for students. One especially popular publication has been "The Facts about Modern Manufacturing," which can be accessed from www.nam.org/facts.

Solutions to the Skills Gap. The Center for Workforce Success. As employers increasingly encountered shortages of skilled workers, the NAM and The Manufacturing Institute established the Center for Workforce Success. The center has worked with key partners to identify workforce best practices, encourage voluntary skill standards, publish insightful reports, promote partnerships with community colleges, honor the finest workforce teams and much more.

The NAM Centennial - 1995. For more than 100 years, NAM members have been the foundation of our country's economy and industrial prowess. NAM members celebrated with a broad array of activities throughout 1995. NAM President Jerry Jasinowski and Robert Hamrin authored the book "Making it in America. " The NAM "Manufacturing Moments" series aired on CNN. More than 40 manufacturing awareness events were held in nearly 30 states. Plant tours and editorial board visits spread the manufacturing message. Posters by artist Peter Max helped mark manufacturing's renaissance. An elegant and informative commemorative book, "Manufacturing in America: A Legacy of Excellence ," won five national awards. And more than 1,700 persons, including 150 members of Congress, attended the NAM Centennial Gala in the nation's capital.

National Television Programming. A series of 16 different 90-second vignettes on the importance of manufacturing aired on CNN (Cable News Network) for two months during the NAM's centennial commemoration in 1995. This represented the NAM's first national television programming since the late 1950s.

Member Involvement. More than ever before, NAM members of all sizes are developing ongoing relationships with lawmakers – both as manufacturing constituents and as NAM members in the lawmakers' home states and districts. NAM Local Member Groups, which meet periodically with legislators, help advance these relationships. So does the NAM Award for Manufacturing Legislative Excellence, which honors lawmakers who have strong records of supporting pro-manufacturing policies. NAM Key Vote notices alert legislators to important upcoming floor votes. Those lawmakers who qualify receive the handsome award from their manufacturing constituents.

Small and Medium Manufacturers (SMM) Initiative. The majority of NAM members are smaller companies with 500 or fewer employees. The NAM launched a major initiative to enhance participation of and advocacy for SMMs, who make vital contributions to the U.S. economy and their local communities. Our SMM Initiative has included publicizing the importance of SMMs; a monthly SMM publication, Just in Time ; creation of a President's Council to enhance member involvement; a peer resource network; a Manufacturing Institute report on SMMs; and more.

Interest Rates and Economic Growth. Since the mid 1990s the NAM has been the national leader in arguing that the U.S. economy can consistently achieve a higher rate of economic growth than is commonly believed – without inflation. This growth can be sustained thanks to new technology and the strong productivity advances it fuels. A higher rate of growth improves the living standards of all Americans. The NAM has therefore been in the forefront of making the case against a tight monetary policy.

Global Economics and Exports. With U.S. manufacturers competing in an increasingly global marketplace, the NAM stepped up its lobbying efforts on international economic issues in the 1990s. Our policy victories included the NAFTA and China MFN. A Manufacturing Institute report entitled " Why Exports Really Matter" brought attention to the benefits of trade to American workers and our nation itself.

Technology and Innovation. Technology accounts for nearly 40 percent of our economic growth. The NAM is in the forefront of lobbying for policies that promote innovation and technology. In 1999, NAM member and staff lobbying won an unprecedented five-year extension of the R&D tax credit, the Y2K liability law, patent law modernization, improved encryption policy and more.

Recognized Lobbying Leader. Fortune, Washingtonian and others have cited the NAM as one of the singularly most influential advocacy groups. As the leader of many coalitions, the NAM magnifies manufacturers' influence to score far-reaching policy victories. NAM lobbying achievements in the 1990s included:

• Passage of NAFTA and MFN for China.
• Successful lawsuits reining in rulemaking abuses at OSHA and EPA.
• A five-year extension of the essential R&D tax credit.
• Defeat of President Clinton's job-crushing BTU tax and nationalized health care schemes.
• Reform of the misnamed alternative minimum tax and reduction in capital gains and estate taxes.
• Moratorium on Internet taxation.
• Major improvements in food and drug laws, reducing approval times for life-enhancing pharmaceuticals.
• Crackdown on meritless securities suits, which averaged $692,000 in legal fees and 1,055 hours of management time apiece and discouraged entrepreneurial activity.
• Passed the Y2K liability law, allowing companies to focus on preventing Y2K problems.
• National leadership in encouraging low interest rates and stronger growth.
• Truck back-billing relief and an integral role in passing the bill to improve highways, 60 percent of which were in need of repair.
• Greater access to highly skilled H-1B workers.
• Preventing terrorist access to sensitive risk assessment data via the Internet; and much more

2000s

Repeal of Ergonomics Rule. The NAM was the first business group to file suit challenging OSHA's ergonomics rule and helped led the successful effort to overturn the rule through the Congressional Review Act. This was a particularly satisfying victory. One member of Congress reported that for every one call he received from labor on ergonomics, he received 10 from business.

Over-Valued Dollar. The NAM stepped to the forefront on behalf of the manufacturing community to press the Administration to take action on the over-valued dollar, which is hurting U.S. exports and worsening the downturn in manufacturing. We have built a coalition of support that includes labor unions, farm groups and a broad base of companies and business organizations. The International Monetary Fund and the governor of the Bank of England have also expressed support for the NAM's position on the dollar.

Homeland Security. Following the September 11 tragedies in 2001, NAM members joined other Americans in offering financial and logistical support to the relief and recovery efforts. President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neill and other leaders met with NAM members the next month at the NAM Board meeting. The NAM has also established a Homeland Security Committee and has met on this topic with Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and others.

GetTech. In 2002 GetTech – a unique initiative sponsored by our Center for Workforce Success, the Commerce Department and others – unveiled a remarkable new Web site. GetTech is a multimedia program designed to get middle-school age students to take their math and science studies seriously, so as to be qualified for technology-related careers when they are adults. Soccer star Mia Hamm is among those who lent support to GetTech.

Economic Stimulus Bill Enacted. In March 2002, NAM lobbying sparked the enactment of a bill that includes bonus depreciation, extension of the Net Operating Loss carry-back period, corporate AMT relief, defined-benefit pension reforms and a five-year extension of deferral for active financing income. Congressional Quarterly wrote, “The NAM pushed for…the depreciation deduction and repeatedly pounded the Senate for failing to pass a stimulus bill.” Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas praised the NAM's work and perseverance in securing the law.

NAFTA Industry Alliance. In 2002, the NAM, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters and Camara Nacional de la Industria de Transformacion formed a partnership and pledged to work more closely together to promote policies conducive to economic growth; and to help educate the public on the benefits of the NAFTA agreement and expanded trade.

Legal Reform.At the request of its members, the NAM launched a campaign to enact major legal reforms. The multi-year Fair Litigation Action Group (FLAG) campaign is being waged in manufacturing plants and communities nationwide and on the campaign trail. The NAM's successful amicus/litigation activities complement the FLAG campaign.

Campaign for Growth and Manufacturing Renewal. In 2003, the NAM established a Campaign for Growth and Manufacturing Renewal to focus the nation's attention on manufacturing and its contributions to economic growth and prosperity. Commerce Secretary Don Evans chose an NAM event in Chicago to announce his series of Manufacturing Roundtables around the country.

Leadership for Manufacturers Magazine. The NAM in 2003 launched Leadership for Manufacturers . This award-winning magazine for and about manufacturing leaders extends the NAM's reach and message to 32,000 senior executives nationwide, including those from both member and prospect companies.

NAM Selects Engler As President. On June 15, 2004, the NAM announced that its Executive Committee chose the Honorable John M. Engler, former Governor of the State of Michigan, as the next president and CEO of the NAM, effective October 1, 2004. “Governor Engler's track record in Michigan shows that he understands manufacturers and their workers, the importance of manufacturing to the country and how to get things done,” stated then-NAM Chairman Richard E. Dauch, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of American Axle & Manufacturing in Detroit, Michigan. Dauch said, “Governor Engler is an ideal choice to lead the NAM to even higher levels of excellence.” Engler followed Jerry Jasinowski, who led the NAM with distinction for nearly 15 years.

American Justice Partnership Launched. To bolster legal reform and lower litigation costs in the states, the NAM launched the American Justice Partnership (AJP), bringing together, for the first time, leading organizations to coordinate the fight for effective legal reform at the state level. Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) and AJP President Dan Pero joined NAM President John Engler in launching the AJP in January.

Innovation Summit. The NAM and The Manufacturing Institute worked with a House committee, the Commerce Department and other groups to hold the National Summit on Competitiveness on December 6, 2005 in Washington. The event brought together key leaders from government and industry to prioritize actions needed to strengthen America's innovative capacity, particularly in science and technology, R&D and workforce development. NAM President John Engler delivered the keynote address.

Policy Victories. During the 109th Congress, NAM members secured policy victories including anti-counterfeiting legislation, an energy strategy bill, the CAFTA-DR trade agreement, extension of the cuts on dividends and capital gains, bankruptcy legislation, international tax reforms including extension of deferral for active-financing income, enactment of the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act and prevention of the repeal of the LIFO method of accounting, among other achievements.

Presidential Address. President George W. Bush addressed more than 250 members of the NAM and a large press contingent in Washington on July 27, 2006. The President affirmed his commitment to the vitality of manufacturing in America and called for enactment of such NAM priorities as OCS energy leasing, legal reform, a permanent R&D credit, and making the tax cuts permanent. The address was carried live via streaming video on the NAM Web site.