NAM, Arizona Chamber Host Sinema for Immigration Panel
Immigration reform is an economic necessity—and it needs to happen now in order to spur economic growth and keep manufacturing in the U.S. competitive, NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons told an audience at a recent roundtable in Phoenix featuring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ).
- “Manufacturers want to build consensus,” Timmons said. “Most Americans agree that our immigration system is broken. And we need to fix it, whether it’s major legislation or targeted, specific fixes.”
What went on: The NAM and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry hosted Sinema last Friday for a discussion on fixing immigration policy and other matters critical to manufacturers.
- A seven-person panel—which included Valley Forge & Bolt CEO Michele Clarke and Intel Corporation State Government Relations Senior Director Jason Bagley—talked about the current challenges facing manufacturers and the urgent need for solutions on immigration, workforce development, tax policy and more.
- Held at the Phoenix facilities of defense-electronics company Mercury Systems, the roundtable was part of the NAM’s Competing to Win Tour, a facility-visit and discussion circuit that began in February. Its aim: to bolster manufacturing competitiveness through conversations between manufacturers, political and community leaders, employees and the media.
What needs fixing: “As I travel across Arizona, I hear from employers of all sizes about the challenges they face filling jobs,” Sinema told the audience of manufacturers and industry stakeholders. “This is especially true in the manufacturing sector. That is why I’ve been hard at work identifying realistic solutions.”
- Indeed, the workforce “problem isn’t going away,” added Timmons, who moderated the event. “We have nearly 700,000 open jobs right now. And 4 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled by the end of the decade, 2.1 million of which could go unfilled if more people are not brought into the industry … according to research from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, the NAM’s workforce development and education partner.”
How to fix it: Part of the solution is right in front of us, Timmons said.
- “There are many policy fixes that could build our pipeline of skilled employees—people who can excel in manufacturing positions while contributing to our society and building lives for themselves in America.”
- He referenced “A Way Forward,” the NAM’s policy blueprint featuring implementable action items for legislators on immigration reform and related issues, such as the undocumented population and green-card backlog.
NAM on the air: Timmons and Arizona Chamber CEO Danny Seiden were guests on Phoenix radio station KTAR News’ “Mike Broomhead Show” to discuss the Competing to Win tour and the importance of manufacturing jobs.
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Manufacturers Unveil Competitiveness Agenda Ahead of Midterm Elections
“Competing to Win” offers a path for bringing the country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose
Washington, D.C. – Ahead of the midterm elections, the National Association of Manufacturers released its policy roadmap, “Competing to Win,” a comprehensive blueprint featuring immediate solutions for bolstering manufacturers’ competitiveness. It is also a roadmap for policymakers on the laws and regulations needed to strengthen the manufacturing industry in the months and years ahead.
With the country facing rising prices, snarled supply chains and geopolitical turmoil, manufacturers are outlining an actionable competitiveness agenda that Americans across the political spectrum can support. “Competing to Win” includes the policies manufacturers in America will need in place to continue driving the country forward.
“‘Competing to Win’ offers a path for bringing our country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The NAM is putting forward a plan filled with ideas that policymakers could pursue immediately, including solutions to urgent problems, such as energy security, immigration reform, supply chain disruptions, the ongoing workforce shortage and more. Manufacturers have shown incredible resilience through difficult times, employing more workers now than before the pandemic, but continued resilience is not guaranteed without the policies that are critical to the state of manufacturing in America.”
The NAM and its members will leverage “Competing to Win” to shape policy debates ahead of the midterm elections, in the remainder of the 117th Congress and at the start of the 118th Congress—including in direct engagement with lawmakers, for grassroots activity, across traditional and digital media and through events in key states and districts as we did following the initial rollout of the roadmap in 2016.
The document focuses on 12 areas of action, and all policies are rooted in the values that have made America exceptional and keep manufacturing strong: free enterprise, competitiveness, individual liberty and equal opportunity.
Learn more about how manufacturers are leading and about the industry’s competitiveness agenda at nam.org/competing-to-win.
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The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs more than 12.8 million men and women, contributes $2.77 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 58% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org
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