Workforce

Washington, D.C. – National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons will travel to Minneapolis and Winsted, Minnesota, on Monday, February 25, during the fifth-annual NAM State of Manufacturing Tour. Timmons will be joined by Minnesota manufacturers, students, employees and business and community leaders to discuss the rewarding and diverse opportunities in manufacturing and to underscore the urgent need to inspire more Americans to join the manufacturing workforce. Timmons will also be joined on the tour by Carolyn Lee, executive director of The Manufacturing Institute, the workforce and education partner of the NAM.

Manufacturing has always been the source of America’s strength—and today, we’re building the future. We’re rising to the occasion to solve real-world problems. We’re leading in technological advances, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and augmented reality, that, contrary to the naysayers, will be a net positive for job creation, will boost wages and will help us lift everyone up and leave no one behind. This tour will show us exactly how that’s happening and share this message with more Americans. We’re at the next frontier of manufacturing in the United States, and we should not fear the future, said Timmons.

Manufacturing employs more than 12.8 million Americans, including 320,000 Minnesotans. The tour will spotlight the next frontier in modern manufacturing—how cutting-edge technologies and our traditional strong work ethic are helping manufacturers solve tomorrow’s challenges today. In addition, the tour will highlight the diverse manufacturing job opportunities and how the industry is working to fill more than 4.6 million jobs over the next decade.

WHAT:                        NAM State of Manufacturing Tour 2019                

WHEN:                       Monday, February 25 // Minnesota

10:30 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. CST

Protolabs – Brooklyn Park

8500 Wyoming Ave. North

Minneapolis, MN 55445

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. CST

Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Manufacturers Coalition

Graco

65 11th Ave. NE

Minneapolis, MN 55413

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. CST

Metal Trade Solutions

311 1st St. North

Winsted, MN 55395

Timmons will begin the day at Protolabs, where he will tour the digital manufacturer’s new, 152,000-square-foot Brooklyn Park facility. Following the tour, Timmons will join students from Dunwoody College to discuss workforce opportunities and the next frontier of manufacturing in Minnesota and across the country.

Timmons and Lee will then join prominent manufacturing and business leaders for a roundtable discussion with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Manufacturers Coalition about the state of modern manufacturing in Minnesota and how businesses in the state are partnering with educational institutions to bolster STEM opportunities for the next generation of manufacturers. Lee will also visit Metal Trade Solutions for a tour of its production facility.

The 2019 tour follows the best year in more than two decades for manufacturing job creation. Manufacturers, empowered by tax reform and regulatory certainty, are reporting record levels of optimism, with an average of 92.4 percent having a positive outlook for their company’s future in 2018, according to the latest NAM Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey. In addition to Minnesota, the tour will visit Colorado, Texas, Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina, California and Arizona.

MEDIA RSVP: Members of the media interested in covering the tour or attending an event should contact [email protected]. To learn more about the NAM State of Manufacturing Tour 2019, click here.

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) 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 million men and women, contributes $2.25 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has the largest economic impact of any major sector and accounts for more than three-quarters 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 Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.