Tax Reform Helps Illinois Manufacturer Invest in Workforce and Equipment
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Thanks to tax reform, business looks bright for HM Manufacturing of Wauconda, Ill., a manufacturer of power transmission components.
“Tax reform has been a game-changer for small manufacturers like HM,” said HM President and CEO Nicole Wolter. “We’ve been able to invest in our employees, in our business and in our community.”
As a result of tax reform, Wolter has expanded her workforce and significantly increased pay and benefits for her workers.
“Across the board, we boosted wages by at least 25 percent,” said Wolter. “And we were able to give bonuses, too. It’s night and day from where we were in a decade ago, when wages were stagnant. I’m proud to say not a single person at HM is getting paid under $20 an hour now.”
“Our employees are hugely appreciative,” Wolter added. “They’re buying houses, they’re buying new cars, all because of this big pay bump. Between our new incentives, bonuses and benefits, word has spread and we get calls every day asking if we’re hiring.”
Staff size has grown 20 percent and, according to Wolter, she is now able to provide 100-percent employer-paid health care premiums and a 401(k) match. Tax reform has also made it possible for Wolter to make a $500,000 investment in capital equipment.
Beyond her business, Wolter has also been able to invest in the community to help build the workforce of the future.
“We’ve partnered with a local high school to get the next generation involved and excited about manufacturing,” Wolter said. “We’ve helped develop their manufacturing program to promote the manufacturing workforce of tomorrow. We’ve also given financial help and donated our older machines to their program.”
Local students are working at HM Manufacturing while they go to school through a new paid internship program. According to Wolter, interns earn $15 an hour.
“For years, manufacturers told Congress that if you pass tax reform, the industry would create jobs and reinvest in the American economy,” said National Association of Manufacturers Vice President of Tax and Domestic Economic Policy Chris Netram. “HM is leading by example, using the benefits of tax reform to invest in their community and improve the lives of the men and women who make things in America.”
“Make no mistake–everything we’ve done over the past two years is because of tax reform,” said Wolter.
Related
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.
-NAM-
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
