The Council on Competitiveness: A Round of Applause for Obama’s Administration

Industry Today, May 24, 2013

A good step forward, Mr. President, the Council on Competitiveness says. However, there is much more work to be done.

That was the gist of the organization’s applause for the Obama Administration and its recent announcement to commit $200 million to create three new manufacturing innovation institutes, led by the country’s Department of Defense and Department of Energy.

The focus areas for the institutes will be:

• Next Generation Power Electronics Manufacturing

• Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation

• Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing

These institutes, officials say, are part of a $1 billion proposal to create at least 15 dynamically linked, regional manufacturing innovation centers across the country, all as a part of the so-called National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. An open, competitive, merit-based process will select the institutes.

The NNMI, according to government leaders, is a program aimed at leveraging the assets of particular regions across the country, while bringing together companies, universities, community colleges, national laboratories and government to collaborate and co-invest in the development of manufacturing technologies.

The announcement is “a real tangible step in regards to what has been an evolving conversation in this country about the importance of manufacturing,” says Chad Evans, the Council’s Executive Vice President.

“This is evidence that the administration is taking seriously the need to create a type of innovation infrastructure that is necessary to compete globally today,” he tells Industry Today. “Nations around the world have made similar, if not larger, investments to support their manufacturing economy. So, this is a signal to America that, yes, the administration takes manufacturing seriously.”

He adds that this is “a concrete opportunity” for all of the major players in the country’s manufacturing innovation ecosystem to work in concert with public and private sector leaders to “optimize and make the investments that are necessary to drive growth going forward.”

Deborah L. Wince-Smith, who is President and CEO of the Council, concurs.

“We applaud the President for prioritizing manufacturing and for embracing the Council’s recommendations in our MAKE report, including our call for the creation and implementation of these manufacturing hubs,” Wince-Smith says, according to a statement from the organization. “These public-private partnerships will bring together businesses, academia, the government and other key stakeholders in our nation’s innovation-based manufacturing economy to deploy the most advanced technologies and combined resources to improve prospects for domestic job growth and global competitiveness.”

AN EXPECTED BENEFIT FOR ALL
The NNMI, Evans briefly sums up, is “an effort to create and to help accelerate, at a regional and local level, innovation opportunities.” In other words, he says, “it’s about creating a space where everyone can come together to share what they can bring to the table, what they feel is missing, and how they can help create that missing middle.”

He adds, “It’s a bridge for all the actors in the innovation ecosystem. It provides a space for this conversation to happen and a space for action to take place.”

Evans expects local and state governments to benefit greatly from this latest development, saying it “provides them with resources” that are going to be put back into their communities.

“This will be, in some sense, an engine for job creation,” Evans says. “It is showing that the federal government is putting skin in the game, locally. It is a sign of surety, a signal to local leadership that not only is the federal government making an investment, but that it will become a magnet and attractor for private sector investment, university engagement, and community college engagement.”

Therefore, in many ways, the administration gets a well-publicized – and perhaps greatly needed – pat on the back. However, do not expect too many more unless more steps are taken, Evans cautions.

“We are in this moment of time where we have seen a lot of excitement in regards to manufacturing,” he says. “We have seen job creation over the last two years in the manufacturing sector after many years of decline. There is a feeling that perhaps we are at an inflection point where some strategic thinking, maybe even some strong support publicly and privately, could reinvigorate what we know to be – and has been documented to be – a particular sector of the economy that creates jobs and adds value to society.”

He suggests that there are many opportunities for further manufacturing investment and private-public partnerships to take place. Now is the time, he suggests, to “help everyone develop and thrive and gain access to tools that will enable them to compete” on the same level playing field.

“Frankly, there are many large, state-owned enterprises around the world receiving a lot of support from their government,” Evans says. “It is not that we want to subsidize our industry. We just want to create a level playing field from a competitiveness perspective.”

That, perhaps, includes the development of a national manufacturing strategy, he adds.

“Our position is that yes, we think there needs to be a strong conversation in this country about manufacturing, but that a manufacturing strategy cannot be done without the voice of the private sector,” Evans says. “We would not be enthusiastic about a strategy that was divorced from the realities of private sector needs and competencies, and the roles that universities, community colleges, and labor leaders also have to play. We all for efforts that will fully engage these stakeholders to think more strategically about the future of manufacturing in this country.”

ANOTHER MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
According to Evans, the Administration’s announcement came on the heels of recently launched, multi-year partnership between the Council and the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

The aforementioned alliance, called the American Energy and Manufacturing Competitiveness (AEMC) Partnership, is part of EERE's Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative, which is reportedly focused on increasing US competitiveness in the production of clean energy products and strengthening US manufacturing competitiveness by increasing energy productivity.

“Like the NNMI, the AEMC Partnership is a critical platform bringing together the public and private sectors with a specific focus on energy and manufacturing competitiveness,” Wince-Smith says. “This important partnership is an opportunity to leverage this historic time in our nation’s energy history to develop real solutions to our nation’s energy and manufacturing challenges; something that cannot be solved alone either by government or the private sector.”

Evans says the Council and EERE will work together across the country in the AEMC Partnership through a set of progressive dialogues to define key barriers, challenges, and problems in the manufacturing of clean energy products and energy efficient products. Then, they will generate potential models for scalable, public-private partnerships.

The AEMC Partnership will also launch a major, DC-based energy and manufacturing summit at the end of 2013.

About the Council of Competitiveness
The Council on Competitiveness is the only group of corporate CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders committed to the future prosperity of all Americans and enhanced U.S. competitiveness in the global economy through the creation of high-value economic activity in the United States, according to the non-partisan and non-governmental organization.