The Alliance for American Manufacturing's (AAM) Meghan McKeefry and Mike Mitchell attended a “Focus on Manufacturing” breakfast on March 1st in Milwaukee, WI, hosted by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC).  The forum included an all-star panel of state, national, and international manufacturing experts that discussed the future of manufacturing.  Speakers included: Kurt Bauer- WMC President/CEO;  Jay Timmons- President/CEO National Association of Manufacturers, Aaron Jagdfeld- CEO Generac Corp., Alan Petelinsek- President/Owner Power Test, Inc., and  Ulice Payne, Jr.- Addison-Clifton manager.  The breakfast opened with some remarks from Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch.  

This was a great and lively panel discussion on the current state of manufacturing.  Most speakers were concerned with the need for a national manufacturing strategy.  “Americans know that a strong economy is one that makes things,” said Jay Timmons, CEO of N.A.M.  

Our ears perked when Ulice Payne, Jr. mentioned China’s five year plan; he was concerned with how China targets certain parts of our manufacturing industry.  We immediately knew he was referring to the auto parts industry.  Ulice thinks it's important for the United States to have a manufacturing strategy to be competitive in the global economy.

The speaker’s shared personal stories on how the recent flood of cyber-attacks have become a major issue with their company and the need to protect their intellectual property, as well as personal data.  One speaker noted that their business got 4000 attacks in one given day, and that it was definitely something the smaller manufacturer’s needed to become aware of and protect their networks.

Another portion of the morning was spent talking about tax reform for corporations.  It seemed like an overall consensus was that the U.S. should lower the corporate tax rate.  The example was given that Canada had recently lowered theirs and that the U.S. should follow suit.  This was the business groups’ solution to China- competition in manufacturing.  

Overall, it was great to meet local manufacturers and  listen to the business aspect on the future of manufacturing.