The White House has announced plans to revive a number of US-based manufacturing facilities in an effort to create more jobs.
Last week, US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker confirmed that a dozen new designated Manufacturing Communities will be creates in San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Louisiana, Idaho and Tennessee. These “Manufacturing Communities” will receive financial aid directly from the federal government, helping to revive their struggling infrastructure.
As noted in a Fact Sheet announcing the project, the White House said the communities have created strong development plans and deep partnerships between the public and private sectors. Therefore, the federal government is offering them a lifeline to help keep them afloat.
“These communities forged strong economic development plans and deep partnerships between the public and private sectors, positioning themselves for strong economic growth in the years ahead,” wrote the White House in its Fact Sheet. “Strong foundations for durable manufacturing growth are based on local strategies, which take advantage of communities’ existing strengths.”
So, how much money will these Manufacturing Communities receive through this project? The program is expected to consist of more than $1 billion in funds provided by 11 different federal agencies, although an exact breakdown of the expenses has yet to be announced.
News of this project signals a shift towards reshoring American jobs back to the US. Many companies have opted to manufacture their projects overseas, assuming it’s cheaper and easier to do so. But in reality, this usually comes back to hurt them in the long run by adding taxes, port fees, tariffs and other expenses to the total cost. This, combined with the growing demand for made-in-America products, has prompted many companies to focus on creating jobs here in the US rather than abroad.
The manufacturing industry is responsible for building the American middle class and fueling the world’s greatest economy. The White House fact sheet adds that US manufacturing has been in a decline since the early 2000s, at which point nearly 40% of all US factories were forced to close their doors. Things are beginning to turn around, though, as current data suggests that US manufacturing has seen strong gains in recent years — growing faster than the nation’s economy for the first time since the 1990s. To put the trend into perspective, nearly one million new manufacturing jobs were creating in February 2010.