New law would create manufacturing hubs, possibly in upstate region

The federal fiscal year 2015 omnibus appropriation bill included legislation that would create the first-ever national network of manufacturing hubs.

 

President Barack Obama signed the bill that funds the government for nine months on Dec. 16.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.), who sponsored the bill, said cities across upstate New York will now be “prime candidates” for one of these new hubs.
The law, that U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D–Ohio) and Roy Blunt (R–Mo.) co-sponsored, is called the “Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act” (RAMI).

 

It will establish a national network of manufacturing innovation (NNMI) and create thousands of high-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs while “enhancing the nation’s role as the world’s leader in advanced manufacturing,” Schumer’s office contended.

RAMI will seek to bring together industry, universities and community colleges, federal agencies, and all levels of government, to accelerate manufacturing innovation in technologies with commercial applications.

 

Several public-private partnerships in upstate New York would vie for this nationwide manufacturing designation, Schumer’s office noted.

These public-private institutes would leverage resources to bridge the gap between basic research and product development, it added.

Schumer, MACNY reaction
During a recent appearance at Syracuse University (SU), CNYBJ asked Schumer about the timeframe for announcements on these manufacturing hubs.
“That’ll take a while,” the senator said.

 

The Democrat spoke Jan. 12, answering questions from reporters at SU after announcing his hope that the National Football League’s New York Jets keep their training camp at SUNY Cortland.

“[The manufacturing hubs] will really specialize in the new kinds of advanced manufacturing that are hiring thousands of people across the United States. If we can get a few of them in upstate New York, it’ll be a real shot in the arm to our economy. Now what we have to do is get the localities to figure out what they’re going to specialize in,” said Schumer.

 

The Democrat said he’s working with CenterState CEO, the region’s primary economic-development organization, to pursue one of the available manufacturing hubs.  

Central New York’s specialty could focus on drones, the environment, or pollution, Schumer noted.

 

The Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY) has been “very supportive” of efforts to create hubs of innovation and focus on growth in technology and manufacturing, says Randall Wolken, president of MACNY.

“We think it’s a part of America’s reinvestment in manufacturing and you need to do that through technology-focused clusters and technology-focused hubs,” Wolken says.

 

Wolken spoke with CNYBJ on Jan. 14.

He sees a hub as an “opportunity” for manufacturers of all sizes. Many of the firms involved in a given hub will be “established” companies that are interested in new technologies or developing technologies that they can either implement or commercialize, says Wolken.

History
As part of his budget for fiscal year 2013, President Obama recommended investing $1 billion to create a network of 15 manufacturing hubs called Institutes for Manufacturing Innovation (IMI), Schumer’s office said.

 

An initial pilot hub center in Ohio launched in 2012. Obama then indicated his desire to create three additional pilot centers on an interim basis, which the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense funded.  

Obama urged Congress in his State of the Union Address that year to pass legislation authorizing the full network of centers.

 

Schumer worked with Sens. Brown and Blunt to develop the first-ever legislation to create these manufacturing hubs which seek to specialize in a specific technology.

The goal is to more “closely connect” research and development activities to the utilization of technological innovations in American manufacturing.

 

Each IMI will serve as a regional hub of manufacturing excellence, providing the innovation infrastructure to support regional manufacturing and ensuring that the manufacturing sector is a “key pillar in an economy that is built to last,” Schumer’s office said.

Other countries have successfully deployed the model, which would address a gap in the U.S. manufacturing innovation infrastructure.