President-elect Barack Obama has his hands full confronting an array of daunting challenges – the main one being the worldwide economic crisis that is discouraging investment and consumption. Manufacturers are severely impacted by the credit squeeze. Companies with solid balance sheets, good credit histories and order backlogs cannot obtain routine financing.

 

During the campaign, President-elect Obama addressed many of the issues – taxes, health care, education, investment, research and development – that are pivotal to the future of manufacturing. Our shared goals should be to strengthen our manufacturing, reduce unnecessary domestic cost burdens on production, encourage investment, develop a new generation of manufacturing workers for the 21^st century, and enhance our ability to compete in the global marketplace.

 

Fortunately, President-elect Obama is from an industrial state with a formidable manufacturing base. He understands the importance of manufacturing and what's good for jobs and the economy overall. He has opposed unfair trade policies that have disadvantaged U.S. manufacturers and expressed support for key issues that are important for jobs creation, including trade, energy, and workforce training.

 

The manufacturers of America are optimistic about our future and we look forward to working with the Obama Administration to make U.S. manufacturing more competitive and get our economy growing again.