NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons joined manufacturing executives in Houston, Texas, today for its last stop on this year’s Executive Insights Series. Houston is America’s number-one city for manufacturing, making for an ideal venue to hear from CEOs of leading manufacturers like PPG, BP America, Devon Energy Corporation, Eagle Energy Exploration and Global Energy Ecolab—all of whom are well equipped to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the manufacturing community.
Panelists at today’s Executive Insights event in Houston, Texas.
The manufacturing sector employs more than 890,000 people in Texas and accounts for more than 15 percent of the total output in the state. While manufacturing in Texas and across the United States is resilient and robust, there are several government policies that are threatening its success. Panelists agreed that to continue to grow, we need pro-manufacturing policies that support manufacturers’ core principles, including increased innovation and global market access.
Reauthorization of the U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank continues to be top of mind for manufacturers large and small throughout the country. The Ex-Im Bank supports close to $24 million in export sales, 1,525 companies and more than 152,000 jobs. With numbers like that, it’s hard to imagine the bank’s lapse won’t have a negative impact on Texas companies and the jobs they create. Learn more about the Ex-Im’s economic impact by reading the NAM’s latest white paper by clicking here.
Panelists also addressed the need for Congress to eliminate burdensome, unnecessary federal regulations that are prohibiting manufacturers’ ability to grow. Manufacturers need a balanced, commonsense regulatory environment that will foster economic growth. Right now, federal regulations are estimated to cost upward of $2 trillion annually, the burden of which falls on small businesses and manufacturers. A pro-manufacturing regulatory environment should be focused on clearing paths for growth, not adding more stumbling blocks.
The panel addressed several issues of importance to manufacturers, but the bottom line is that to ensure manufacturing in the United States can continue to innovate and grow, we must have commonsense policies coming from Washington.
Houston is the last stop on the NAM’s second-annual Executive Insights Series. Follow the NAM on Twitter (@ShopFloorNAM) for more information.