Levin Highlights Work of Michigan Manufacturing Center at Meeting with Senate Colleagues
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
WASHINGTON – Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., joined job creators from Michigan and around the country today at the U.S. Capitol to highlight factors and programs that help small and medium-sized manufacturers grow and create opportunities for American workers.
Levin invited Bill Small, director of the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center’s western branch in Grand Rapids, Mich., at the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee event at which business experts from around the country shared their experiences and discussed ways to help manufacturers and other businesses create new jobs.
The MMTC operates the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program, which works with manufacturers around the state to innovate so they can become more efficient and profitable in order to grow and create jobs. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program, a federal program operating in every state, helps U.S. manufacturers research and develop new technologies, increase efficiency, improve supply chains and out-innovate our overseas competitors.
“Bill has firsthand insight on the recent resurgence in American manufacturing and what we need to do to accelerate that resurgence,” Levin said. “He has worked closely with Michigan companies who have tapped into the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program to grow and create jobs, and the ideas he shared today can help manufacturers all across the country put Americans to work.”
“Having this important dialogue with our elected officials is crucial to the ongoing success of our manufacturing community,” Small said. “The long-term economic growth of West Michigan is dependent on initiatives like this.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Steering and Outreach Committee Chairman Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska; and other Democratic senators joined with manufacturing executives and other successful businesses experts from across the country to discuss ideas for how to help American innovators expand, reach new markets and offer new opportunities to U.S. workers.