MBDA Supports U.S. Manufacturers

Today is Manufacturing Day and it deserves special attention this year. Manufacturing drives economic recovery and for the first time in more than 10 years, manufacturing output and employment are growing. Manufacturing employment has grown faster than it has in decades, with more than 700,000 new jobs since February 2010; as a whole supporting more than 17 million U.S. jobs.  The manufacturing industry also boasts some of the best paying jobs, with the average worker earning $77,000 per year.

Manufacturing plants are not all dirt and grime as portrayed in movies. Robotics and advanced manufacturing have changed the industry significantly with manufacturing plants looking more like sci-fi movies sets than traditional plants. In celebration of Manufacturing Day check out one of over 1,500 open houses, public tours, career workshops, and other events being hosted nationwide. Firms like Alcoa, Applied Robotics, General Electric, and Bausch and Lomb are opening their doors to the public today so they can see how the industry has changed over the years. 

Today Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker is accompanying President Obama on a tour of Millennium Steel, a minority-owned manufacturing firm, in Princeton, Indiana and ranked number 14 out of 100 on Black Enterprise’s 2013 Largest National Black Businesses list. It is the largest minority-owned enterprise in southwestern Indiana and has been a direct supplier of raw materials to Toyota and Toyota-related part makers for over a decade.  Millennium Steel is just one example of thousands of other minority-owned manufacturing firms contributing to America’s innovation and creating sustainable jobs.

The Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA) increased focus on manufacturing has yielded record-breaking results for minority manufacturers. For the first time ever, manufacturing was the top performing industry sector for our clients. In fiscal year 2012, contracts secured by MBDA-client manufacturing firms represented 36% of the total for all industry sectors. That trend was repeated in 2013 with a slight increase to 40% of total contracts. Over the past two years, MBDA helped minority-owned manufacturing firms secure $2.13 billion in contracts and we look forward to continuing our work to support all minority-owned firms. Visit a MBDA Business Center today to grow your business.