MONTGOMERY, AL — Manufacture Alabama, the state’s trade association representing textile and other manufacturing industries, enters 2005 focused on a variety of initiatives aimed at promoting the competitive futures of Alabama manufacturers and saving manufacturing jobs.
Manufacture Alabama was formed in 2002 through the mergers of the Alabama Textile Manufacturers Association, the Alabama Industry and Manufacturers Association and the Alabama Chemical Association. The merger created a more diverse association that has quickly become recognized as the strong voice of manufacturing in Alabama and is hard at work to address the competitive challenges faced by its member companies.
“Our association made great progress during 2004 on promoting the interests of manufacturers through a variety of effective programs developed and implemented in the first two years since our formation,” said George Clark, Manufacture Alabama president. “The competitive challenges faced by textile and other industries in Alabama and across America are significant. But so is our resolve in meeting those challenges. We’re gratified by our success to date but, more importantly, we’re encouraged and excited about building on that momentum on behalf of Alabama manufacturers in 2005 and beyond.”
Manufacture Alabama’s initiatives include several innovative public-private sector partnerships that are bringing together manufacturing officials and government leaders at the state and federal levels to create seek solutions to the state’s manufacturing crisis. “We are creating an awareness in Alabama that real solutions to the manufacturing crisis must involve positive partnerships, and not adversarial relationships, between governmental entities and the state’s manufacturers,” Clark said. “Alabama has lost close to 100,000 manufacturing jobs in the last decade — including 38,000 textile jobs since 2000 alone.
“The loss of these good manufacturing jobs is directly related to the state’s financial woes and declining revenues that have created a general fund deficit the last several years,” Clark added. “Clearly, it is in the best interests of the state and all its citizens to find ways to retain and expand Alabama’s manufacturing base and to stop the bleeding in traditional industries such as textiles that are so important to our economic and job base.”
Commission launched
One of the most ambitious initiatives launched by Manufacture Alabama in response to the manufacturing crisis is the Commission on Manufacturing Economic Stimulus and Free & Fair Trade. Created in late 2003 by the Alabama Legislature at Manufacture Alabama’s request, the Commission brings together more than 100 manufacturing officials with Alabama’s top legislative and administrative leaders working together to improve the state’s manufacturing climate.
“The Manufacturing Commission is exceeding our hopes and expectations as a unique partnership involving the active participation of leaders in every manufacturing industry with officials from the legislative and administrative branches of state government,” Clark said. “The result is an effort involving some of the brightest minds in our state focused on a common goal.”
The Manufacturing Commission recently adopted and sent to the state Legislature and Alabama’s Congressional Delegation a package of more than 30 preliminary recommendations aimed at promoting manufacturing competitiveness and saving jobs.
“The recommendations were the result of a lot of hard work, research and evaluation during the commission’s first year of existence,” said Clark. “They cover virtually every area identified as critical to Alabama manufacturers — from enforcement of fair-trade laws to funding of infrastructure improvements, from a pro-manufacturing tax agenda to sound energy and environmental policies. We now are hard at work to implement the recommendations at both the state and federal levels.”
Partnership forged
Another important program put in place by Manufacture Alabama to serve the competitive needs of its member industries involves a Workforce Development Partnership between the association and state agency officials responsible for Alabama’s worker training activities.
The partnership is aimed directly at one of the areas most crucial to Alabama manufacturers — the ability to hire and retain workers with the skills needed in today’s high-tech manufacturing processes. Manufacture Alabama is working directly with top officials in the state’s newly consolidated workforce development system to develop and adequately fund vocational education facilities and training programs aimed specifically at the needs of the manufacturing community.
Supplementing initiatives such as the Manufacturing Commission and Workforce Development Partnership is an array of ongoing Manufacture Alabama events and activities to serve the competitive needs of its member companies.
The association’s 11 standing committees, comprising member-company representatives, are beginning the work of setting legislative and operating agendas for 2005. Manufacture Alabama’s industry councils — including a Textile Advisory Council — concentrate on the special needs of members within specific industry sectors.
An expanded schedule of “best practice” workshops and seminars is planned this year to help manufacturing members attain maximum competitive efficiency.
“People across the country are talking about the manufacturing crisis,” Clark said. “Here in Alabama, we’re doing something about it. At Manufacture Alabama, we’re making a positive difference for manufacturing industries, for our member companies and for our state.”
