By Kathy Wiggins
December 17, 2012

In his first official role as newly appointed Chair of The U.S. Conference of Mayors Advanced Manufacturing Task Force, Charlotte (NC) Mayor Anthony Foxx met with Acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank and U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis in Washington (DC) to discuss ways the federal government and mayors across the country can work together to boost advanced manufacturing in America’s cities. As task force chair, Foxx is working to develop a set of strategies that all cities can implement to strengthen their advanced manufacturing sectors.

“Advanced manufacturing presents a critical opportunity to put Americans back to work in high-paying jobs,” said Foxx. “And I’m eager to work with federal officials to achieve that goal. The overwhelming majority of high-tech manufacturing jobs are already located in metro areas, but through the careful coordination of federal, state and municipal policies, I believe we can create even more.”

“Our strategy of strategies is local – focus on the building blocks,” said Blank. “The cohesive force for advanced manufacturing is local, where land use, financing, zoning, workforce development and other factors come together. We want to work with you to help localities put their resources together to create an “industrial commons” and shared research strategy as a magnet for talent. Sharing resources and working together will help cities obtain a competitive advantage.”

One way to harness these resources is through the “Make It In America Challenge” – a $40 million multi-agency competition to accelerate the trend of in'sourcing, where companies are bringing jobs back and making additional investments here in America. The competition, which is being funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) and National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST-MEP) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), will build on the Obama administration’s bottom-up approach to strengthen the economy and create jobs by partnering with local, regional, and state economies.

“The top priority for mayors is creating American jobs,” said Foxx. “Through the Make it in America Challenge, we can support business’ efforts to expand here at home. We’d like to help you grow this initiative to enable competitive investments in cities across the country. This will help communities across the U.S. accelerate economic growth, attract business investment, and create jobs.”

“The modern global manufacturing landscape has changed the way companies do business, but it has also changed the way companies do training,” Solis said in her meeting with Foxx. “The Department of Labor is committed to the development of innovative training programs that lead to industry recognized credentials and arm our workforce with the skills employers want to see from day one.”

“I recommend you set up a SWAT team for mayors, including the Departments of Commerce, Labor, Education and Energy, along with the Employment and Training and Small Business Administrations, to explore how cities can leverage federal programs and resources to train and equip American workers for the jobs of the future,” Department of Labor Assistant Secretary Jane Oates told the mayor.

The Advanced Manufacturing Task Force will be formally launched at The U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting in January 2013, and begin to examine how policies on workforce development, technology transfer, infrastructure, tax reform, access to capital and zoning can help cities grow their advanced manufacturing sectors. Siemens AG and the Brookings Institute will both play advisory roles on the task force. Foxx has pointed to Siemens’ local training partnership with Charlotte’s Central Piedmont Community College as the kind of public-private collaboration and workforce development program that all cities can benefit from.

A Federal Funding Opportunity on the Make It In America award will be published by early 2013, with detailed guidelines for submitting an application, including the deadline for applications.