Celebrating American Manufacturing: In October and Beyond

In 2012, the McKinsey Global Institute conducted a study on manufacturing, which included this takeaway: “Manufacturing remains critically important to both the developing and the advanced world…In the latter, it remains a vital source of innovation and competitiveness, making outsized contributions to research and development, exports, and productivity growth.”*

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More specifically, statistics on American manufacturing have shown that “American workers are nearly 10 times more productive than those in China”**, and that for every dollar spent in manufacturing in this country, $1.32 goes back into the American economy.*** In summary, American manufacturing is innovative, highly productive, and completely vital to the country’s success.
For this reason, it deserves to be celebrated. It deserves to be recognized as the job-creator, economy-booster, innovation-driver that it is. It also needs to be showcased and promoted, because just as it continues to advance and grow, the amount of qualified workers needed for the industry grows as well—but the supply of workers does not.

To this end, Manufacturing Day, celebrated October 3, 2014, serves multiple purposes. It brings attention to the incredible work being done by American manufacturers, small and large throughout the country, while highlighting the value of careers in the industry, and celebrating these important companies and workers.

It seems the purpose of Manufacturing Day is working. Now in its third year, what started as a grassroots campaign to bring attention to manufacturers has grown to include over 1,400 events in 49 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, and three Canadian provinces. Last year’s MFG Day surpassed the goal of 18,000 attendees, reaching an incredible 35,000, and this year’s reached over 50,000. It’s safe to say the event, in which manufacturers had the opportunity to open their doors to the public and bring a face and a story to the industry, was a big success.

The fact is, our country’s manufacturing industry is the best in the world, and is crucial for everything we rely on, and for our continued success. MFG Day is a great way to highlight this, and going forward, we can all celebrate and foster support for it every day.

*https://www.mckinsey.com/insights/manufacturing/the_future_of_manufacturing

**https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/10/made-in-america-again/379343/

***https://www.mfgday.com/resources/manufacturing-day-infographic