It looks like “Build Back Better” is far more than a catchy campaign slogan. The massive American Jobs Plan proposed by President Biden this week could be the biggest investment in America and its people this country has seen since the New Deal. Manufacturing Renaissance celebrates the bold plan announced by President Biden that features a renewed focus on manufacturing and the opportunities it creates for inclusion in industry and addressing the climate emergency.
Chicago alone lost over 200,000 middle-class manufacturing jobs in the late seventies and eighties. Economists suggest the offshoring of low-skilled labor due to short-term profit motivations were major factors leading to the precarious economic conditions so many Black and brown communities have endured for decades. Biden’s plan would help those who need the jobs most through major investments in career pathways programs and expanding partnerships between employers and schools, increase opportunities and capitalization for domestic manufacturers while prioritizing technologies and infrastructure that help our communities confront climate change.
Manufacturing Renaissance (MR) is well positioned to be a great partner in advancing these priorities. MR has been an unwavering champion for manufacturing for nearly 40 years. We have demonstrated how to successfully build and maintain public/private partnerships focused on manufacturing that can build programs in low-income Black and brown communities that help youth and young adults get career-track jobs; provide direct support to manufacturers to retain jobs and identify new owners when confronted with succession challenges; and shape local, regional, and national policy related to these kinds of initiatives. MR is eager to leverage our decades of experience to support the Biden Administration to succeed in its bold new agenda.
We encourage every elected official in Illinois and every citizen to support this transformative plan. America is the richest country in the world. We believe this plan will move us closer towards being the most productive, inclusive, equitable and greenest as well.