Coalition Succeeds in Expanding ‘Inclusion’ Scope and Language in CHIPS and Science Act
Andrew Stettner, Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation, attends the signing ceremony of the CHIPS bill at the White House, 8/9/22 For more than a year, Manufacturing Renaissance has played an important role in forging and promoting national legislation that would help create jobs and boost competitiveness in this country. The organization has been instrumental […]
Supply Chain and Policy: Past, Present and Future
Panelists in the event, clockwise from bottom right: Dan Swinney, Founder of Manufacturing Renaissance; Harry Haney, a supply chain and operations expert; Haven Allen, CEO and Co-Founder, mHUB, an independent hard tech and manufacturing innovation center; David Boulay, President of IMEC (the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center). Top right, moderator, Jeff Korzenik, Chief Investment Strategist, Fifth […]
Towards a New Paradigm of Development: MR’s Theory of Change
In recent months, Manufacturing Renaissance and many partners have come together to advocate for a stronger and more equitable industrial policy in this country. Meanwhile, the organization’s dynamic work in Chicago (and other communities) continues. Now, a new report shares what Manufacturing Renaissance has learned and how the manufacturing sector in this country can be […]
Too Good An Opportunity To Miss
As you probably know from my other posts, Manufacturing Renaissance (MR) has been advancing the potential for manufacturing to be the foundation of rebuilding our society and rebuilding communities like those on Chicago’s West Side. Over the last three years, I’ve been working on a paper—Towards a New Paradigm of Development that articulates our larger […]
Update: Re/Cast, Advisors in Ownership Succession
The Manufacturing Renaissance’s RE/CAST program provides advising services to companies that face ownership succession issues and want to stay open and thrive. One look at the demographics of Illinois manufacturing companies tells a compelling story about why ownership succession is a timely issue. Far more often than not, company ownership is older, overwhelmingly lacking in […]
Update: Cook County Early Warning Network
The Cook County Early Warning Network was set up in 2020 to help small and mid-sized manufacturers in Cook County that are facing financial distress because of COVID-19. Companies that can benefit from the program typically have fewer than 40 employees. The program is funded by the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development in partnership […]
Manufacturing Renaissance Agenda: Shaping Industrial Policy in the U.S.
The movement for a stronger and more equitable manufacturing sector in this country is growing. It is being shaped by the Manufacturing Renaissance Agenda (MRA), a national coalition that is working to advance manufacturing policies on a national level. Partners in the MRA have had two successful meetings with senior White House economic advisors since […]
Hiding in plain sight: how manufacturing can save Chicago
Industrial land sitting fallow. Jobs sitting unfilled. Successful businesses with no succession plan. Young people without a clear path to the middle class. One solution? Rebuild our manufacturing sector in a way that includes all the zip codes in our region—inclusion & industry 4.0 Chicago is in an existential crisis: increasing income inequality, rebellion, a 30-year […]
A stable job for those exiting the criminal justice system
In 2013, the Chicago Community Trust convened a small meeting of workforce training providers including Dan Swinney from Manufacturing Renaissance (MR), Diane Williams of the Safer Foundation, Ray Prendergast of the Jane Addams Resource Corporation, and Brenda Palms Barber of the North Lawndale Employment Network to discuss the possibility of developing training programs that could lead to family-supporting jobs for men and women […]