The Ferguson Group Blog

TFG’s MAC Coalition to Co-Host White House Manufacturing Summit on Dec. 5

TFG’s Manufacturing Alliance of Communities (MAC) has been asked by the White House to help plan and co-host (along with the US Conference of Mayors) a half-day Manufacturing Summit at the White House on December 5, featuring National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling, Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, and Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.  The MAC will also be hosting a Mayors Breakfast and meeting with Congressional manufacturing leaders on December 5. 

MAC (website: www.manufacturingalliance.us) was formed by mayors of automotive communities in December 2008, as the domestic automotive industry was in crisis, to give local governments a voice in the national debate about the future of the industry. Since its inception, MAC has fought to keep open auto plants open, to ensure that communities with closed facilities have the resources to redevelop these sites, and to educate federal policymakers about the vital role that manufacturing plays in the American economy. In 2012, MAC widened its mission to include all manufacturing communities to become the Manufacturing Alliance of Communities. Today, MAC works with 50 communities in eight states and works closely with these localities to craft local revitalization strategies.   

If you are interested in joining the MAC, please contact Bill Hanka at 202-261-6003 or [email protected].

Vrooom… Fueling Economic Development in Auto Communities

On September 4^th the EPA released a report for communities affected by the recent restructuring of the U.S. auto industry. The “Roadmap for Auto Community Revitalization” report highlights successful case studies of auto communities that have reinvigorated their local economies and provides information on sources of funding and technical assistance currently available to communities with historical ties to the automotive industry. This document is the result of the combined efforts of a partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR), the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers, and the Manufacturing Alliance of Communities (formerly the Mayors Automotive Coalition (MAC)), which is a coalition created and managed by The Ferguson Group.

 

There are many success stories of federal support, some of which are detailed in the Roadmap document.  For example, the EPA’s Brownfields and Land Revitalization Program, has provided support to auto communities to assist them with their revitalization efforts, and is making investments to help promote environmental health and economic development.  Since the program’s inception, EPA’s Brownfields Program investments have provided more than $20 billion in cleanup and redevelopment.  In addition, federal investment has created more than 90,000 jobs from both public and private sources through this program.  Success stories include: the City of Flint, MI which diversified its economy with new industries; and Fremont, California where the Tesla Motor Company took over a 50-year-old former GM facility to produce the Tesla Model S and other models that minimize air pollution.

MAC Makes its Mark at Brownfields Conference

On May 16, TFG and its Manufacturing Alliance of Communities (MAC) hosted 2 events at the US EPA's annual Brownfields Conference in Atlanta, GA.  Speakers at the MAC-sponsored Town Hall on Manufacturing and Community Revitalization and the Roundtable on the MAC's soon-to-be-published "Roadmap for Auto Community Revitalization" included Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, EPA Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus and Senior White House aide Jay Williams.

The MAC was founded in December 2008 as the Mayors Auto Coalition and expanded its mission to include all manufacturing communities in June 2012, which now includes communities as varied as Lansing, MI; Indianapolis, IN; and Beaverton, OR.  For more information on the MAC, visit us at www.manufactutingalliance.us.

MAC and EPA Partnering to Bolster Local Manufacturing

If you are interested in a new initiative from the Obama Administration which would provide assistance for communities seeking to retain and bolster their manufacturing sector, please join us on Tuesday, October 30 at 3:00 p.m. EDT for a Manufacturing Alliance of Communities (MAC) Webinar on the US EPA’s new E3 Initiative for Sustainable Manufacturing Communities, which will feature EPA Senior Policy Counsel Matt Bogoshian as our guest presenter. 

E3 provides a unique opportunity for local governments to partner simultaneously with federal agencies and local manufacturers, and it provides a framework for meeting existing energy, environmental, and economic goals for your community.  E3 projects have demonstrated their value by forming lasting relationships among local governments, utilities, and manufacturers and have proven to be profitable investments by the participating manufacturing facilities.

To register for this webinar, click here:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/232669331

MAC Expands its Scope to Address the Needs of all Manufacturing Communities

In June 2012 at our “Keeping America Moving” Summit in Washington, DC, the Mayors Automotive Coalition (MAC) Steering Committee officially announced that the MAC would expand its policy agenda and membership range by focusing on promoting domestic manufacturing and advocating on behalf of manufacturing communities.  While firmly adhering to our base mission of revitalizing automotive communities, the newly-named Manufacturing Alliance of Communities will also be reaching out to non-automotive manufacturing communities that have a shared purpose of retaining their base of manufacturing companies and jobs.

I invite you to visit our website, and join our current members in advocating for the interests of all manufacturing communities.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can support these efforts, please contact me at [email protected].

President outlines priorities in State of the Union address

On Tuesday January 24^th, President Obama outlined his 2012 agenda during the State of the Union Address.  The President’s address centered  primarily on domestic policy, with a focus on building a foundation for economic sustainability and job creation. Keys to this will include job training and partnerships with community colleges, clean energy jobs and further research and development in this area, incentives for maintaining jobs in the United States, and tax code simplification. Savings from the end of foreign wars will contribute resources to this effort.

Indiana Republican Governor Mitch Daniels countered President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address with a Republican response that accused the president of hurting rather than helping the recovery of the U.S. economy during his last three years as president.

The full text of the President’s address can be found here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/24/remarks-president-state-union-address

 

The Mayors Automotive Coalition, an organization of elected officials from automotive communities run by TFG, released a press release applauding the President for proposing new incentives to revitalize our domestic manufacturing industry.  The press release is available here:

http://www.thefergusongroup.com/sites/default/files/funding-opportunity-attachments/MAC%20press%20release%20Jan%202012%20SOTU.pdf