Marcy, NY – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Representative Richard Hanna today toured Candella’s Farm and Greenhouses and announced her new bipartisan Made in America Manufacturing Communities Act legislation. The legislation would grow the manufacturing industry in Upstate New York by creating a permanent program that designates local regions as “Manufacturing Communities,” which would put them in the front of the line to receive federal economic development funding specifically for the purpose of investing in manufacturing. Getting designated a Manufacturing Community would help grow and expand the region’s food and beverage manufacturing sector and create more jobs.
“Upstate New York has one of the greatest manufacturing traditions in the country, and we need to help ensure that our local communities have the chance to become leading national manufacturing hubs in the 21st Century,” said Senator Gillibrand. “This bipartisan legislation will unlock millions of dollars in federal economic development funds for smart investments in high impact projects and leverage public-private partnerships to help create good-paying manufacturing jobs, jumpstart new businesses, and grow our economy for years to come.”
“It is a privilege to be here today at Candella’s – a homegrown family business that has been in operation for 100 years,” Rep. Hanna said. “Upstate New York has a proud history of being a manufacturing hub from its earliest days. Over the years that edge dwindled and we saw stalled growth, but now we are back on the upswing with new interests in nanotechnology and other tech-related manufacturing fields. We have seen public dollars enhance private investments to translate into more jobs and a better local economy. I support this bill because our communities in the Mohawk Valley can not only compete to be manufacturing hubs, but with an extra push can transform themselves into globally competitive markets.”
New York has struggled with manufacturing job losses despite manufacturing job growth in other areas of the country. To bolster more growth in the New York manufacturing industry, Gillibrand and Hanna’s bill would create a permanent program to competitively award regions with the “Manufacturing Community” designation. This designation would give these communities preferred consideration when applying for up to $1.3 billion in currently available federal economic development funding for manufacturing. This legislation encourages a regionally-driven approach to strengthening the manufacturing industry. To compete for funding through this program and earn the “Manufacturing Communities” designation, communities would create regional partnerships with key stakeholders such as local and state economic development officials, local governments, manufacturers, labor organizations, and higher education or other training providers.
In order to earn the Manufacturing Communities designation, communities would demonstrate the significance of manufacturing in their region and develop strategies to utilize their “Manufacturing Communities” designation in making investments in six areas:
- Workforce training and retraining;
- Advanced research;
- Infrastructure and site development;
- Supply chain support;
- Promotion of exports and foreign direct investment; and
- Operational improvement and capital access for manufacturers that supports energy or process efficiency, equipment or facility upgrades, the development of business incubators, among other activities.
Gillibrand and Hanna’s bipartisan legislation is cosponsored by Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Christopher A. Coons (D-DE), and in the House of Representatives by David Cicilline (D-RI), Tom Reed (R-NY), Tim Ryan (D-OH), John Katko (R-NY), Cheri Bustros (D-IL), John Garamendi (D-CA), and Lloyd Doggett (D-TX).