The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters has welcomed the results of Monday’s parliamentary elections, which will return Prime Minister Stephen Harper to office heading a majority Conservative government, as an opportunity for the country to pursue an aggressive growth and investment strategy.

In a news release,  Jayson Myers, CME’s President and CEO said:

Policies, not politics must be the focus of the 41st Parliament. The first order of business must be to develop a long-term strategy for sustaining the economic recovery and driving investment and job creation in Canada.

We need our federal politicians to get back to the business of manufacturing Canada’s economic future and it begins with the Harper government re-introducing the federal budget it tabled in April. That must be followed by a long-term vision for a Canada that builds on our natural strengths – our resources, the skills of Canadians, our innovation potential – to grow our world class, value-added manufacturing and exporting industries.

Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters has developed an eight-point plan to accomplish those goals: (continue reading…)

A middling tune from Queen, which we should have posted last week in time for the National Bike Summit. Darn.

There’s a topical connection anyway, that is, the induction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame of Jac Holzman, the founder, chief executive officer and creative head of Elektra Records, which recently celebrated its 60th anniversary. Holzman signed Queen in the United States, helping make the band a true worldwide phenomenon. We honor him for putting out the two Television albums. For “Friday Factory Tune” purposes, we note his involvement in numerous manufacturing enterprises over the years.

Sound Opinions, the rock ‘n roll talk show from Chicago, just had Holzman on the program for a very entertaining, interesting interview.

• MarketWatch, “Chicago manufacturing gauge leaps in December“: “WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A barometer of manufacturing conditions in the Chicago region jumped in December to its best level in more than 22 years. The Chicago PMI rose to 68.6 in December from 62.5 in November, marking the 15th straight month that the gauge was over the 50 level indicating economic expansion and well above the 61 reading that economists polled by MarketWatch expected for December.”

• Manufacturers’ News, Inc., news release, “Manufacturers’ News Releases National Report on Manufacturing“: “EVANSTON, Ill., Dec. 29, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Manufacturers’ News, Inc., publisher of industrial directories for all fifty states, has compiled a national analysis of U.S. manufacturing based on the company’s state-by-state reports released in calendar year 2010. According to Manufacturers’ News, industrial employment in the United States declined 3.3% and the number of U.S. manufacturers fell 4.1% when comparing the data collected by the most recent editions of MNI’s directories to each state’s previous edition. The full analysis can be seen here. ”

• See also Crain’s Detroit Business, “Michigan industrial employment numbers drop despite improved demand.” Also, Houston Business Journal, “Houston ranks as No. 1 manufacturing city in U.S.” and Puget Sound Business Journal, “Seattle moves up 12 spots on manufacturing list.”

• Phoenix Business Journal, “Small manufacturers have positive outlook“: “What do medical devices, clothing and high-tech netting that can stop grenades have in common? They all are manufactured in Arizona, and their makers are finding success through the creation and development of niche products.”

• Pittsburg Post-Gazette, “Things are looking up: Manufacturers remain optimistic as the economy begins to recover,” using as a news peg an interview with Frontier Steel president John Matig, whose company has withstood some tough times. “Half of the senior manufacturing executives surveyed by Grant Thornton said the U.S. economy would improve over the next six months, and 81 percent were very or somewhat optimistic about their prospects. ‘The manufacturing recovery is widespread and progressing at a moderate rate,’ said Daniel J. Meckstroth, chief economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI.”

•New Brunswick Business Journal (Canada), “Recovery depends on manufacturing, exports“: “A sustained economic recovery for Canada depends largely on a strong, continued rebound of the country’s manufacturing production and strong international export markets, according to the latest outlook from the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. ‘We’ve had a pretty strong economic rebound over the last year, but that was pretty much on borrowed money,’ said Jayson Myers, the CEO of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, in reference to high consumer and government debt loads.”

• The Daily Caller, “Business Roundtable to scrutinize Obamacare for problems, new president says“: “The incoming president of The Business Roundtable, which was once President Obama’s strongest ally in the private sector, said Monday that much of the group’s work on health care over the next two years will be looking for how Obama’s health care overhaul might ‘threaten’ the ability of employers to continue providing insurance. ‘The health care reform bill that passed, there’s mounting evidence that it doesn’t deal with the cost of health care,’ said John Engler, who will take the reins of the 170-member BRT in mid-January…”

There are lots of urban legends we encounter and the one that seems most enduring is that nothing is made in America anymore.  Too many people refuse to see the reality that is shown in government data:  manufacturing output in the United States is at an all time high.  More is made here now than ever before.  

The U.S. manufacturing sector is dynamic and a major contributor to the high-tech economy that too many take for granted.  There are plenty of hurdles, though, that could drive this successful industry off the track.  In the global economy, there are other nations are trade blocs ready to seize the lead in global manufacturing.  In light of the global manufacturing marketplace, we surveyed manufacturers last fall to see how they thought North America stacked up. 

Those results are in.  Today The Manufacturing Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME)  and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu released a report — Made in North America – that takes a look at manufacturing from a North American perspective:  the United State and two of its major trading partners, Canada and Mexico.  North American manufacturers consider the United States the most desirable country for expansion over the next three years and nearly 60 percent of U.S. manufacturers say they will become more competitive over the next five years across the board in sales, marketing, engineering and information technology.

Made in North America breaks new ground in several ways:

• manufacturers said that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a net plus for them with only ten percent finding that it had hurt their business;
• nearly 40 percent said that they would expand R&D in the United States, with China and Canada as the next runners up with 20 percent and 18 percent, respectively;
• the top three barriers to competitiveness are labor costs, work rules and tax policy;
• the top three priorities survey respondents recommend for government action:  labor costs (including health care and pensions), tax policy and the availability of skilled labor.

The report is another reminder that the strong export performance of U.S. manufacturers this year is keeping the economy out of recession.  How much better we would be doing if a range of overseas barriers and tariffs to U.S. products were eliminated through trade agreements like NAFTA.  Candidates for public office should take a good look at this report and help keep U.S. manufacturing strong with their votes in Congress and state legislatures.  As this survey and news reports about it show, we’ve got too much to lose to ignore manufacturing.