Drew Greenblatt, president and CEO of Marlin Steel Wire Products, takes us on a tour of his Baltimore operations and factory floor, highlighting the people, automation and innovation that enable the company to ship its products to 34 different countries.

Take note, please, of his emphasis on the abilities of the people who work for Marlin Steel Wire.

Drew is a member of the National Association of Manufacturers’ Board of Directors and recently testified on behalf of the NAM before a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing on manufacturing, competitiveness and innovation. Follow the company via Twitter @SteelWire.

By the way, this is the first full NAM in-house production of a “Cool Stuff Being Made” video. Thanks to Matt Preiss, James Skelly and Christian Moritz for their work to make it happen. Looks good!

Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin Steel Wire in Baltimore, testified on behalf of the National Association of Manufacturers today at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, “Made in America: Innovations in Job Creation and Economic Growth.”

His prepared statement covers the wide range of issues facing manufacturing, drawing on the NAM’s Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and Competitiveness. Highlights included his remarks on taxes and regulation, and Drew is always good on trade issues. He speaks from experience on small manufacturers can succeed by competiting in the global marketplace. From his comments:

In today’s global marketplace, manufacturers in Maryland are no longer just competing against Texas companies that compete against Georgia companies. We face competition from around the world. Foreign manufacturers often must comply with fewer regulations and have governments that use every tool at their disposal to give those companies a competitive edge, frequently at the expense of manufacturers in the United States. The solution is to increase access to foreign markets through trade agreements and to ensure the regulatory environment in the U.S does not put manufacturers at a disadvantage.

To do this, manufacturers need an international trade policy that opens global markets, reduces regulatory and tariff barriers and reduces distortions due to currency exchange rates, ownership restrictions and various “national champion strategies.” Congress must enact pending trade agreements, and the Administration must negotiate additional agreements in the Pacific area and elsewhere.

Again, speaking from my own experience, one of Marlin Steel’s core niches is selling custom stainless steel material-handling baskets to Japanese automakers. As we all know, Korean automakers have steadily increased their market share, and I want to sell our custom wire baskets to the Korean automakers as well as the Japanese like we did this week to Mazda. The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, if enacted, will help Marlin Steel compete on a level playing field with Korean wire basket suppliers.

Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin Steel Wire in Baltimore and a member of the National Association of Manufacturers’ board of directors, testifies Thursday at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on manufacturing. Here’s the hearing notice and witness list:

WASHINGTON, DC – The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, chaired by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), will hold a hearing on Thursday, March 3, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building.  The hearing is entitled, “Made in America:  Innovations in Job Creation and Economic Growth.” The subcommittee will be looking at specific steps that can be taken to create new jobs, as well as to bring jobs back to the United States from abroad.  The goal is to strengthen our economy, reduce the deficit, enhance U.S. competiveness, and restore pride in “Made in America.”

The hearing is open to the public and press. Opening statements, witness testimony, and a live webcast will be available online at http://energycommerce.house.gov.

WITNESS LIST

Panel 1
The Honorable John Fernandez
Assistant Secretary
Economic Development Administration
Department of Commerce

Panel 2
Chris Cummisky
Commissioner, Georgia Department of Economic Development &
Chairman of the Georgia Centers of Innovation Board of Directors

Drew Greenblatt
President
Marlin Steel Wire

Douglas Holtz-Eakin
President
American Action Forum (continue reading…)

Fox Business News talks to a middle-class business owner whose company is going to be hit hard if Congress extends only part of the 2001 and 2003 tax rates, raising taxes on small businesses and higher-income individuals. It’s Drew Greenblatt, owner of Marlin Steel Wire, a board member of the National Association of Manufacturers and a vocal advocate for small business.

The segment explain the investments and commitment that have made the company a success, even as the Chinese stepped up their competition for the market. The tax increases would bring its growth to a halt, Drew says.

The reporter talks to an employee, Nathan Myers, who describes the company’s progress: “It’s grown considerably since when I started. It was kind of small and we did things in a very odd way, and now we’re up in the 21st century now.”

The narrator provides context: “Remember, now, we’re talking about a man who makes less than $500,000 a year, his small business employs 30 Americans, growing because of tax cuts, hard work, and innovation in the face of global headwinds….”

And Drew concludes, “It’s very important for the policymakers to slow it down and realize they’re having big impacts on people who are trying to do things…”

Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin Steel Wire Products and an NAM board member, talked about the economy, competitiveness, and the need for skilled employees in a segment Friday on the PBS Show, Nightly Business Report. From the transcript:

DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: After what you just heard, you are going to find this hard to believe. There are employers out there who say they are having trouble finding good people to hire even in this economy. Employers like Drew Greenblatt at Marlin Steel Wire. How can you have high unemployment and you got good jobs going unfilled?

DREW GREENBLATT, PRESIDENT, MARLIN STEEL WIRE: We have a mismatch. We have people out there that are skilled and trained, let`s say, to work in a retail showroom or to work in a MacDonalds or a restaurant. They are not necessarily trained to be able to know what a radius is or to know how to read a tape measure or to know how to read a blueprint or know how to change a bearing, or a die set in a robot.

GERSH: You can see Marlin Steel Wire`s challenge right here — 51 minutes. That`s how much longer this machine will run before it shuts down and has to be set up again. Now the operator who set up this machine has already gone home for the night. His shift is over. If they could find somebody else to come in and set up this machine, it could run all night long. Greenblatt says he is even having some trouble finding a bookkeeper. After getting more than 250 resumes, he found just four candidates who know manufacturing and job costing. One toured the floor while we visited. And, yes, Greenblatt is offering more money — 20 percent more — to find the right person.

GREENBLATT: So we thought it was going to be really easy to fill this position. So we`re actually surprised about how much of a challenge it`s been for us.

Also discussing workplace skills in the segment was Jerry Jasinowski, former president of the National Association of Manufacturers and current member of the Manufacturing Institute’s board of trustees.

Video of the program is here, and kudos to PBS and the Nightly Business Report for its speedy transcriptions.

From today’s page one Wall Street Journal, “Exports Prop Up Local Economies“:

Much of the world may be struggling with the economic downturn, but life has been getting better in Columbus, Ind., Kingsport, Tenn., and Waterloo, Iowa.

These out-of-the-way places have become trade hot spots as U.S. exports, fueled by the dollar’s fall, continue to provide a rare spark in an otherwise gloomy economy.

While many economists expect a recent snapback in the value of the dollar and a spreading global slowdown to soften that growth, exports have become a key to greater local prosperity more than at any time in decades.

Columbus, population 40,000, is an export powerhouse thanks largely to diesel-engine maker Cummins Inc., which has added 1,000 jobs there since 2003. Kingsport, population 44,000, is home to Eastman Chemical Co., which is spending $1.3 billion to upgrade its sprawling chemical plant there on the strength of its global sales of plastics and fibers. And Waterloo, population 68,000, owes its healthy export economy to Deere & Co., which has announced its second major investment this year of its tractor plant there.

The stories reaffirms with numerous examples from U.S. manufacturers — and NAM member companies — the themes we emphasize here at the National Association of Manufacturers: U.S. exports are a bright spot in the economy offsetting slowdowns in other sectors, and given their importance it is critically important that Congress enact the three pending Free Trade Agreements with Colombia, Peru and South Korea. See our recent Labor Day report for more.

The article by the Journal’s manufacturing reporter, Timothy Aeppel (who consistently writes accurate, interesting stories), concludes with some observations from Drew Greenblatt, owner of Marlin Steel Wire Product in Baltimore, NAM board member, and tireless testifier to the ability of U.S. manufacturing to compete globally:

Marlin has sold baskets in Mexico and Canada for several years and more recently has found customers far beyond, in places like Denmark, Japan, Israel and New Zealand. “But my all-time favorite is Taiwan,” says Mr. Greenblatt. “Think about the concept: There’s a Chinese shipping clerk over there that opened a box and pulled out wire baskets that say ‘Made in U.S.A.’”