United Steelworkers (USW) District 9 Assistant Director Mark Cochran, USW Local 1066 President Mark Lash, and the CEO of Alex Paris Contracting share how serious infrastructure investment would transform their communities.

Photo courtesy of United Steelworkers

National Skills Coalition CEO Andy Van Kleunen shares how the Biden administration can ensure that America's historically underserved populations most benefit from the president's ambitious Build Back Better infrastructure plans.

Photo courtesy of the National Skills Coalition

It's time to get on the bus! The United Steelworkers (USW)are traveling through the Industrial Heartland this week to advocate for Made in America infrastructure investment. AAM President Scott Paul chatted with USW International President Tom Conway about the "We Supply America" bus tour, which kicks off Monday in Northwest Indiana.

"You can't let your house fall into ill repair because you won't do any maintenance on it for years and years and expect everything to be fine," Conway says. "And you can't expect the nation's systems to take care of themselves."

Sen. Tammy Baldwin joins The Manufacturing Report to talk about the bipartisan infrastructure deal currently being negotiated in the Senate, and the Wisconsin Democrat says she's optimistic that it will pass, and with bipartisan support. Baldwin also discusses why including Buy America preferences is vital in infrastructure legislation, especially given some of the lessons the U.S. learned the hard way during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo courtesy Sen. Tammy Baldwin

On this episode of The Manufacturing Report, host Scott Paul chats with

Margaux DelCollo, the co-owner of Twee, a women-owned maker's studio in Philadelphia. Twee is best known for its whimsical sidewalk chalk, which comes in a variety of shapes and colors. But as DelCollo explains in the episode, Twee brings a lot more to the table (or sidewalk), too.

Photo courtesy of Twee.

China already is laps ahead of the United States when it comes to the production of electric vehicles. That's a threat to the entire U.S. auto industry, and the millions of jobs it supports.

On this episode, Scott Paul talks to Emily de la Bruyere and Nathan Picarsic of Horizon Advisory about their new report, "China's Head Start: CCP Industrial Policy for Global Automotive Ascendance," which examines how China's government is planning to use the rise of electric vehicles to dominate the auto industry, along with what the U.S. needs to do now to counter China's ambitions.

Read the report here: https://www.horizonadvisory.org/headstart

Getty Images

Manufacturing policy is dominating much of the discussion in Washington these days -- but will any of it produce real world results? In this episode of The Manufacturing Report, Alliance for American President Scott Paul joins AAM staffers Scott Boos and Elizabeth Brotherton-Bunch to talk about everything from infrastructure investment to the competition with China to President Biden's trip to the G7 summit in Europe.

Photo by Getty Images

Welcome Industries earned acclaim for its Visual Measuring Cups, which take the guesswork out of cooking and baking — a half a cup looks like half a cup! Now the company is preparing to release its Visual Measuring Spoons, which brings the creative concept to tablespoons and teaspoons.

Welcome Industries founder and industrial designer Pam Daniels joins host Scott Paul to talk about the journey of bringing Visual Measure Cups to market, including why the company decided to manufacture its products in Chicago. You can order Visual Measuring Cups and Spoons here: https://welcomeindustries.com/shop

Photo courtesy of Welcome Industries

The Manufacturing Report first chatted with Okabashi's Sara Irvani in 2019 to learn more about her company's history and commitment to Made in America. Now we're catching up with Irvani to find out how Okabashi weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, and what the company is planning next.

"This is a category of shoes that not only brings comfort, but brings joy," Irvani said. "And in these tough times, I think it becomes more important than ever to have sources of joy."

Photo courtesy of Okabashi

Back in January, Dan Breznitz co-authored an insightful op-ed for The New York Times on how the desire for short-term gains led the United States to offshore much of its production. That policy choice caused the loss of millions of good-paying jobs and left the U.S. unable to respond in a crisis.

Now Breznitz is out with a new book, "Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World," which looks at ways to promote innovation policy that benefits as many people as possible.

AAM President Scott Paul chats with Breznitz about the book, and what the United States must do to bring critical manufacturing back.

More on the book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/innovation-in-real-places-9780197508114?q=innovation%20in%20real%20places&lang=en&cc=us

The New York Times op-ed: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/opinion/manufacturing-united-states-masks.html