Portman Weighs His Support for Manufacturing Hubs
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, wants to get a “better feel” for how America Makes works before deciding on whether to support President Obama’s call to establish other manufacturing sites across the country.
America Makes, formerly known as the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, was among Portman’s stops during a visit here Monday. The trip to America Makes, closed to the press, was sandwiched between two open events, a noon trip to City Machine Technologies and a 3 p.m. forum with the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber at Choffin Career & Technical Center.
“I want to go and get a better feel for exactly how America Makes is working but also how it would work in other places around the country before I decide,” Portman told reporters following his tour and brief meeting with employees at CMT. “The timing is good for me because there’s a possibility this could come up on the floor before long.” Legislation promoting the creation of a manufacturing network came out of committee last week.
America Makes, which focuses on additive manufacturing and 3-D printing technology, was established in Youngstown as NAMII in 2011. President Obama has cited America Makes as a model for a proposed network of manufacturing centers in his past two State of the Union addresses, and has announced the development of similar hubs in Raleigh, N.C., Chicago and Detroit.
Portman said he supported America Makes and has spoken with the co-sponsors of the legislation to establish centers modeled on America Makes, Ohio’s Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Missouri’s Roy Blunt, a Republican. “What I’ve said to them is I like the idea. I want to learn more about it and I want to make sure that it’s paid for,” he said. “We need to pay for it.”
Monday’s event brought Portman together with Michael Rowbotham of Warren, a CMT employee hired through an energy jobs fair the senator hosted last year. Rowbotham, who studied auto mechanics at a vocational school before he graduated from high school in 2012, said he found it hard to get a reliable job after graduation.
Rowbotham, who is in the Marine Corps Reserves, has been employed at CMT nearly a year, said the company's vice president, Claudia Kovach.
So far things have gone well, Rowbotham said. “Everything just keeps going up and up and up” and he learns something new daily, he remarked.
Portman, wearing a Portman Equipment Co. jacket -- the company was founded by his father and where he worked growing up -- sounded familiar GOP themes during his visit to CMT, including several outlined in “Jobs for America: The Senate Republican Plan for Creating Jobs and Prosperity.” Portman handed out copies of the document, which outlines a “7-point plan” to get people back to work. “The idea is to get the economy moving and get people back to work,” he said.
Among the points in the plan are adopting “common-sense” health care solutions, beginning with but not limited to repealing the Affordable Care Act, as well as permitting insurance to be purchased across state lines, opening tax incentives available to employers to individuals purchasing health insurance, and legal reforms intended to minimize frivolous lawsuits.
Other topics Portman addressed were energy policy, including concerns over the closings of coal-fired power plants, expanding energy exploration on public lands and permitting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which he described as a “no-brainer” for energy policy for national security as well as jobs. He also called for tax reform to address the current “antiquated and inefficient” system now, with its “high rates,” and addressing job-training programs.
In addition, he expressed his support for fracking, which has been done safely in Ohio for years, and called for better regulations on disposal wells.
“Done safely, [fracking] is a huge economic boost,” he said. “I’m for it but it’s got to be done right.”
A lot is going to have to happen in 2016, with the election of a new president, but Portman also was looking to this year’s midterm elections to accomplish GOP goals. New leadership in the Senate -- as in a Republican takeover of that chamber -- might get the president to talk about some of these issues, the senator said.
Many of the topics Portman addressed are “very close to our hearts,” said Michael Kovach, CMT president. Among them is health care. Fees have increased up to 20% annually over the past four years, he said.
“Energy is a big part of our business also,” he said. CMT’s coal-related business has decreased 20% over the past four years. “The war on coal is shuttering power plants. Making coal a four-letter word hasn’t been good, he stated.
CMT has benefited from companies engaged in the region’s oil and gas business, including Vallourec Star and Dearing Compressor and Pump Co. “So we see some bright spots in that area,” Kovach remarked.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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