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Manufacturing an American Century: Daily Summaries Delivered
by AMCC
About the American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative (AMCC)AMCC is a non-profit organization assembled and led by a group of regional and national stakeholders dedicated to strengthening collaboration within and between regional manufacturing communities. AMCC works to achieve sustainable development in America through economic growth, improved environmental performance, and inclusive well-paid job creation to support the revitalization of American manufacturing. Born out of an interagency program, the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP), AMCC was created as a national organization of regional stakeholders to continue the important work of deepening connections and sharing best practices within community ecosystems and between manu
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- Jul 4, 202657 min
American Manufacturing at 250: MEP Leaders of the South
Happy Independence Day! This is the finale of our three-episode special edition of Manufacturing an American Century, produced in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. On the Fourth itself, we close the series featuring the Southern states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. As in the first two episodes, our guests lead their states' NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) programs, the long-standing federal effort to help manufacturers in every state grow and compete. Our MEP leaders describe the early manufacturing activities taking place across their states, and the surprising ways those early industries formed in our nation's founding have evolved into competitive strengths today. Our guests today include:Scott Schein — Executive Director, GENEDGE (VA)KeAnne Hoeg — Interim Director, NC MEP (NC)Andy Carr — President & CEO, SC MEP (SC)Paul Todd — Operational Excellence Group Manager, GA MEP (GA)Our deep thanks to Scott, KeAnne, Andy, and Paul, and to all twelve leaders across the series who made this possible. As we aspire to the ideals of our nation’s founding to ensure the safety and happiness of our fellow Americans, we can’t thank these leaders, and all our national MEP partners, enough for putting that aspiration into practice, helping our 250,000 manufacturers make the things we need for our nation to prosper! Thank you for listening!AMCC’s podcast is made possible in part by the expertise of Mike McAllen, founder of Podcasting4Associations. Are you part of an association also looking to produce a podcast? Let us get you in touch with Mike.Thank you to the Economic Development Administration for their partnership in producing this podcast. This podcast was prepared in part using Federal funds under award 3070145 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- Jul 3, 202651 min
Celebrating American Manufacturing at 250 with MEP Leaders of the Mid-Atlantic
Happy Fourth of July week! This is part two of our three-episode special edition of Manufacturing an American Century, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As in each episode, I sit down with manufacturing leaders from the original states of 1776 to talk about manufacturing's place in their state's history and its importance today.Once again, our guests are the state leaders of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP); the federally-supported program operating since 1988, that helps small and mid-sized manufacturers in every state stay competitive. Please join us for four insightful conversations on how the original states in the Mid-Atlantic region, to include Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, developed from humble beginnings to power America’s rise as an industrial nation. You'll hear from each state's MEP leader on a bit of that heritage and on what their state produces today:Mike Kelleher — CEO & Executive Director, Maryland MEP (MD)Chris Scafario — President & CEO, Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center (PA)Amy Erickson — Executive Director, Long Island MEP Program (NY)Peter Connolly — Chief Executive Officer, New Jersey MEP (NJ)Our thanks to Mike, Chris, Amy, and Peter for sharing their time and their stories, and to North Carolina's KeAnne Hoeg for suggesting this idea and arranging the interviews. Enjoy!AMCC’s podcast is made possible in part by the expertise of Mike McAllen, founder of Podcasting4Associations. Are you part of an association also looking to produce a podcast? Let us get you in touch with Mike.Thank you to the Economic Development Administration for their partnership in producing this podcast. This podcast was prepared in part using Federal funds under award 3070145 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- Jul 2, 202657 min
Celebrating American Manufacturing at 250 with MEP Leaders from New England
Happy Fourth of July week! This is the first of a three-episode special edition of Manufacturing an American Century, produced in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence that went on to form this nation. Across the three episodes, we interview manufacturing leaders from the original American states of 1776 about the role manufacturing played in their state's past, and how that role has evolved into new opportunities for the future!We're doing this with the leaders of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP); the long-running, federally supported program designed to help manufacturers in every state. Administered by the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology and operating since 1988, the MEP is a public-private network with a Center in all 50 states and Puerto Rico and over 1,400 trusted advisors on the ground. Those advisors work hands-on with the small and mid-sized manufacturers that make up the backbone of American industry, helping them adopt new technology, strengthen supply chains, and develop their workforce. Now, be warned that, while none of us are formal historians of manufacturing during our nation’s founding years, it's still fascinating to learn a few bits of each state's manufacturing history. And, as you'll hear, there's often a through line connecting the importance of public-private partnership then to its importance now.This first episode covers the New England states of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. In these short interviews, you'll hear from an MEP leader from each state on a bit of that history and on what their state makes today:Christian Cowan — Executive Director, 401k Tech Bridge, Polaris MEP (Rhode Island)Kathie Mahoney — President & CEO, MassMEP (Massachusetts)Beatriz Gutierrez — President & CEO, CONNSTEP (Connecticut)Tony Fernandez — President & CEO, NH MEP (New Hampshire)A big thank-you to Christian, Kathie, Beatriz, and Tony for joining the pod! And, a special thanks to North Carolina's KeAnne Hoeg, who suggested this idea and set up the interviews.AMCC’s podcast is made possible in part by the expertise of Mike McAllen, founder of Podcasting4Associations. Are you part of an association also looking to produce a podcast? Let us get you in touch with Mike.Thank you to the Economic Development Administration for their partnership in producing this podcast. This podcast was prepared in part using Federal funds under award 3070145 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- May 22, 202638 min
Building Utah's Manufacturing Ecosystem: Jeff Edwards on Composites, Collaboration, and the Long Game
I had the opportunity to sit down with Jeff Edwards, Senior Advisor on Materials and Manufacturing at 47G, Utah's Aerospace and Defense Association, and one of the original regional leaders behind what became AMCC. Jeff and I go back more than a decade to the early days of the EDA Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) program, where he was doing the hard, unglamorous work of organizing Utah's advanced manufacturing ecosystem before most people knew what that meant.We start where Jeff is now at 47G and then dig into the remarkable backstory behind it. Jeff traces the origins of Utah's advanced composites industry from its roots in Cold War missile programs to now, through the patient, deliberate work of building the Utah advanced materials and manufacturing ecosystem from the ground up, one relationship and one data point at a time. It's a textbook case study in how a region can identify a niche, build an ecosystem of support around it, and turn it into a world-class cluster.We also talk about what IMCP meant for Utah and for the broader national network. Jeff shares examples of how peer learning across IMCP regions led directly to new programs back home, from carbon fiber recycling to succession planning for family-owned defense suppliers. And we dig into the broader case of why regions can't afford to race to the bottom or go it alone, and what it looks like in practice to build the collaborative, multi-stakeholder structures that can actually move the needle. Thanks to Jeff for a great conversation, give it a listen! Links to Learn More:Find Jeff on LinkedIn.Explore 47G’s body of work.Follow AMCC on Linkedin.Find Matt on Linkedin.Visit our website.AMCC’s podcast is made possible in part by the expertise of Mike McAllen, founder of Podcasting4Associations. Are you part of an association also looking to produce a podcast? Let us get you in touch with Mike.Thank you to the Economic Development Administration for their partnership in producing this podcast. This podcast was prepared in part using Federal funds under award 3070145 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- May 1, 202643 min
Economic Development as a Team Sport: Dennis Alvord on Building Regional Economies That Endure
It was a real pleasure to sit down with Dennis Alvord, a nearly 30-year veteran of the federal civil service whose career at the Economic Development Administration and the OECD's Regional Development Policy Committee has made him one of the most experienced economic development practitioners in the country. Dennis and I first crossed paths about 15 years ago working to bring forward evidence on manufacturing's role as a cornerstone of regional economic development, and it was great to reconnect and dig into where we are today.We cover a lot of ground in this conversation. Dennis walks us through EDA's history as one of the federal government's more flexible and creative grant-making agencies, and how programs like IMCP and Tech Hubs have demonstrated the power of place-based, collaborative investment. We discuss what the US can learn from OECD member nations on sustained industrial policy, from Sweden and Japan's innovative approaches to offsite manufactured housing to the importance of consistent, structured federal investment in regional economic ecosystems.We also talk about the critical importance of civil servants as stewards of the public good, and Dennis shares his perspective on what it will take to build the structured, long-term regional investment frameworks that can truly move the needle on American prosperity. Thanks to Dennis for a great conversation, give it a listen!🔗 Links to Learn More:Find Dennis on LinkedIn.Explore OECD’s Regional Development Policy Committee.Follow AMCC on Linkedin.Find Matt on Linkedin.Visit our website.AMCC’s podcast is made possible in part by the expertise of Mike McAllen, founder of Podcasting4Associations. Are you part of an association also looking to produce a podcast? Let us connect you with Mike.Thank you to the Economic Development Administration for their partnership in producing this podcast. This podcast was prepared in part using Federal funds under award 3070145 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- Apr 17, 202641 min
Turning Evidence into Action: ANL's Alison Peoples on Building Regional Manufacturing Ecosystems
It was a pleasure to welcome Alison Peoples from Argonne National Laboratory to the podcast. Alison is a statistician and economic development researcher whose career has taken her from the municipal bond trading desks of Boston to the Economic Development Districts of New Mexico — and ultimately to one of America's premier federal research institutions, where she We talk about the big challenge that has driven AMCC's work for over 15 years: how do regional leaders get organized around the best available data to assess their manufacturing ecosystem of support and craft smarter interventions? Alison walks us through Argonne's important work in this area, including the National Economic Resilience Data Explorer (NERDE) and the Economic Development Capacity Index (EDCI). We discuss the need for building a clearer picture of siloed public data that regional leaders need but rarely have easy access to, in order for their decisions to be driven by the best available data..We also explore what it will take to close the gap between economic research and economic development practice and why Alison is genuinely hopeful about the next generation's ability to bridge the worlds of technology and humanity. Thanks to Alison for a great conversation, give it a listen! 🔗 Links to Learn More:Find Alison on LinkedIn.Explore Argonne's NERDE website.Check out the Economic Development Capacity Index.Download the AMCC Manufacturing Community Ecosystem Metrics Playbook.Follow AMCC on Linkedin.Find Matt on Linkedin.Visit our website.AMCC’s podcast is made possible in part by the expertise of Mike McAllen, founder of Podcasting4Associations. Are you part of an association also looking to produce a podcast? Let us connect you with Mike.Thank you to the Economic Development Administration for their partnership in producing this podcast. This podcast was prepared in part using Federal funds under award 3070145 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- Apr 3, 202641 min
Can Legacy Manufacturing Regions Reinvent Themselves? Kenan Fikri on Dynamism and Place
Matt had the pleasure of sitting down with Kenan Fikri, Senior Fellow at the Economic Innovation Group, an economic think tank dedicated to tackling the deep, longstanding challenges facing the American economy.Kenan got into some of the core ideas driving EIG's work, starting with economic dynamism: the health, vitality, and innovative intensity of an economy. We unpacked what that really means on the ground: not just whether jobs are growing, but whether new firms are starting, workers are moving to better opportunities, and regions are generating the kind of productive churn that drives long-term prosperity. We also discuss Kenan’s research in agglomeration, why industries cluster in specific places, how those clusters become self-reinforcing engines of competitive advantage, and what the spillover effects mean for entire communities. From Cleveland's industrial legacy to Silicon Valley's startup culture, Kenan brought it all to life with real examples. Be sure to check out Kenan's recently released article, Does a legacy in manufacturing preclude a future in it? — it's essential reading that connects directly to everything we discussed. And if you want to go deeper on EIG's worldview, look up their Substack, Agglomerations, where Kenan and the team are publishing their latest thinking.🔗Links to Learn More:Find Kenan on LinkedIn.Subscribe to Agglomerations on Substack.Follow AMCC on Linkedin.Find Matt on Linkedin.Visit our website.AMCC’s podcast is made possible in part by the expertise of Mike McAllen, founder of Podcasting4Associations. Are you part of an association also looking to produce a podcast? Let us get you in touch with Mike.Thank you to the Economic Development Administration for their partnership in producing this podcast. This podcast was prepared in part using Federal funds under award 3070145 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- Mar 19, 202629 min
Building a Manufacturing Movement That Lasts with Manufacturing Happy Hour’s Chris Luecke
It was a pleasure to welcome Chris Luecke to the podcast. Chris is a podcast himself, as founder and host of the Manufacturing Happy Hour podcast, one of the most recognizable shows in the industry, with nearly 300 episodes exploring the people, ideas, and leadership shaping modern manufacturing. With a background at Rockwell Automation and experience spanning industries from oil and gas to semiconductors, Chris brings his experience and a sharp understanding of how to communicate manufacturing’s value in a rapidly changing world.In our conversation, we dig into the evolution of manufacturing storytelling and how it’s starting to change. We explore the importance of meeting people where they are, elevating peer voices, and creating relatable pathways into manufacturing careers, especially for the next generation. Chris also reflects on the diversity of perspectives across the manufacturing ecosystem, all the different roles needed to make it work, and why that range is essential for driving both innovation and resilience.We close with a message for manufacturers and ecosystem leaders alike: this moment calls for both courage and agility. Courage to adopt new technologies, share stories, and lead from the front—and agility to navigate uncertainty while building businesses that can endure across generations. Chris makes a compelling case that the future of manufacturing depends not just on policy or capital, but on people stepping up to tell the story of what they’re building and why it matters. Thanks to Chris for the energy, insight, and inspiration, and congratulations to 10 years of Manufacturing Happy Hour!🔗Links to Learn More:Find Chris on LinkedIn.Listen to Manufacturing Happy Hour on your favorite platforms.Follow AMCC on Linkedin.Find Matt on Linkedin.Visit our website.AMCC’s podcast is made possible in part by the expertise of Mike McAllen, founder of Podcasting4Associations. Are you part of an association also looking to produce a podcast? Let us connect you with Mike.Thank you to the Economic Development Administration for their partnership in producing this podcast. This podcast was prepared in part using Federal funds under award 3070145 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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About Manufacturing an American Century
About the American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative (AMCC)AMCC is a non-profit organization assembled and led by a group of regional and national stakeholders dedicated to strengthening collaboration within and between regional manufacturing communities. AMCC works to achieve sustainable development in America through economic growth, improved environmental performance, and inclusive well-paid job creation to support the revitalization of American manufacturing. Born out of an interagency program, the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP), AMCC was created as a national organization of regional stakeholders to continue the important work of deepening connections and sharing best practices within community ecosystems and between manu
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