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American Manufacturers Need the Manufacturing Extension Partnership to Grow, Compete and Thrive

In the months that have passed since our nation faced one of its most difficult times, there's a resounding theme that has risen above the tragedy - the renewal of American pride and the American spirit.

That theme is found across the nation, in our families, our neighborhoods and our businesses. "Made in America" is once again a symbol of pride, denoting a product built with hard work and integrity. And our local manufacturers throughout the United States keep that pride alive, continuing the mission of producing fine products from small businesses to large shop floors across the country.

In these times of increased demand from the defense and security industries, as well as the continued dependence on manufacturers from other business sectors, it's critically important that manufacturers have resources to rely on to keep technologies up to date, increase productivity and remain competitive in a global market.

Perhaps the most important resource is the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The MEP program was authorized in l989 and signed into law by President Reagan. Its principal objective was to help manufacturers, especially the 361,000 small manufacturers across the country, adopt new technologies, processes and business practices so that American manufacturing would be more productive and competitive.

Though the program has been extremely effective since it's inception, it is now threatened by a severe budget cut proposed by the administration. The appropriation for the MEP program has been slashed from a request of $110 million to a mere $13.5 million, which would eliminate the program entirely.

Small manufacturers like us have used MEP more than 107,000 times. In the last three quarters of FY 99, more than 18-thousand jobs were created and retained, customers reported increased or retained sales of $1.4 billion, cost savings of $364 million and new investment in modernization of $576 million. MEP clients experienced productivity gains more than four times greater than comparable firms that did not use MEP, according to a study by the Census Bureau.

Here at Steven Lee Designs, our relationship with the Hawaii MEP has been a success. MEP project managers gave us an assessment of our operations and brought forward ideas about how we could improve. Through Lean manufacturing training with MEP, we have already seen increased efficiency and a reduction of unnecessary inventory levels.

In Hawaii and across the United States, MEP is making an important contribution to economic development and growth, defense production and trade development. It is also helping to ensure the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, especially the small manufacturers who account for 55 percent of the value of all manufactured goods in the U.S. and employ 11.4 million U.S. workers.

And their job is far from finished. Technology, which accounts for much if not most of productivity increases in our economy, is not static. Manufacturers face constant upgrading and rely on the more than two thousand professionals located in more than 400 MEP centers in all 50 states to provide direct advice and assistance to them.

MEP stands for economic development in the United States. It produces jobs, tax revenues and economic growth. On behalf of manufacturers here in Hawaii and across the United States, I urge Congress to reconsider the budget allocation for MEP programs and appropriate funding at the much-needed level of $110 million dollars. Help keep America's manufacturers at the top of their industries and the forefront of the global market when pride in American products is at an all-time high. Sincerely, Steven Lee, President and CEO Steven Lee Designs Honolulu, HI

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