Bill would a nationwide network of manufacturing hubs

Staff report

A bipartisan bill sponsored by U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., aimed at creating a nationwide network of manufacturing hubs cleared a procedural hurdle Wednesday when it passed out of a Senate committee.

The Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act would establish the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation and create good-paying, high-tech jobs, while boosting the United States’ role as a leader in advanced manufacturing, the bill’s supporters said.

“Our workers can compete against anyone in the world,” Brown said in a statement. “Establishing a National Network of Manufacturing Innovation would create thousands of jobs and ensure the United States remains the global leader in advanced manufacturing.”

The legislation uses the same model that created America Makes, formerly the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, and two advanced- manufacturing institutes announced recently by the Obama administration.

Brown’s office touted RAMI as a way to coordinate industry, universities and community colleges, federal agencies and government, to accelerate manufacturing innovation and “leverage resources to bridge the gap between basic research and product development.”

It has garnered wide-ranging support from business, industry, education and trade groups, as well as from companies and universities.

The bill now moves to the full Senate, where a Brown spokesman said it had the support of Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.