Obama Touts US Manufacturing Gains

From lowering unemployment to boosting manufacturing, President Barack Obama is expected to tout gains in the U.S. economy during his State of the Union address on January 20. The president also has called for increased American innovation to help grow the middle class and help the United States compete globally.

When Drew Greenblatt bought Marlin Steel Wire Products in 1998, the workers were paid minimum wage and bent steel by hand to form wire baskets to hold bread.

Fast forward 17 years, and Marlin Steel’s nearly 30 workers now use American steel and million-dollar robotic machinery to manufacture products exported overseas while being paid a competitive wage with full benefits and performance incentives.

“That’s how we differentiate from China. It’s not by having lower-paid employees. It’s by having the best innovations, the smartest ideas and then having the talent to create those ideas,” said Greenblatt.

This idea was echoed by President Obama on January 9 when he and Vice President Joe Biden toured a polymer factory in Tennessee.

The president highlighted the gains in manufacturing with 786,000 jobs added in the last 58 months and announced a new hub that would bring the government, companies, and colleges together to create more high-tech manufacturing opportunities.

“We’ve got the most dynamic economy in the world, and we’ve got the best business people in the world and the best universities in the world. Let’s put them all together and make sure they’re working to create more good jobs and more opportunity for the American people,” said Obama.

Back at Marlin Steel in Baltimore, the innovation is driven by a team of mechanical engineers who design sheet metal fabrications for companies like German engineering company Bosch and Japanese car maker Toyota.

Workers, like Iraq War veteran Brent Fox, make the ideas a reality.

Fox has moved from line worker to team leader after learning new skills on the job and said he marvels at how the small wire-product company is able to compete against its foreign counterparts.

“Working and living in a global economy, it’s pretty impressive that places like this still exist in America, when it’s so much easier to just go buy it overseas and have it shipped,” said Fox.

As for Greenblatt, he said that with more trade deals, a better tax structure and greater protections for intellectual property, American companies like his can contribute to growing the U.S. middle class and helping the economy surge.

“Mark my words, the American manufacturing renaissance is here and it’s about to really blossom,” said Greenblatt.

Greenblatt said Marlin Steel is already adding more factory space to bring in more technology and hire more engineers.

预计奥巴马总统在1月20日的国情咨文中会强调美国经济从失业率下降到制造业提升等方面的成就。奥巴马总统还呼吁加强美国的创新来帮助壮大中产阶级队伍以及提高美国的国际竞争力。美国之音驻白宫记者潘德参观了华盛顿郊外的一家公司。这家公司把产品出口到像中国这样的国家，同时给它的工人提供有竞争力的工资。

当格林布拉特1998年买下马林钢丝产品公司的时候，工人们当时拿的是最低工资，而且是用手把铁丝编成装面包的篮子。

时光快进到17年之后，马林钢丝公司将近30名员工现在使用美国的钢丝和价值百万美元的机器人装置来生产出口到海外的产品，同时他们拿到的是有竞争力的工资而且有全部的福利和绩效奖。

马林钢丝公司的总裁格林布拉特说：“这是我们与中国不同的地方。我们不是靠低工资的雇员，而是靠最好的创新、最聪明的想法以及雇佣创造出这些想法的人才。”

奥巴马总统1月9号与副总统拜登在田纳西州参观一家工厂时也提出了这样的看法。

奥巴马特别强调了制造业领域取得的成就，包括在过去将近5年的时间里增加了78万6千份工作。他还宣布成立一个创新中心，使政府、公司和大学一起创造更多的高科技制造业机会。

美国总统奥巴马说：“我们拥有世界上最有活力的经济，我们有世界上最顶尖的商业人才以及全球最好的大学。让我们帮助他们携起手来，确保他们致力于为美国人民创造更多的好工作和机会。”

在巴尔的摩的马林钢丝公司，创新是由一组机械工程师来推动的。他们为德国的工程公司博世和日本的丰田汽车制造商这样的公司设计钣金加工。

像参加过伊拉克战争的退伍军人福克斯这样的工人把这些想法变成现实。

福克斯在工作岗位上学到了新的技巧后从一线工人成为小组负责人。他说，他常常惊叹的是，这家小小的钢铁产品公司能够与外国公司竞争。

马林钢丝公司的工人福克斯说：“生活和工作在全球经济中，进口这样的产品要容易得多，可是像这样的公司仍然在美国存在，实在了不起，”

格林布拉特说，随着更多贸易协议的签署、更好的税务结构以及更好的知识产权保护，像他这样的美国公司可以帮助更多的美国人进入中产阶级并促进经济的增长。

马林钢丝公司的总裁格林布拉特说：“你记住我说的，美国制造业的复兴已经来临，而且即将兴盛起来。”

格林布拉特说，马林钢丝公司已经扩大了厂房面积，以便引进更多的技术并雇佣更多的工程师。