Yesterday, the White House hosted the “Insourcing American Jobs” forum with business leaders from across the country to discuss one topic: bringing jobs back to the United States. For too long factories have closed their doors and companies have shipped jobs overseas, where workers were cheaper. It’s damaged the economy and hurt middle class families all across the nation. The President believes we can change that.
Right now, we have a great opportunity for those jobs to come back – and the business leaders that joined President Obama yesterday understand that. We’re seeing an increasing trend of insourcing, where companies are bringing jobs back and making additional investments in America. Over the past two years American manufacturers have now added 334,000 jobs. Manufacturing production has increased by 5.7 percent. That’s a good thing, but we need to do more. That’s why the President called on companies to follow this trend and invest in America.
The President is working to restore the economic security for the middle class and those trying to reach it. He’ll continue to build an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded. He knows this is a make or break moment for the middle class, and he’ll continue to do everything he can to give folks a fair shot and a chance to succeed.
He knows that America shouldn’t be a nation known for financial speculation and outsourcing. As he said yesterday, America should be known for making products and selling them all over the world stamped with three proud words: “Made in America.”
The next generation of manufacturing jobs shouldn’t take root in countries like China or Germany – they should take root in cities across America. Some companies are already leading the way. Let’s take a look at news coverage of yesterday’s event from across the country:
McClatchy/Charlotte Observer/Miami Herald – Rebuilding a business, bringing jobs back
WASHINGTON – North Carolina has lost tens of thousands of furniture-making jobs over the past decade.
But Bruce Cochrane, who worked as a consultant in China and Vietnam after his family sold their furniture business in 1996, says rising Chinese wages and an increase in shipping costs have created an opportunity for him back home.
Cochrane has invested $5 million and is hiring 130 workers to build middle- to higher-priced solid-wood furniture in the same sprawling Lincolnton, N.C., warehouse that his family once ran. He even moved into his dad’s old office.
Now, President Barack Obama wants to know what Cochrane saw and why he’s taking such a chance in a region and industry battered by outsourced jobs. Cochrane stood Wednesday in the East Room of the White House as Obama said the Lincolnton man was proof that you don’t have to be a big manufacturer to make a difference.
Fonte: White House