Associated Industries of Missouri is the sole designated partner of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) in Missouri.
NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons led a group of manufacturing executives to the White House on Friday to meet with President Trump and unveil the NAM’s latest Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey, which received widespread coverage in both print and television media reports. The survey showed that 93.3 percent of manufacturers have a positive outlook about their companies. The AP (3/31) reported that number is “up from less than 57 percent this time last year,” while Breitbart (3/31, Spiering) said the findings “marked a 20-year record high for the survey.” Business Insider (3/31, Bryan) reported Trump said the survey illustrates the “surge of optimism that is spreading all across our land” and is “another vote of confidence in our plan that will bring back jobs, lower taxes, and provide a level playing field [for] our workers.”
In an interview with Timmons and Marlin Steel President and NAM Small and Medium Manufacturers Group Chair Drew Greenblatt “on their meeting with President Trump,” Fox Business (3/31) reported the survey shows manufacturing optimism is “higher than ever.” Meanwhile, Slate (3/31, Gross) reported that confidence among manufacturers is “close to unanimous, and it’s up from 78 percent in December and up from only 61 percent in the third quarter of 2016. Some 60 percent of the manufacturers surveyed believe the country is on the right track, up from a pathetic 26 percent in December.”
Speaking with Bloomberg Politics’ (3/31) Kevin Cirilli, Timmons “discussed his meeting with President Trump” and his “optimism about manufacturing, infrastructure investment and tax reform.” The Washington Examiner (3/31, Morrongiello) reported Timmons told reporters, “This was the first time in many, many years that we had an uptick in optimism among manufacturers.” He added, “A lot of this had to do with the agenda this administration is putting forward and the action we’ve seen to date.”
During his daily press briefing on Friday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the President joined Timmons and some of the NAM’s member CEOs to unveil the survey. He touted the survey as showing an “incredible 93 percent of manufacturers” having a positive outlook. He added, “The President was glad to see this report add to the list of measurements reflecting the incredible optimism and positivity that his pro-growth policies have created.”
During the Rush Limbaugh Show (3/31), Limbaugh said the survey “shows a dramatic shift in sentiment” and quotes Timmons as saying, “Across America, manufacturers’ optimism is soaring, in no small part because of President Trump’s laser-like focus on pursuing bold action, particularly on rethinking red tape to address regulatory reform, to accelerate a jobs surge in America.”
Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich appeared on Fox News (4/1) and cited the NAM survey. He said that President Trump “is making real progress and he’s getting things done. And every time you turn around, you see new signs of investment, new commitments to build things in the United States.”
According to the White House Pool Report, the President opened the meeting by saying, “We have some really good news today – that’s really fantastic – these numbers,” referring to the NAM survey. He added, “Today I am delighted to welcome the National Association of Manufacturers to the White House. It is a great group of people. I know many of them well.” The Report showed that he “thanked Jay Timmons, the NAM CEO and president, who was sitting alongside him, saying, ‘Great job, Jay.’”
A White House press release highlighted the Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey, and media outlets covering the story included CNBC (3/31), the Washington Post (3/31), CNBC (3/31), C-SPAN2 (3/31), USA Today (3/31), Bloomberg TV Bloomberg Markets Americas (3/31), HLN On the Story (3/31), CNBC (3/31), CNBC (3/31), C-SPAN (3/31), CNN (3/31), Fox Business (3/31), Bloomberg TV (3/31), Fox News (3/31), MSNBC (3/31), Business Insider (3/31, Bryan), the Baltimore Sun (3/31), Powder Bulk Solids (3/31), CNBC (3/31), the BizTimes Milwaukee (3/31), Breitbart (3/31, Spiering), Wall Street Strategies (3/31), the White House (3/31), the Daily Caller (3/31, Datoc), the Washington Examiner (3/31, Morrongiello), CNBC (3/31), Bloomberg Government (3/31), the Conservative Tribune (4/1), and the Daily Caller (3/31, Goodman).
Conway Touts NAM Survey As “Huge Uptick In Confidence.” Fox News’ Hannity (3/31) interviewed White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Friday. During the interview, Conway highlighted the NAM’s survey, which she said shows a “huge uptick in confidence.” She added, “People feel good about spending their money.” She also emphasized that President Trump has only been “on the job three months.” In a separate interview with Fox News Justice’s (4/2) Judge Jeanine, Conway again touted the NAM’s survey and quoted Timmons saying 80 percent of the NAM’s members think the country is on the right track.
Pence Shares Optimism In Ohio. The Cleveland Plain Dealer (4/1, Pelzer) reported that during a speech in Ohio on Saturday, Vice President Pence touted President Trump’s “achievements during his short time in office and promising action on…job creation.” The Plain Dealer said the vice president “noted that more than 500,000 jobs have been created in the U.S. so far this year.” And he “proudly pointed” to the NAM’s recent survey “showing that optimism among manufacturers is the highest it’s ever been in the survey’s nearly 20-year-long history.” In a radio broadcast, WTAQ-AM Green Bay, WI (4/1) reported that Pence highlighted the NAM’s meeting with Trump, who said manufacturers haven’t been this optimistic in 20 years. Fox News (3/31) also reported on the speech.
Hometown Coverage: Small And Medium Manufacturers Report Back On White House Visit. The WTRF-TV Wheeling, WV (3/31) website reported Eagle Manufacturing Company President Joe Eddy, “along with several other manufacturers” from across the country, “met with President Donald Trump on Friday at a meeting at the White House” and “shared some critical issues impacting small manufacturers,” including “possible solutions that would support industry growth.” The Wheeling (WV) Intelligencer (3/31, Junkins) said Eddy “told President Donald Trump that ‘burdensome and unnecessary’ regulations prevent the nation’s manufacturers from reaching their full potential, while speaking with him at the White House Friday.”
The Illinois Review (3/31) reported Matrix 4 CEO Patricia Miller attended, while CNBC’s Squawk On The Street (3/31) interviewed Miller following the meeting. Miller said she is excited about the direction of US manufacturing, in part due to a business-oriented administration that is dedicated to regulatory reform. According to the AP (3/31), IMMY Inc CEO Doug Magyari also attended the meeting, during which he “said his company had made a commitment to manufacture in the U.S. and that he appreciated what Trump was doing to facilitate that.” Magyari “said…the things Trump was doing and a lot of initiatives were ‘really bringing Michigan back.’” The WISC-TV Madison, WI (3/31) website reported Apache Stainless CEO Ed Paradowski attended, and quoted him saying, “There [are] important things that this administration is doing that will allow manufacturing in this country to be much more competitive.”
Meanwhile, My News LA (CA) (4/1, Sklar) reported ACE Clearwater Enterprises CEO and NAM Board Member Kellie Johnson described her company to Trump as a “family business” that supplies metal products “to the aerospace and power generation industries.” She said, “We employ 200 of the best men and women in our industry. And on behalf of all of them, thank you for what you’re doing.”
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