LIVONIA, MI-As the Bush administration prepares to release a manufacturing initiative, small manufacturers are urging the administration to support one of the U.S. Department of Commerce's own programs-the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)-and to maintain MEP as an essential component of the administration's effort to bolster the competitiveness of American manufacturers.
According to MEP, the United States has lost more than 2.3 million manufacturing jobs since the recession began in March 2001, and more than half of those jobs have been lost since the recession officially ended in November 2001. American manufacturers are losing work to competitors in low-wage countries and are looking for ways to make themselves more competitive.