Governor Patrick Launches Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative to Support Job Growth

Posted by jcashman

Governor Deval Patrick

Governor Deval Patrick launched the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative and released a new roadmap for manufacturing job growth in Massachusetts during an address to the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) regional meeting in Cambridge, hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Our Administration is committed to preparing students and workers to compete and win in the 21st century global economy,” said Governor Patrick. “The creation of the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative and the release of this new roadmap will help us grow jobs and opportunities in the manufacturing sector.”

Building Bridges to Growth: A Roadmap for Advanced Manufacturing in Massachusetts, was developed by the Advanced Manufacturing Initiative steering committee convened by Governor Patrick in May 2010 and will guide the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative in its work. The roadmap takes ideas from the state’s business and academic leaders to promote innovation, workforce development, access to capital and technical assistance to bolster the state’s manufacturing sector.

The manufacturing industry employs 260,000 people in Massachusetts, a 4,400 increase in employees from a year ago.

“Our Administration recognizes the great potential of the advanced manufacturing industry in Massachusetts,” said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray. “By creating the Advanced Manufacturing Collaboration, we will bring together resources to help support advances in technology and research that will further position Massachusetts as a world leader in innovation.”

Governor Patrick addressed hundreds of government officials, academic leaders and business representatives from throughout the northeast at the AMP meeting today. The meeting is the second of four regional AMP workshops taking place in the U.S., spearheaded by President Obama’s Administration to help increase manufacturing partnership opportunities across the nation.

The Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative will hold its inaugural meeting on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 and anticipates hosting its first annual conference in June of 2012.

“Advanced manufacturing is vital to growing the Massachusetts economy and creating good paying jobs,” said Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki. “The launch of the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative will help accelerate growth in concert with the President’s efforts.”

The Patrick-Murray Administration has made significant efforts to expand advanced manufacturing in the Commonwealth, including launching BuyMass.org to promote in-state contracting by large companies with the state’s robust supply chain and expending significant funds through the Workforce Training Fund, where 45 manufacturing companies have been awarded grants.

The Administration has also provided significant capital through the Economic Development Incentive Program and quasi-public agencies such as MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation while providing technical assistance for funding to university-centers through organizations such as the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Working with federal partners, the Administration has also increased by $1.2 million, technical assistance for manufacturers in the Commonwealth this year.

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Posted by jcashman on Nov 29 2011. Filed under Business, Featured - For home page featured article. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry