ASME Congress panel to address strategies for U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, policy initiatives


Three panelists will discuss the challenges facing today's manufacturers from a federal policy perspective.

One of those panelists will be Al Frink, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing and Services. His position was established by the Bush administration and Congress in response to the current challenges facing U.S.-based manufacturing.

Frink and the other speakers at the panel session will provide their own analysis of manufacturing's major hurdles, as well as their professional insights in regard to what policies will work to reinvigorate the U.S. manufacturing base.

Topics to be addressed during the session will include the Bush administration's agenda for manufacturing competitiveness, the prospects for policy initiatives on Capitol Hill, and proposals by presidential candidates for advancing U.S. manufacturing.

The session is scheduled to take place on Monday, Nov. 15, from 3:45 to 5:15 p.m.

The session is being organized by ASME's Manufacturing Engineering Division. Bill Canis of the National Association of Manufacturers' Manufacturing Institute is the session organizer.

Al Frink

Frink, whose office advocates, coordinates and implements policies that help U.S. manufacturers compete globally, will present the administration's views on the future of manufacturing in the United States during the session. He co-founded Fabrica International in Orange County, Calif. in 1974 with a $100,000 Small Business Administration loan. Since then, the manufacturer of high-end luxury carpet and rugs has grown into a $60 million operation with 400 employees.

Frink is a former member of the Department of Commerce's Exporters' Textile Advisory Committee, a former member of the board of directors of the Latino Coalition, and a 2004 inductee to the Small Business Administration Hall of Fame.

Eric Webster, majority staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee, will discuss congressional views on the future of manufacturing during the session.

Webster is the staff director for the Subcommittee on Environment, Technology and Standards, which has jurisdiction for science at the Environmental Protection Agency, surface transportation research at the Department of Transportation, and for the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Technical Information Service.

Webster previously served in the offices of Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) and Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.). He has degrees in European history from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., and Washington University in St. Louis.

A third panelist, Kellie Johnson, will discuss the business perspective on the future of manufacturing in the United States.

Johnson is president of Ace Clearwater Enterprises in Torrance, Calif. The company is a third-generation aerospace manufacturer and sheet metal fabricator. Johnson started with the company in 1983 and took over operations in 1985, doubling sales in 10 years. Both Business Week and Industry Week have recognized the company as one of the top small manufacturers in the country.

Johnson is former chair and a member of the California Manufacturing Technology Center, a member of the national advisory board for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and a board member of the National Association of Manufacturers, where she chairs the SMM Technology Issues Team. She has a degree in international relations and political science from USC.

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