Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (center) visits Plainview touting a new jobs bill.
Standing at the Composite Prototyping Center in Plainview, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced new legislation to help small businesses expand their advanced manufacturing operations and create and keep high-paying, high skilled manufacturing jobs in the country. Gillibrand introduced the Scale-Up Manufacturing Investment Company Act of 2015, a bill that would increase capital for entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to scale-up and commercialize their advanced manufacturing and innovation operations.
In August, Gillibrand hosted a series of round tables across New York with the Economic Development Administration to hear from community leaders and entrepreneurs about ways to help grow businesses in the state. This is the second bill Gillibrand has introduced aimed at bolstering manufacturing; in March, she announced the bipartisan Manufacturing Universities Act (S.771) to enhance advanced workforce training for the 21st century economy.
“If we want our economy to grow and create more jobs, we need to give small businesses the tools they need to turn their innovative ideas into successful business opportunities and expand their manufacturing operations here at home instead of being forced to outsource that work in order to stay competitive,” said Gillibrand. “The Scale-Up Manufacturing Investment Company Act will provide critical resources and opportunities for local entrepreneurs and small businesses to bring their innovations to market and ensure that new technologies are made here in America, creating more jobs and growing our economy.”
Gillibrand also said that American manufacturers support an estimated 17.6 million jobs in the country and account for 12 percent of U.S. gross domestic product. Manufacturing also has a higher multiplier effect than any other sector, meaning job creation in manufacturing has an increased impact on the local economy, she said.
However, the senator said that many small businesses looking to expand their innovation and manufacturing operations cannot get access to the capital they need to do so. As a result of this lack of access to capital, many small innovative businesses that are beginning to succeed and need to expand their manufacturing operations in order to continue to grow are forced to move their ideas and jobs abroad to international competitors who can provide the financing options these small businesses need to manufacture and commercialize their innovations.
Gillibrand cited a study of manufacturing technology-intensive start-ups licensed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which found that almost all that scaled up into commercial production did so overseas largely because of far more attractive capital and investment opportunities for manufacturing start-ups.
“The lack of access to capital not only forces small American business to move their innovations overseas, but it also means New York loses out on high-paying, high-skilled manufacturing jobs that are created when these small businesses expand and commercialize their products,” she said.
Gillibrand said the bill creates a loan program that allows private investment firms to leverage funds provided by the government to help emerging manufacturers commercialize their products. The program, modeled on the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Investment Companies program, would allow approved participating investment firms to raise capital that would then be invested into emerging manufacturers’ businesses. Any fees, interest and profits received from the investments would be used to offset the cost of the program.
Plainview’s Composite Prototyping Center is a facility that helps small- to medium-size manufacturers design and build prototypes using cutting-edge equipment and material. Lenny Poveromo, the center’s executive director, said the bill could be a game changer in the manufacturing industry and will result in high-paying jobs in the state.
