US Manufacturers Claim Presidential Candidates Are Ignoring Their Issues

Business Wire, May 7, 2008

Call on campaigns to outline plans for strengthening Industry's ability to compete

Thomas survey of over 2,000 manufacturing professionals shows industry wants the next administration to be more active

NEW YORK -- The presidential campaigns are ignoring issues around U.S. industrial competitiveness, much to the dismay of manufacturers, according to a new poll from Thomas Publishing Company, LLC.

The just released survey of more than 2,000 manufacturing professionals shows 70 percent are concerned about the state of US manufacturing today and industry's ability to compete effectively on the global stage. Yet they feel even worse about the lack of attention the Republican and Democratic candidates are paying to the sector. Eighty percent of manufacturers want the next administration to take a more active role in strengthening the industry. More than 80 percent said the government can do more to "level the playing field" with such competing nations as China, India, and Korea.

These messages came through loud and clear in this new poll by Managing Automation and its sister publications in parent company Thomas Publishing, including Industrial Equipment News, Thomas Global, ThomasNet, and InBound Logistics.

Yet while poll-takers are united in their concerns about the future of America's industrial base, they hold differing opinions in how they would approach fixing some of the problems. For example, when asked whether international trade agreements such as NAFTA have helped or hurt US competitiveness, nearly half of respondents said such agreements have had a mixed effect.

Domestically, nearly 40 percent said that changes to the tax code will not improve industry's ability to compete. When asked how the next administration should deal with rising health care costs, there is no clear consensus of opinion either. Nearly 29 percent of respondents favor creation of a hybrid system that will expand coverage but have a strong role for private providers. Still 27 percent answered they want to take the burden off of industry and create a universal health care system on the model of Europe. And 24 percent want government to stay out of the health care market entirely.

"This survey shows that industrial businesses are united in their frustration with the level of attention that elected officials are giving to their needs, and their firm belief that government has the power to ease global competition," said Ivy Molofsky, Vice President, Thomas Publishing Company, LLC. "Thomas has the unique position of a 110 year legacy of working with industrial businesses through 19 presidential administrations. Over the course of the last century, we have been firsthand witnesses to the challenges facing these businesses; namely, the fact that they have had to reinvent themselves with new technologies, innovations and global positioning to both compete and grow through turbulent economies. We're finding that businesses who take a strategic approach to online marketing will find themselves in a more competitive position, and will be the clear winner despite hard times."

About Thomas Publishing Company, LLC

For more than 110 years, Thomas Publishing Company, LLC has concentrated its full energies on filling one of industry's greatest challenges - the need for complete, up-to-date product, service and supplier information to make informed purchasing and specifying decisions. No other publisher is as totally dedicated to this mission. Thomas Publishing Company, LLC is the acknowledged leader in providing industry worldwide with the product and service information it needs both in print and electronically.

Today, Thomas Publishing's product line includes: ThomasNet (www.ThomasNet.com); Managing Automation (www.managingautomation.com); Inbound Logistics (www.Inboundlogistics.com); IEN (www.ien.com); and Thomas Global Register (www.thomasglobal.com). In Europe, India, China, and on a joint-venture basis with regional partners in Japan and Latin America, Thomas International Publishing Company, Inc.'s (www.tipco.com) products include online search tools, databases, and new product periodicals to support industry at all points in the supplier discovery and purchasing process.

To learn more about the Thomas Publishing Company, LLC family of industrial information products, visit www.thomaspublishing.com