"Manufacturing Thrives On Certainty" Featuring Jay Timmons, National Association of Manufacturers

We are pleased to share this Special Edition with Jay Timmons, President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Jay has led NAM since 2011 and first joined the organization in 2005 as Executive Vice President. As the leading voice for U.S. manufacturers, NAM sits at the center of policy, economic, and workforce issues shaping American industry today. The NAM team is currently in Houston as part of its State of Manufacturing Tour, traveling across New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas, and Arizona, to spotlight the policies and conditions needed for the U.S. to compete and win in a global economy. We were thrilled to host Jay and hear his perspective on domestic manufacturing, the evolving regulatory and trade landscape, supply chain resilience, energy policy, and the future of U.S. competitiveness in an increasingly complex global environment.
 
In our conversation, Jay outlines what he’s hearing from manufacturers on NAM’s State of Manufacturing Tour, starting with energy. Manufacturers consume roughly 30% of U.S. energy, and Jay emphasizes why affordable, reliable supply and delivery infrastructure are foundational to competitiveness. We discuss tax policy and why Jay views the 2017 reforms as “rocket fuel” for manufacturing investment, hiring, and wage growth, along with the importance of durable, codified provisions that give companies the certainty to deploy long-cycle capital. We cover the workforce gap (~433,000 open manufacturing jobs today and a projected 2 million by 2033), digging into what’s working on the ground, from community college partnerships to the modern return of shop class and continuous upskilling. Jay makes the case for bipartisan, skills-oriented immigration reform to support economic growth. We explore permitting and legal reform, where he emphasizes that manufacturing thrives on certainty and calls for a coordinated federal process that delivers faster “yes or no” decisions with guardrails to prevent endless litigation. On trade, we touch on tariff uncertainty, the importance of renewing and strengthening USMCA (particularly addressing transshipment), and the strategic value of North American supply chains, especially given the sizeable percent of manufacturers’ customers reside outside U.S. borders. We discuss AI and supply chain realities, why Jay sees AI as additive and a multiplier for productivity, and how even running at full capacity, the U.S. can only produce about 84% of what it needs today, driving NAM’s proposal for a “speed pass” to import critical inputs duty-free as domestic capacity scales. We also examine the broader manufacturing multiplier effect, the U.S.-China competitive dynamic, and why policy stability ultimately determines whether the U.S. can compete and win. It was a wide-ranging and insightful discussion and we’re grateful to Jay and his team for carving out time to stop by during a busy tour. For further reading, NAM’s AI & Energy Dominance Roadmap is linked here.
 
Mike Bradley kicked off the show with a quick update, noting that broader equity markets were down modestly on the day as all eyes were focused on NVIDIA’s quarterly results. NVIDIA surpassed expectations and delivered solid forward guidance, but the stock was underperforming given that investors are growing wary it can sustain this explosive revenue growth beyond the next couple of years.
 
Thank you to Leslie Beyer for connecting us with Jay and his team. And thanks to you all for your support and friendship!