Who Makes in America?
Seven Hundred Thousand Ohioans Participate in the Manufacturing Sector- Leaders Launched their 2025 Message in Hilliard
On February 18, 2025, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons delivered the annual State of Manufacturing Address, outlining key priorities for the industry in the coming year. The speech, delivered here locally in Hilliard with DeWine, Balderson, Moreno and city representatives in attendance, emphasized innovation and the role of domestic manufacturing in national competitiveness.
While recent surges in union growth within new industries was not a focal point, the address underscored the importance of workforce development and policy frameworks that sustain and embolden industrial expansion.
For Hilliard, the speech carried an important local connection. Armstrong World Industries, a leading manufacturer of ceiling and wall solutions and 160 year old company, operates a key production facility in Hilliard, contributing to the broader Ohio manufacturing landscape. The company has long been a staple in Hilliard’s economy, employing hundreds of workers and supporting regional supply chains.
Armstrong’s operations fit lock and key with many themes from Timmons’ speech, particularly the push for innovation in sustainable manufacturing. The Hilliard facility has implemented energy-efficient production methods and is advancing new water reclamation efforts as of this writing. Armstrong continues to explore advances in even the most understood components of buildings- touting a new ceiling tile that could offer substantial long term energy savings via an advanced climate control method.
Timmons’ NAM address and other speakers like Ryan Augsberger, President of Ohio Manufacturers also touched on federal policy shifts, including the status of President Trump’s proposed extension / expansion of his 2017 tax cuts.
Recent polling (and general opinion) suggests a divided public on the issue cutting along economic lines and concerns that these cuts do not directly benefit the majority of working class, middle income Americans. For advocates, however, the certainty provided by the cuts in 2017 has long been touted as a necessary infusion of “Rocket Fuel,” critical to drive the evolving state of manufacturing forward through a challenging domestic and international future.
Links to the Pieces above…
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-2017-trump-tax-law-was-skewed-to-the-rich-expensive-and-failed-to-deliver
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-02-17/extend-trump-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-2017
https://www.epi.org/publication/tcja-extensions-2025/#:~:text=No%20matter%20how%20these%20tax%20cuts%20are%20financed%20this%20time,corporations%20would%20be%20spending%20cuts.
https://waysandmeans.house.gov/2025/01/02/trump-tax-cuts-revived-american-manufacturing/
To make manufacturing matters even more complicated news has begun to break out that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been on the receiving end of federal government employment cuts instituted by the controversial and newly minted Executive branch Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE.) How these cuts are to impact the massive INTEL build in Licking County can only play out over the coming months.
For Hilliard residents, the intersection of national policy and local industry remains a vital conversation. As the city continues to expand its manufacturing footprint, committed and aggressive businesses like Armstrong World Industries will play a crucial role in shaping the economic future of the community.
Watch the full address below (or read a complete transcript here) and don’t mind my big head in the front row.