Photo courtesy of Michiana Global Mold
NATIONALLY FUNDED PROGRAM OFFERS ASSISTANCE TO MOLD BUILDERS By Dianna Brodine, managing editor, The American Mold Builder
Fthe reach of small- to midsize manufacturing companies. As far ighting global competition requires resources that may be beyond
back as 1962, the US government attempted to level the playing field with the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms (TAAF) program. The program offers matching funds - $75,000 from TAAF and $75,000 from the company receiving funding – to increase the competitiveness of US companies. According to a 2017 Congressional Research Report, “The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs were first authorized by Congress in the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to help workers and firms adapt to import competition and dislocation caused by trade liberalization… TAAF provides technical assistance to help tradeimpacted firms make strategic adjustments to improve their global competitiveness.” Eleven TAAF centers across the US work with manufacturing companies to develop and implement projects that strengthen their organizations and increase their competitiveness. But, many mold builders have never heard of it – and the Great Lakes Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (GLTAAC) wants that to change. MATCHING FUNDS FOR DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TAAF “We’re one of 11 centers around the country, and we manage the Michigan-Ohio-Indiana region,” said Scott Phillips, senior project manager for GLTAAC. “We are part of the Economic Growth Institute at the University of Michigan, and we’re funded by the US Department of Commerce.” As Phillips explained, the TAAF program has been around since the early 1970s, but its reach has always been small. “We typically work
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the american MOLD BUILDER | Issue 1 2020
with one to two dozen new companies a year,” he said, “and across the US, all the centers together usually are working with 500 to 600 companies in total.” Nationally, the program receives less than $15 million per year in funding. The program is open to all types of companies, and though almost all are in manufacturing, the predominant type of manufacturing served by the TAAF centers varies based on location. “The centers are structured so that the companies accepted into the program can get the specific type of assistance that is needed,” explained Phillips. “In our area, we work with moldmakers, plastics processors, and tool and die manufacturers. In the northwest, the center may work with more salmon fishers or in Texas, it could be small food processors.” Phillips, whose job is focused on outreach, works to find companies that fit the program and can meet three criteria for qualification, based on level of sales, level of employment and the degree to which imports have impacted the company. First, sales must be down 5% over a recent period of time. Second, employment head count must be down 5% over the same period of time. Finally, evidence must be presented that shows the impact of competitive imports. “Typically, that means the company must show that the purchase volume of at least four customers is down,” Phillips explained. “We need to speak to two of them, and at least one of them must validate the fact that purchases are down because they’ve been resourced to an offshore company. “In a five-minute phone call, we can almost always figure out if a company is eligible because the criteria are pretty straightforward,” he continued.
