Flint Mayor Dayne Walling attended a manufacturing summit at the White House today (12-5-13) in Washington, D.C. This summit comes after September’s Manufacturing Community Roundtable, which was hosted by the Manufacturing Alliance of Communities (MAC) in Flint and included local government leaders from Michigan as well as top officials from the federal and state government, private sector manufacturers, and other organizations seeking to promote more robust manufacturing growth in Michigan and beyond.

Some of the attendees at today’s program included remarks by Gene Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council, Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, and other Administration officials. During the summit, Walling and other participants had the opportunity to engage in an interactive discussion about manufacturing as a core policy focus of the President’s Middle Class Jobs Agenda. The program also included panel discussions where local elected leaders will have the opportunity to share how they are improving their competitiveness for manufacturing investment and jobs.

Walling was joined by another mayor from Michigan, Virg Bernero of Lansing, along with Shreveport, LA Mayor Cedric Glover, and Franklin County, OH Commissioner Paula Brooks on a panel offering remarks on promoting local manufacturing competitiveness. That panel was moderated by Department of Transportation Secretary Fox.

“Since the MAC Community Roundtable in September, we’ve been witness to some exciting progress here in Flint,” said Mayor Dayne Walling, MAC Chairman. The work of RACER and the EPA on former manufacturing sites in Flint along with the recent commitment by American Pipe to establish a facility at the former Buick City site were examples Mayor Walling cited as signs of Flint’s continued value to U.S. manufacturing now and into the future. “We still have the capacity; the energy, utility and transportation infrastructure; and the workforce to be a major contributor to American manufacturing,” said Mayor Walling.

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