Gov. Jim Doyle met with top members of Congress and the Bush administration in Washington yesterday to address the significant loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States.
Doyle said in a press release the country's manufacturing industry has been hit hard by the recent recession and that has taken a significant toll in Wisconsin.
The United States has lost more than 2.4 million manufacturing jobs in the last four years, including 84,000 in Wisconsin.
Jessica Erickson, Doyle's spokesperson, said Doyle made a strong case to the Bush administration that help is needed now for the nation's manufacturers.
\Now the ball is in the Bush administration's court about whether or not they are going to get serious about this issue and begin to take some measures to help the nation's manufacturers,"" Erickson said.
While job growth in the manufacturing sector has suffered, and the number of manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin is declining, Doyle said he hopes to upgrade Wisconsin's economy and generate $1 billion in both public and private investment, beginning with the manufacturing industry.
""Millions of people depend on our manufacturing industry to support their families,"" Doyle said. ""Our country must do more to ensure a secure, prosperous future for these families, and now the time has come for Washington to act.""
Jim Haney, president of Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce, said there is a hefty percentage of Wisconsin's workforce in the manufacturing sector and recovery will come from a combination of more jobs in Wisconsin as well as unique product production.
""We can't put up a wall and stop any jobs from going overseas, but we should be doing everything we can to help our industries compete,"" Doyle said.
Haney targeted China as a pivotal place to start the road to recovery because of the growing middle class that has an increasing amount of disposable income. ""We have got to get over to China to sell products, and that means improving our exports,"" Haney said.
China is Wisconsin's fourth largest trading partner behind Canada, Mexico and Japan.
Despite the current economic difficulty U.S. manufacturers face, Wisconsin officials remain optimistic.
""Right now this is a jobless recovery,"" Haney said. ""But I'm confident the jobs will come as the recovery becomes more robust.\
