Earlier this month at Con Expo, I couldn’t help but notice my face on the back of a bus. Unlike every other bus in Vegas, this was not a rolling advertisement for a magic act, a tattoo removal service, a gentleman’s club, or a personal injury lawyer. This was The AEM Manufacturing Express, currently touring the USA in furtherance of AEM’s ongoing objective to elevate the business of making things.
This enormous vehicle, (along with my enormous head) is a love letter to all things made in the USA – a cause my own foundation has long supported. It’s packed with all sorts of interactive activities and more importantly – evidence. Lots and lots of evidence that a career in the skilled trades is a career worth pursuing. The bus has already visited dozens of states, and typically shows up wherever Americans are manufacturing the equipment we need to build the country. Its main purpose is to highlight the innovation, workforce and overall economic impact of manufacturing on all Americans, in conjunction with a campaign called “I Make America,” which I was flattered to help launch fifteen years ago in DC, (back when my hair was, apparently, a tad browner.)
Like my own efforts at mikeroweWORKS, the headlines have caught up to “I Make America,” and the overall success of this campaign is worth noting. Over the last 15 years, these guys have mobilized thousands of manufacturing workers through 500+ events, delivered 150,000+ advocacy messages to lawmakers, and facilitated countless pro-manufacturing policies, along with lots of infrastructure investment and workforce development by connecting grassroots advocates directly with elected officials.
In short, there’s no better megaphone for the 2.3 million men and women who benefit from pro-manufacturing policies, than the I Make America campaign. And no better place for my own sizable cranium, than the back AEM Manufacturing Express, coming to a town near you. https://bit.ly/47ImSwE
Honk if you see me out there…
PS. Our scholarship program is in full swing. We’ve got $10 million set aside this year to help train the next generation of skilled workers. Go get some! mikeroweWORKS.org/scholarship
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