Dear Maine manufacturers:

As you know, before I came to Washington, D.C., I worked for 29 years at the Great Northern Paper Company. I know firsthand how important our manufacturing sector is to our economic wellbeing and to American workers. I’m proud of my experience with a manufacturer who chose to “Make It In Maine.” I believe it’s critical for our entire country to keep making things here at home. That’s why I’ve fought to keep manufacturing jobs in the U.S., to prevent outsourcing to countries like China, and to make sure our trade laws are enforced and our trade agreements don’t send jobs overseas. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of work to do to convince my colleagues on Capitol Hill to act on these initiatives that are so critical to boosting U.S. manufacturing.

I’m conducting a survey of Maine manufacturers to get feedback from you that will help me communicate to my colleagues in Congress what challenges our manufacturers face and what makes them decide to keep their production here in our country. I hope to use this information to craft legislation and weigh in with the Administration for policies that will help the companies who have already chosen to Make It In Maine and incentivize more manufacturers to do so.  With direct information from you, I will be better equipped to continue to fight for a national manufacturing strategy, for anti-offshoring policies, and for a fair trade policy. I also hope to get suggestions for new ways I can work to protect and promote Maine’s manufacturers.

In addition to the survey, I will tour a number of Maine’s manufacturers throughout the month of August and in the months to come. These fact-finding visits combined with this survey’s results will arm me with additional ideas and perspective about the future of Maine’s manufacturing economy. I will compile the advice you give me into a report, and share the results. The results will be anonymous, and no identifying information will be tracked.

Thank you for your time and thank you for choosing to “Make It In Maine.”
 
Sincerely,

Mike Michaud
Member of Congress