Bryant summit to focus on manufacturing rebirth

Everyone wants American-made, says Raymond W. Fogarty, director of the John H. Chafee Center for International Business at Bryant University, and that’s a reason to pay attention to what he calls a manufacturing renaissance, despite a widely held sentiment that sector has all but disappeared.
“The reality is, even though we’re hearing about the recession and down times, these companies have come through the recession and I think it’s to send a very positive message on where we’re going between now and 2015,” Fogarty said. “You’ll see things getting a little bit better, you’ll see, hopefully, our unemployment [drop].”
So “Made in The USA” appears to be a timely theme for this year’s World Trade Day at Bryant University in Smithfield on May 23.
“We’re seeing in [this] state that many of our companies are bringing work back,” Fogarty said. “Made in the USA” is meant to say that people all around the world want these products. We are becoming very competitive.”
In fact, Rhode Island’s exports are up.
In February they rose 46.9 percent, according to an international trade-statistics report from e-forceasting.com, rising $84.8 million that month and increasing 13.6 percent year-over-year in the first two months of 2012.
That ranked Rhode Island 22nd in export growth in the United States for that period, with manufactured goods counting for 56 percent of all state exports.
“We’re selling more,” Fogarty said. “There [was] a manufacturing birth here that is still doing quite well. [People will be] leaving World Trade Day saying a lot of companies are doing well [that they] didn’t even know existed.”
About 25 companies will participate in the annual event, now in its 27th year. This year’s theme, speakers, and participating companies will help to build on last year’s work on “Competing Beyond Borders” and a national export initiative.
Giovanni Feroce, CEO and of jewelry-maker Alex and Ani in Cranston, and Cheryl Merchant, president and CEO of Hope Global, a Cumberland company that manufactures textiles for automotive, commercial and industrial use, will participate in a forum discussion on “Made in the USA.” Fogarty said Feroce and Merchant were chosen because they represent companies that are providing jobs.
“[Hope Global] is a very successful [business]. They operated 24/7. It’s pretty neat and it’s a very innovative, high-tech textiles. [Merchant’s] going to talk about becoming competitive around the world,” Fogarty said. “Alex and Ani hire, produce and source from Rhode Island. They’re really reinvigorating [business].”
Thomas Sanderson, deputy director and senior fellow, Center for Strategic International Studies, Transnational Threats Project, Seven Revolutions, will deliver the keynote address.
The center is based in Washington, D.C. Its Seven Revolutions project is a research effort to identify and analyze trends that will shape the economic world through 2030.
Sanderson’s presentation will focus on confronting the challenges of global security. He previously was a defense analyst with Science Applications International Corp.
“[He’ll] tell us where we’re going to be in the next 20 years on a global basis,” Fogarty said. Justin Rose, a principal in the Chicago office of The Boston Consulting Group, a business strategy advisory firm in Boston, will speak during the event’s luncheon on the manufacturing renaissance.
He has been project manager and co-author of the group’s “Made in America” reports.
“This study showed that the United States is competitive and that by 2014 to 2015, we’re going to be on an even playing field [globally] when all costs are taken into account,” said Ray Thomas, associate director of the Chafee Center.
There also will be workshops on achieving sustained success on a global scale, the reinvention and rebirth of core New England industries, and growth through product diversification. •

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