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NIST: Creating Jobs with Innovation

Pat Gallagher visits Omega Plastics

Patrick Gallagher, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology, participates in a "Best Practice Tour" sponsored by the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center at Omega Plastics.

Credit: MMTC

Guest blog post by Patrick Gallagher, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology

We've been hearing a lot about manufacturing, especially advanced manufacturing, these days. Things like U.S. manufacturing:

  • Is critical to innovation since it's responsible for most of our private sector research and development;
  • Is increasingly about sophisticated computer-driven, highly productive worksites requiring skilled workers; and
  • Is a growing source of good jobs.

What we don't hear about as often are specific cases where U.S. manufacturers are using new technologies to diversify their markets, improve their products, and create or retain jobs. I was fortunate today to visit one such company, Omega Plastics Inc., located in Clinton Township, MI, about an hour outside Detroit.

For the full story, visit the Department of Commerce website.

Released June 15, 2012, Updated January 23, 2023