The tool and die industry is a crucial one. It creates the tooling needed to make almost every manufactured product, including products used in our national defense. It has long been considered a "strategic industry", which is why many nations have targeted the US industry, using government supports and market interventions to weaken US based companies while giving their own tool and die sector an advantage.
Since 1996, Michigan has been able to designate "Tool and Die Renaissance Recovery Zones" to provide up to 15 years of tax relief to tool and die firms with fewer than 50 employees that are participating in a qualified collaboration with similar firms. Tax relief is coupled with an approach linking small firms together to compete for larger jobs. The collaborative approach ("inter-firm collaborations") has been used by WIRE-Net for many years to help frequently isolated firms learn better and faster about how to effectively overcome challenges and compete globally.
In Cuyahoga County, 122 firms employing over 1500 people would match the Michigan criteria. This includes firms in metal cutting, metal forming, special tool & die, die set, jig and fixtures, and cutting and machine tool accessory makers. They have had a tough time of it, particularly given China's strategic targeting of this sector and the numerous advantages the Chinese government has given its own industry (everything from a currency that is 40% undervalued, to provision of loans that are rarely repaid, not to mention health care costs and the environmental and other protections that do not exist in China).
Isn't this worth a look in Ohio?
For information on the Michigan program, click here.
