America Needs More Manufacturing Start-Ups
There has been a steady decline in U.S. manufacturing start-ups during the last three decades. Photo courtesy Siemens
WASHINGTON—Manufacturing start-ups are essential to the nation’s long-term economic and security strength. However, there has been a steady decline during the last three decades, according to a new report by the Hamilton Center on Industrial Strategy at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation.
Despite proclamations from policymakers and industry advocates who claim that U.S. industrial policy “has revived American manufacturing, created jobs, and made our country more secure”—the underlying data tells a different story.
From 1989 to 2023, manufacturing start-ups declined 58 percent. This trend has weakened America's industrial base and limited its ability to compete globally.
To address the issue, the ITIF claims that two important things need to happen:
First, overall U.S. manufacturing real value-added output needs to grow faster. That would help generate a healthier manufacturing ecosystem with room for start-ups to emerge.
Second, the policy environment for manufacturing start-ups will need to improve. Ideally, there needs to be at least 23,000 manufacturing start-ups a year by 2030, double from the current 11,500.
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