The impact of COVID-19 on this country didn’t need to be this bad. It shouldn’t have been this bad. But this is what happens when a country turns its back on manufacturing. America traded its independence for short-term corporate profits, and recovery is going to take much more than a few trillion dollars in federal emergency loans. A euthanized industrial base can’t magically be brought back to life.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker has announced a second set of 12 “manufacturing communities” to receive federal grants under the Obama Administration’s Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership initiative. The program is designed to accelerate the resurgence of manufacturing in communities nationwide by supporting the development of long-term economic development strategies.

WASHINGTON—Investment in equipment and software is expected to grow 5 percent in 2015, according to the latest economic outlook released by the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation.

"Happy Days Are Here Again” was a popular song back in the 1930s. Assemblers in many industries have been singing an updated version of the tune lately, because the new golden age of American manufacturing has begun.

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration has named 12 regions of the U,S. that will receive special attention under a new federal program designed to help make them more attractive to manufacturing companies.

WASHINGTON—U.S. sales of machine tools totaled $437.79 million in November, an increase of 0.6 percent from October and up 20.7 percent compared with November 2012.

CHARLOTTE, NC—Touting a rebound in manufacturing jobs, President Obama announced a public-private partnership to expand that momentum. He unveiled a manufacturing innovation institute in North Carolina, the first of three similar hubs he proposed in last year’s State of the Union address.

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in October for the fifth consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 53rd consecutive month, according to the latest data from the Institute for Supply Management.

NEW YORK—A new exchange-traded fund focusing on robotics and automation companies was launched on the NASDAQ Thursday. The ROBO-STOX Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (Ticker Symbol: ROBO) closed at $24.94 per share.