President Obama delivering the 2015 State of the Union

Manufacturing Gets Short Shrift in the State of the Union, Republican Response

Jan. 21, 2015

Manufacturing and business mentions in the State of the Union.

Wading into the snarkville that Twitter becomes during the State of the Union is, well, let's just say ... interesting. If you were looking for a higher-level discussion, you had a lot of scrolling to do.

Still some tweets highlighted elements of President Obama's speech, demonstrating support or rejection -- or simply the fact that a particular policy was mentioned, a position taken. Afterall, one goal of the call and refrain of the SOTU and response is to set the debate for the year, and in this year's case, potentially for the 2016 Presidential campaign.

For a manufacturing advocate like myself, I would have liked to have heard the word "manufacturing" a bit more. Here's one look at the word cloud, from the speech:

Dig into the details though, and you'll find as wide a gulf on how to move forward on these topics as whether to move forward on some others where there's clear disagreement.

What's most concerning is that manufacturing is mentioned only once in each the SOTU and the Republican response.

Is the strong focus on strengthening American manufacturing fading?

About the Author

Patricia Panchak | Patricia Panchak, Former Editor-in-Chief

Focus: Competitiveness & Public Policy

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In her commentary and reporting for IndustryWeek, Editor-in-Chief Patricia Panchak covers world-class manufacturing industry strategies, best practices and public policy issues that affect manufacturers’ competitiveness. She delivers news and analysis—and reports the trends--in tax, trade and labor policy; federal, state and local government agencies and programs; and judicial, executive and legislative actions. As well, she shares case studies about how manufacturing executives can capitalize on the latest best practices to cut costs, boost productivity and increase profits.

As editor, she directs the strategic development of all IW editorial products, including the magazine, IndustryWeek.com, research and information products, and executive conferences.

An award-winning editor, Panchak received the 2004 Jesse H. Neal Business Journalism Award for Signed Commentary and helped her staff earn the 2004 Neal Award for Subject-Related Series. She also has earned the American Business Media’s Midwest Award for Editorial Courage and Integrity.

Patricia holds bachelor’s degrees in Journalism and English from Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree in Journalism from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. She lives in Cleveland Hts., Ohio, with her family.