If we can’t make things here in America, our country doesn’t have much of a future. We need more things built in America and Kip Eideberg and his team at the Association of Equipment Manufacturing are working overtime to make this happen, sit back and listen and Kip and I talk about how we can grow American Jobs and get Congress’ help!
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Highlights of the Podcast
THE CRUDE TRUTH Ep. 56 Kip Eideberg Vice President at Association of Equipment Manufacturing
Rey Treviño [00:00:00] Tens of thousands of manufacturing supporters call on Congress to bolster American competitiveness. We’ll talk about that and much more on this episode of The Crude Truth.
Rey Treviño [00:00:55] NAPE is a proud sponsor of the crude truth. Be sure to register for the NAPE Expo 2024 February 7th through the ninth at the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. Hurry and register today. NAPE where deals happen.
Rey Treviño [00:01:44] Well, good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Whatever. Whatever the time of day is, I cannot thank you enough for tuning in and watching or listening to another episode of The Crude Truth. It is just an amazing time of year as we wrap up the year and we look forward to 2024. We just got so many things going on and right now we’re just looking at a Congress that has just turned over a new chapter. Hopefully, and hopefully we’re going to be more pro-America with this Congress as we continue to move forward. Which leads me today, but not only to hopefully we’re going to be more pro-America, but we’re also going to be pro-American jobs in manufacturing here in America. And that’s why today I have brought on somebody that understands manufacturing made in America, probably one of the best that’s doing it right now in America. But also, he’s fighting for us. My guest today is the voice of America’s equipment manufacturing. Kip Eideberg. How are you?
Kip Eideberg [00:02:47] Hey, Rey. I’m doing great. It’s it’s a crisp, sunny day here in Washington, D.C. The outlook couldn’t be better, at least weather wise. But I guess you and I will get into what the outlook is for American manufacturing and and as you said, how we can continue to bolster our competitiveness. But I really appreciate being on the show today. Thank you so much.
Rey Treviño [00:03:08] Thank you very, very much. You know, Joe set this up. Joe is great. And, you know, you and him and everybody else that we’ve had on this year, y’all are vital veins to what America is, to the employees, to workers in America, and to really just trying to, like a better word, make America America again. We won’t. I won’t, you know, because we don’t go one way or the other, but we’re just really trying to bolster our economy. And, you know, as my teaser, we talked about how you and your group are trying to really get Congress to help American manufacturing, which probably also leads to bringing back jobs. But to my listeners out there real quick. Yep. I just want to you know, Kip, you are the vice president of government and industry relations for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. You have been on Fox News, Newsmax The energy Question with David Blackmon and the Energy News meet with Stu Turley. So you’ve just been all over really advocating for all these great things for American manufacturing. If you don’t mind, Kip. You know, tell our listeners about you and the great organization.
Kip Eideberg [00:04:21] Yeah, happy to do so, Rey. So, yes, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, almost 130 years old, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, right in the heart of of the equipment manufacturing industry. We represent what we call the off highway equipment manufacturing industry. Put it differently. Any equipment that you or any of your listeners will see on a farm at a construction site in a mine? Those companies are our members of our association, about 2.3 million jobs that our industry supports across the country, almost $320 billion worth of economic activity. We are about 11% of the total US manufacturing base. So a good, good slice of American manufacturing, that’s our industry. Those are our member companies. And our job, put simply, is to advocate for our industry, to move our industry forward so that they can move our country forward.
Rey Treviño [00:05:17] Yes. And, you know, let’s talk about that. You know, you mentioned anything off highway, but, you know, let’s dive in. You mentioned the Fourth Street group, you know, Farmers of America, the mining. I mean, literally you are. Are literally boots on the ground doing the the hard and dirty work. Are you represent the individuals that do the hard work every day that make life easier for all of us, other Americans that don’t do those jobs every day? And it’s just a shame that you have to fight for this on a daily basis with Congress. I mean, what is it about that surprised you the most when you’re there? You obviously in Washington, D.C., and you’re trying to get Congress to help out more Americans and bring you back manufacturing. What do you say the biggest surprise?
Kip Eideberg [00:06:09] Well, I think I think we’ve lost track as a country of of not only what what it means to make things in America. And we like to say just picking picking up on what you said earlier. We like to say that the 2.3 million men and women of our industry make the equipment that helps build power and feed the world. So I think we’ve lost track of that, and I think we’ve lost track of what manufacturing is. You know, I just came back from Mississippi. I was in Texas before then. We’re heading down to West Virginia in a couple of weeks to visit manufacturing equipment, manufacturing facilities. We bring lawmakers out to educate them. And it never ceases to amaze me when you get a lawmaker walking out on that shop floor looking at the very sophisticated, I should say, manufacturing processes that we bring to bear that our member companies bring to bear how surprised they are. You know, everyone has a think a sense of what manufacturing is or what they think it is. But until you set foot on a shop floor, I don’t think you have any real sense of just how advanced, how sophisticated, how impressive it is. So I think that’s the biggest surprise, continues to be the biggest surprise. And then I think also sometimes just the sheer lack of will to champion policies that help move the manufacturing sector forward. If we cannot make things in this country, then, you know, I’m not sure we have much of a future.
Rey Treviño [00:07:36] You know, you talk about making things here in America. Let’s talk about, you know, the Association of Equipment manufacturing. You know, I don’t know. I don’t know. You know, if you’d like to share who some of your members are, but let’s talk about the equipment, more importantly, that you all are building in America, like you mentioned Milwaukee. And, you know, I’m just I just think about, you know, me being in all the gas industry. You know, we always have those cordless Milwaukee Power tools. But but that’s just kind of what comes to my mind. But, you know, can you kind of share with us what industries you’re fighting to build the equipment for farmers, for forestry people, and you’re trying to get it all built here in America. Can you kind of just share a little bit about that?
Kip Eideberg [00:08:17] Yeah, for sure. Happy to. So we’ve got more than a thousand member companies, small, midsize, large, multinational. They all have one thing in common. They do business here in the United States. Now, not all of them are American owned companies, and we’re fine with that. We would like to actually see more foreign companies come to America and set up shop here, because guess what that means they’re going to create more American jobs, more family sustaining manufacturing jobs. So, you know, you could whether you are German owned, Japanese owner, American own, you make things in America, you make equipment in America. You are part of our industry. And we our members tend to service five sectors. Right? So we talked about that mining, construction, agriculture, utilities and forestry. So, you know, whether they are making excavators, dozers, combine harvesters, forage harvesters, tractors, sprayers, planters, you know, drill rigs, horizontal drills, you know, mining trucks. And some of them make the parts and components that go into those pieces of equipment. You know, they’re all members of ours. And so, you know, I bet you that any one of your listeners would see at least one piece of equipment that our members make on every single day. They just don’t think about it. Right?
Rey Treviño [00:09:28] Right. No. And I’m I’m going to make this comparison and tell me if I’m wrong, but I’m going to compare you to Boeing, to Lockheed Martin that, you know, those companies are making things that help defend America. You guys are making things that help grow and sustain American life in a much simpler way. I mean, you’re mentioning combined. So I’m thinking in again, I don’t know if these are your members or not, but I’m just thinking John Deere, you mentioned excavators, which I use on a daily basis when I’m drilling oil well. I’m thinking of Kano Pillar, Kobudo, of about individuals like that. And if we can have those manufacturing jobs back in America, I mean, how great would that be to have all of them back here? I mean, you know, there was a report, speaking of manufacturing jobs that says that U.S. states that Texas was actually the top one, followed by Indiana and Wisconsin. You know, talk a little bit about the equipment manufacturing, maybe just here in America as a whole and where you think we can go with the. Here over the next three to over the next few years, you know. Do you think we can get more?
Kip Eideberg [00:10:38] I think we can. I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t be in this job if I didn’t have to be happy warrior to to make the case every day, every single day for for manufacturing. And you bring up a good point. How do we create more jobs? Right. Because these are and I think it’s important to tell your listeners these jobs in the manufacturing industry, they are family sustaining jobs are good paying jobs. The average salary is about $89,000 in our industry. Now that’s 33% above the national average, 33% above the national average. These are, again, family sustaining jobs that allow people to have a good career to to take care of their families, put their kids through school, save a little bit for retirement and make an impact not just in your communities, but on the country as a whole. So we do need to create more of these jobs and we do need to have policies that make it easier for equipment manufacturers to create these jobs. 2.3 million jobs are industry supports. But now the downside or the headwinds that we’re facing right now is that we have 85,000 open positions across the industry, across the country, and we cannot find enough people to take on those jobs. So here we are trying to grow our businesses. That is, our member companies are trying to grow their businesses, hire more people, invest in their communities, move the economy forward. They’ve got open positions. They’ve got no one to fill them. So that’s a challenge that one of the things, one of the many things that we are fighting for day in and day out, as do association, is how can we create an environment where more young men and women are encouraged and feel excited about pursuing careers in manufacturing?
Rey Treviño [00:12:23] You know, I want to kind of jump on that in as I told you beforehand, you know, we kind of talked about what we want to talk about, but you mentioned the fact that we have 85,000 open jobs right now. And I read a case study a while back or just actually a couple of weeks ago that some companies were choosing to take their jobs overseas in their manufacturing, because if a job needed like 1500 engineers, hypothetically, or that it would take them 18 to 24 months to fill those here in the United States while in another foreign country, it may only take 6 to 12 weeks, You know, what is it about that difference that we can you know, what is it that we can do? You know, you mentioned the young guys, but why is that? Why why are we taking longer to fill these job positions?
Kip Eideberg [00:13:17] That’s a that’s a great question Rey. If I if I if I had if I had one single answer to that, I’d I’d be out of a job because, you know, challenged, met and and and solved. There’s a combination of factors at play here. I think, number one, we have gotten away from defining on how we define success or for young men and women and for for kids, really. Right. I mean, for for a long time. This is not news to you. It’s not news to your listeners. Success has been defined as you go to high school, then you go to college, you get a four year degree. Maybe you go on and pursue a grad school degree or not, and then you get off and you get a job. And typically those are white collar jobs and there’s nothing wrong with those jobs at all. We need those jobs of all kinds in this country. But I think the flip side is that we’ve sort of downplayed what it means to work in manufacturing. It’s it’s been for some time seen as a as a dirty as a as a dangerous as a dark environment in which to work. And nothing could be further from the truth. You go to a modern equipment manufacturing facility today, you know, you could eat off the floor. The facilities are bright, they’re quiet. People are using robotic welder, Google Glass, all kinds of technologies, robots, moving parts and components around the shop floor. So these are these are not the same jobs that we had 5100 years ago. So I think we’ve got to change the way we look at what it means to be successful, what it means to have a good family sustaining jobs. I think that’s number one. And really it starts people like to talk about how it’s important we get out to high schools and talk to high school kids about what are you going to do when you graduate. I think our point of view is that high school, it’s too late. You got to start in middle school, maybe elementary school, and get kids excited about, you know, hey, you know, look at that big digger. You know, I too want to build that will operate that or be part of the company that produces those.
Rey Treviño [00:15:20] Well, you mentioned dirty jobs. I’m going to get back to that one in a second about something else you’re working on. But I want to I want to keep with the young Americans that aren’t excited. And you’re absolutely right that we have been now built in, I believe in college. You know, I’m working on a master’s myself right now. I’m almost 40. I’m going back now. My undergrad is in organization development behavior. And then I got I got into the oil and gas industry after college and started at the bottom. And just like all the other 18 and 19 year olds here I am 23 years old and started there working with my hands and worked my way up. And I think, like you said, there are so big phobias or so bad play on working a job in a factory making $90,000 a year because, you know, I remember I saw a poster mean the other day that says what happened to the days when a father could afford, you know, two kids, a house in a vehicle on one big paycheck alone. You know, we’ve lost that. But these jobs that you have definitely helped get us back to that point and we need to get people excited. You mentioned that maybe high school is too late. You could be right. Sometimes I get asked questions about, well, why do these oil and gas oilfield workers get paid so much? And it’s like because they’ve been doing this job now for five or six years, which would be no different than anybody that wanted to become a plumber, an electrician, or somebody that works at a plant at 18 years old. They’re at the bottom of the food chain at 18 and any job, right? I mean, you’re grown up. And then by the time they’re 22 or 23, they’re making $90,000, 100,000. When people like me that went to college, which again, I’m a pro I love, you know, college is great and I recommend it. If anybody asked me if they ever should go, I’m going to say yes, but look at what you want to do. That those guys are now starting out at 60,000 at 22 years old, while the other guys that are also, you know, that are the same age and have more experience. Another example I would say is I have a son. And if by some craziness he wanted to play basketball or baseball for professional sport as a profession after high school, I’m going to send him overseas. So, you know, I understand that one year in college and done no go overseas, get the experience in the profession you want to be in and then get that. And that’s where I think kind of, you know what, Some people are trying to brainwash us in other ways. Well, we’re younger than high school already, so it might as well tell people that, hey, these aren’t bad jobs. I mean, electricians are making over $100,000 a year. Plumbers are making over $100,000 a year. Manufacturing getting back to it, these guys have great lore and a lot of them are union jobs, if I’m correct. Is that right?
Kip Eideberg [00:18:23] Yeah. I mean, there are union and nonunion. Right. And, you know, our member companies are both some are some have facilities that are both union and nonunion, depending on where they’re located.
Rey Treviño [00:18:32] Yeah.
Kip Eideberg [00:18:33] And so, Yeah. But many of them are. That’s correct. Right.
Rey Treviño [00:18:36] And, you know, and I want to kind of come back to the dirty jobs, you know, Tell us about I Make America it’s that show or that that not that show. I’m sorry it is what you’ve launched with my crew who used to do that show Dirty Jobs. Can you tell us a little bit about that? And it’s not a show. I’m sorry about that.
Kip Eideberg [00:18:54] No, no, that’s all right. I’m happy to do. So. Let me just get back very briefly to what you mentioned earlier about the college grad, you know, coming out of college, earning 60,000 perhaps. Right. Versus the person who went to a trade school and is starting out at a higher salary. Well, the other thing, too, is that more likely than not, the young man or woman coming out of college also is carrying debt, which, you know, the individual who went to a trade school is more than likely not. So not only is the salary going to be different right off the bat, you also have some debt that you need to take care of. And again, I love the fact that you stress in the college is a good thing. We should encourage that. But I think in the past it’s been the only way to success. So that’s been the perception. I think that’s where we’ve fallen short. It is by far not the only way to have a meaningful, successful, well-paying, family sustaining career. So
Rey Treviño [00:19:43] It is there’s a lot of ways in I’ll bring it to a personal level that I’m Hispanic and one of my grandfathers is originally from Mexico and didn’t speak a lot of English. But he believed more than anything that education was key. And so my mother, you know, good high school, went to college and she got a master’s and and she’s done very well. But again, that was the 1950s and 1960s. And it was just a totally different mentality back then of, hey, you know, I never want to fall to Father. That said, back in the day, I want you to do more than me. Right? You know, you don’t want to sit here and work hard and which there’s nothing wrong with that because we always want the generations to do more and do better because of that love that all these mothers and fathers have had for their sons and daughters. I think that’s also possibly gone into this whole, you know, work shortage in the manufacturing world, you know, where you had the fathers that were making the vehicles in Detroit or Milwaukee, and now they’re like, you don’t want this, but you know what? Now we need those jobs more than ever. And unfortunately, not only do we need them now more than ever, but we have a government kip that doesn’t want to bring those jobs here now more than ever.
Kip Eideberg [00:21:01] And that’s that’s that’s a real you know, it’s a shame. And it’s it’s arguably a crime.
Rey Treviño [00:21:09] Yeah.
Kip Eideberg [00:21:09] Might be a little bit of hyperbole on my part, but, you know, I we firmly believe as an industry that, you know, a good paying, family sustaining manufacturing job is certainly is a gateway to the middle class. It’s an opportunity to have a long, rewarding career and to live a life that you can be proud of and help contribute to the economy, to your community. But circling back and speaking up, you mentioned Mike Rowe and you mentioned.
Rey Treviño [00:21:40] Yes, okay,.
Kip Eideberg [00:21:41] America. Yeah. So I make America we launched that actually in Washington, D.C. 12 years ago with the help of Mike Rowe, came to Washington. We went up to Capitol Hill and we kicked it off. And so what is what is I make America you you may wonder. It’s a it’s a national grassroots campaign. We’ve got about 40 north of 40,000 supporters. Many of them are men and women from our industry. But they’re also their family members, their neighbors and people who use the equipment that we make. So whether you’re a contractor or a farmer and really this is the voice of the industry, this is how we try to ensure that our elected. Officials in Washington, D.C. and in state capitals across the country move our industry forward by pushing diligently pro manufacturing policies. I’ll give you an example. We we were in Las Vegas earlier this year and spoken of AG, which is our largest trade show. It’s the largest trade show in the Western Hemisphere. Construction, utility and mining equipment. We had about 140,000 folks in attendance during the week and we spent a lot of time and effort at the show educating attendees about pro manufacturing policies. The need to get involved. Right, Because you and I can sit here, we can complain all day long about all the policies that aren’t working, about why government isn’t doing what they need to do to move our, you know, move our country forward. But if we don’t do anything about it, well, we’ll be complaining until we die and not much will have happened. So we try to. We try to impress upon the people who are connected to our industry that they need to take action. So as a result of that, we sent 88,000 letters, emails. I suppose it’s the 21st century. So emails to members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, asking them, urging them, pleading with them to take immediate action, a number of things bolstering our domestic energy supply. Passing a farm bill on time so that our farmers have the safety nets that they need to continue to feed not just our country but the rest of the world, and to continue to invest in workforce, to create an environment that is focused on multiple pathways for as many people as possible to family sustaining jobs. So that’s what we’ve been up to. And if you want to get involved, if any of your listeners want to get involved, they can go to Hub H U B Hub dot I make America dot org. There’s lots of information.
Rey Treviño [00:24:14] Okay thank you for that. I was about to ask you about that. And then I also want to kind of go back to what you were also just mentioning about reforming a permitting reform. You know, reforming the permitting process is very important to the energy sector, and we’re glad to see that it is for the association of Equipment manufacturing also, you know, how can we unleash that full potential of domestic energy production and deliver critical infrastructure, you know? Any thoughts on that?
Kip Eideberg [00:24:44] I mean, look, I think it’s it’s it’s it really comes down to a to a a shift in mindset. Every single president since Ronald Reagan has tried to reform our permitting system and not a single one has been successful. And I talk about a mindset, Right. I think that, you know, when these rules and regulations were created, I think the mindset is correctly so that they’re meant to protect our environment, to protect our neighborhoods, our communities, you know, to ensure that they remain vibrant. And that’s a good thing. We need we need that that’s important to our quality of life. However, when the rules and regulations go so far and become so onerous that they’re less about protecting, but more about throwing up barriers to advancing our economy or our communities, then that’s where the with the problem becomes acute. And right now we have a tremendous opportunity in front of us. Couple of years ago, you’ll know this rate Congress passed, president signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, tremendous amount of money for infrastructure projects of all kinds. We’re talking underground aboveground roads, bridges, waterways, locks and dams, everything that we need as a country to be successful. Well, now the current rules and regulations are standing in the way of unleashing that potential. Why, in the 21st century, in the United States of America, should it take 5 to 10 years to permit a new highway that we as an industry need to move parts and components to plants and then equipment to customers around the world, But also the. High. Excuse me, Rey that you and I need to take our kids to baseball practice or to go to church or to go visit our family, Why should it take 5 to 10 years to build a new power plant that we need to generate sustainable energy so that we can lower the cost of energy for manufacturers and for Americans? So that’s the problem right now, is that the rules and regulations have become so onerous and the process has become so cumbersome that we’re holding ourselves back. And I can tell you this, I couldn’t tell you what the exact rules and regulations are for permitting a new infrastructure project in China. But I can tell you that it’s a lot quicker than it is here. And this year alone, China is scheduled to have built by the end of the year, somewhere around 2 to 3000 miles of brand new high speed rail to accommodate new modern. Trains.
Rey Treviño [00:27:24] Wow.
Kip Eideberg [00:27:25] We cannot even modernize the tracks. We need to put a new train on the route from Philadelphia to New York.
Rey Treviño [00:27:33] Yeah Yeah.
Kip Eideberg [00:27:34] So this becomes a national security issue pretty quickly right.
Rey Treviño [00:27:37] Now. Speaking of that, because I’m going to use an example also, how far is the drive or time wise to drive from Philadelphia to New York? If you’re driving it normally, like on a good day.
Kip Eideberg [00:27:48] On a good day, a couple of hours.
Rey Treviño [00:27:49] So at three out, 2 hours, 3 hours.
Kip Eideberg [00:27:51] 2 hours.
Rey Treviño [00:27:52] Okay. See, that would be like for me going from Fort Worth, Wichita Falls, and we can’t even get one that we want to get down from Dallas to Houston, which is a four hour drive. So, yeah, no, I mean, it’s just common sense. Has lot left Washington? I don’t know why you’re there, KIP, because, you know, the common sense has.
Kip Eideberg [00:28:10] No one has to be Rey.
Rey Treviño [00:28:12] Oh, well, look. What do you think as we wrap it up, 2023, You know, what are some of the issues that you and your team are going to be focused on for 2024 and going towards those elections coming up here this coming November 24?
Kip Eideberg [00:28:28] So right now, right now, we’re laser focused on the farm bill. And let me let me just make a point that we make every single time we talk to a lawmaker or a staffer or someone in the administration that, you know. Yes, obviously a farm bill is is critically important to our farmers and ranchers. Now, they need all the safety nets that are included in the farm bill so that they can continue to do what they do best, which is to plant and harvest and the food that we all eat. But but the farm bill is much more than that. It is also an investment in rural America. It’s an investment in communities that desperately need greater connectivity, greater access to to health care, education. So we see the farm bill really as as a as a critical way of bolstering rural communities across the country. So we need the farm bill passed. It expired at the end of September. Now, some of the programs, many of the programs don’t run out of funding until the end of the year. But there are a number of critical programs, one being on the dairy side, that if there is no farm bill passed by the end of the year or an extension will will spell disaster for many farmers across the country. So we are urging Democrats and Republicans to at the very least pass a clean one year extension. Many of the programs in the farm bill are annual. So we need we need for the certainty that farmers and ranchers depend on. We need a one year extension. It can be put in meaning no changes to the current farm bill. We’ve had that for five years. It’s actually worked out pretty well. So give farmers and ranchers the same conditions for another year until the Democrats and Republicans can hammer out a compromise. But they got to get that done. We really thought, I’m an optimist. You have to be in this town. I really thought we’d get it done this year. But they’re not. I mean, they lost three weeks trying to figure out who the next speaker of the House is going to be. And there’s a lot of there’s a lot of there’s still a lot of flashpoints between Democrats and Republicans to get a farm bill done. That’s not just a priority issue. It will be a priority next year. We have some some some tax policy tweaks that we would like to see made, particularly as it relates to R&D. Obviously, R&D is the lifeblood of any industry, certainly is for us. We want more R&D to happen in this country. You used to be able to immediately deduct any and all R&D expenses. Yeah, in the year in which they occurred, there were some changes made to the tax code a few years ago with that was phased out. So now you have to amortize it over five years. That puts us at a competitive disadvantage. Looking at China yet again as an example, they have a super deduction that’s 200% that you can deduct of your R&D costs. Now, I’m not a I was not a math major, but that to me sounds like that’s a state subsidy if you’re deducting 200%.
Rey Treviño [00:31:22] Wow.
Kip Eideberg [00:31:23] Right.
Rey Treviño [00:31:24] There used to be something for oil and gas investments back when my dad got started in the eighties that it was basically two times your money back. If every dollar your $2 in tax deduction.
Kip Eideberg [00:31:35] That made sense, right? Because we tried to grow this this nascent industry, we try to bolster it up, but for us obviously are competing on a global level for us to not have an immediate deduction and then compete against companies that can benefit from 200% deduction puts us at a competitive at a competitive disadvantage. So we’d like to see that happen as well. Obviously, the FAA reauthorization, this may sound wonky, but I think anyone could relate to the fact that the federal agency charged with keeping our skies safe should probably be funded. It argue about how much or how little, but they probably should have some money. And there’s actually a lot of infrastructure projects, funding for infrastructure projects in that bill, modernizing the roads around airports, modernizing access points that helps anyone who’s flying, modernizing terminals. So we would like to see that happen as well. That obviously means more manufacturing jobs, more construction jobs. So those are three priorities that we’re decently optimistic that we will see movement on next year. This year, perhaps we can get something on a tax extenders package at the end of the year. But it’s tough. I mean, look.
Rey Treviño [00:32:52] It’s the end of the year. Yeah, yeah, it’s over. It’s done.
Kip Eideberg [00:32:56] You know, every year has a done typically. But then there’s a polar opposite issue that also has a champion, right? So then you end up fighting against each other and, and that just no one wins. No one wins. The only one who wins will. We’re fighting against each other are our global competitors.
Rey Treviño [00:33:10] Oh, I like that. Are the only ones who win when we’re fighting. When Americans fight each other, the only ones that win are the global competitors. I like that. And something else I want to. You mentioned your football. You went to great detail about your farm bill. I feel like we could do a whole 30 minutes on that. Yep. But here in Texas we had a re stimulation oil well re simulation bill that didn’t get passed, didn’t get over the finish line and some of the same ideas, tax credits for going in the old oil wells to to rework them. But also you would be bolstering the rural America economies going back into some of these old dying oil towns and revitalizing these towns, whether it’s the gas station or the local diners. So who knows? Maybe, maybe we need a jump on this with you guys on the federal level or something like that. But
Kip Eideberg [00:33:59] We are you look, I think if we can go back and I’m not a I’m not an expert on the oil and gas industry, but if you can go back and you can go back to old Wells and try to squeeze some more out of them, that seems to me to be an efficiency that we should capitalize on and to incentivize rural communities. I mean, you’ve read the the stories in the paper, You watched the stories on on you know, on the local news or national news, right. About how expensive it is in major metropolitan areas and how many Americans are looking to move to rural areas, either for for quality of life or lifestyle choices, just just to make the economy, the economics make more sense by investing in rural communities. You know, we’re I’ll give you one. I mean, it’s obviously I believe in it passionately. But from our industry’s perspective, you know, if you look at the latest census data, roughly one third of all Americans live in what the Census Bureau describes as a as a rural area in our industry, 2.3 million men and women. That number jumps to two thirds. So two thirds of our employee base as a as an industry live and work in rural areas. So we are overrepresented in rural America. So while those rural America, so goes the equipment manufacturing industry. It’s not at all uncommon. We were just a few weeks ago, a month, we were out in Minnesota for a farm bill listening session at an equipment manufacturer. We hosted some lawmakers and we talked about the farm bill. It’s not at all uncommon if you go to a equipment manufacturer in a rural area that the person who’s welding or fabricating or painting during the day is also farming on the side on the weekend. So we are interconnected, deeply connected to rural America.
Rey Treviño [00:35:48] Well, you know, I drew America is a heart. I feel like the backbone of America. I mean, I’ve said it before, you know, whether it’s an oil field job, a farmer or rancher, somebody building the equipment, using their hands on a daily basis, those are the men and women that are the backbone of this country, that allow Wall Street with everybody that wears a suit and tie every day. And I consider my, you know, to be able to raise the stock or lower it is because of all the hard working men and women that get their hands dirty every day. You know, as we run out of time, Kip, I again, I just want to say thank you so much for for the opportunity to come on and give truly the crude truth on what’s going on in Washington, DC and sharing with us what’s going on with manufacturing here in America and why we don’t have more of it. How can people find the Association of the Equipment Manufacturers and reach out to you guys?
Kip Eideberg [00:36:46] Guys, it’s real simple. It’s AEM for Association of Equipment Manufacturers, AEM dot org. And I would I would encourage all your listeners to to make their voices heard. You know we talked about this earlier, Rey. You know, we can sit around, grab a beer and complain about our elected officials, you know, but the reality is that, you know. They ran for office. You know, I firmly believe most of them to make a difference. And so we ought to we ought to provide them with input on what they’re doing, provide them with some data points on the various issues that they are considering. And if we’re not happy with them, well, then we need to go and vote. And we need involved because if we don’t, well, then then who will? Right. And, you know, as a country, I feel like we are at an inflection point here. We we the future for manufacturing in many ways, I think is looking brighter than it ever has been. And part of that was as a result of the coronavirus pandemic where we realized that maybe maybe we should be making a few more things in this country.
Rey Treviño [00:37:53] Absolutely. Yes.
Kip Eideberg [00:37:54] Things are a little too vulnerable and, you know, susceptible to geopolitical forces. We’re seeing that now. What’s going on in Taiwan, in Ukraine. So that’s a good I think we you know, it’s a good thing Our mindset has sort of shifted a little bit. But now I think we’re running into the problem of we don’t have the policies in place to encourage growth, know we need to open up, build and open up more plants. We need more manufacturers to put operations in here in the United States. You know, we’re still short many critical inputs, whether they, you know, chips, microprocessors, wire harnesses, tires. So we need we need more parts and components manufacturers to come here. We need to attract more foreign owned manufacturers. We need to be seen as the number one destination in the world to manufacture. And to do that, of course, then we need a tax policy. That’s that’s why for growth, we need an education system that encourages multiple pathways, not just a four year degree liberal arts college pathway. And then we need a mindset shift in Washington or in Austin or wherever state capital that that that focuses on how do we make it easier for job creators to do what they do best, which do is to invest in their businesses, grow their businesses, create more families, sustaining jobs and strengthen their communities. So I think if we can do all of that, that’s no small task. I think we’re well on our way. But we just got to keep hammering home the message that manufacturing, manufacturing, manufacturing, it’s good for the economy, it’s good for the country. It’s a matter of national security, right?
Rey Treviño [00:39:29] Amen. And that’s the crude truth. Kip Would you give us the I make America contact info one more time as well?
Kip Eideberg [00:39:37] Yes, sir. No, no, not at all. So it’s hub hub. Hub dot I make America dot org.
Rey Treviño [00:39:44] Okay. Well, Kip, again, I cannot thank you enough and for everybody out there one more time. Kip Eideberg, who’s senior vice president of government and industry relations at the Association of American Manufacturing. And I just cannot thank you enough. And it’s a the Association of Manufacturing Equipment that kind of got twisted up there. Sorry about that. Equipment manufacturer equipment. Wow. I can. Association of equipment manufacturing. You got me. I’m sorry about that, Kip.
Kip Eideberg [00:40:16] All right. And in fact, you’ve been there a few more times. That’s good.
Rey Treviño [00:40:21] Well, Gib, I cannot thank you enough, and I look forward to having you in studio here next time you’re in Texas. We need to do another one. This. This is so important. And like you said, this is. I mean, you just in your closing statement, you just it’s it’s a domino effect. And we need to start here with manufacturing made in America and bring more manufacturing back to America. So thank you so much for coming on. And and we’ll see you again here next time on another episode of the Crude Truth.
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