Episode 49: American Manufacturing at 250: MEP Leaders of the South

Happy Independence Day! This is the finale of our three-episode special edition of Manufacturing an American Century, produced in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. On the Fourth itself, we close the series featuring the Southern states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 

As in the first two episodes, our guests lead their states’ NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) programs, the long-standing federal effort to help manufacturers in every state grow and compete. Our MEP leaders describe the early manufacturing activities taking place across their states, and the surprising ways those early industries formed in our nation’s founding have evolved into competitive strengths today. Our guests today include:

• Scott Schein — Executive Director, GENEDGE (VA)
• KeAnne Hoeg — Interim Director, NC MEP (NC)
• Andy Carr — President & CEO, SC MEP (SC)
• Paul Todd — Operational Excellence Group Manager, GA MEP (GA)

Our deep thanks to Scott, KeAnne, Andy, and Paul, and to all twelve leaders across the series who made this possible. As we aspire to the ideals of our nation’s founding to ensure the safety and happiness of our fellow Americans, we can’t thank these leaders, and all our national MEP partners, enough for putting that aspiration into practice, helping our 250,000 manufacturers make the things we need for our nation to prosper! Thank you for listening!

AMCC’s podcast is made possible in part by the expertise of Mike McAllen, founder of Podcasting4Associations. Are you part of an association also looking to produce a podcast? Let us get you in touch with Mike.

Thank you to the Economic Development Administration for their partnership in producing this podcast. This podcast was prepared in part using Federal funds under award 3070145 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.