Findings

Congress finds that— (1) the strength of the United States manufacturing sector is critical to the economy and the global competitiveness of the United States; (2) United States manufacturers support 17,600,000 jobs in the United States and account for 12 percent of the gross domestic product of the United States; (3) access to capital is essential to growth and innovation in the manufacturing sector; (4) small, emerging manufacturers face unique challenges scaling commercial production in the United States, driving many young manufacturers to other countries; (5) structural barriers exist in the United States that prevent key investments in first-commercial manufacturing facilities; (6) a healthy manufacturing sector is essential to innovation economy of the United States, providing three-quarters of all private sector research and development, employing nearly two-thirds of all research and development workers, and producing the majority of all patents issued; (7) technology-intensive manufacturing small businesses, some of which may be start-ups, with the potential to anchor the next generation of manufacturing production where they locate, face special challenges in accessing the capital to move from idea to prototype and into commercial production; (8) already more capital intensive than software or services start-ups, manufacturing start-ups and small businesses face a second and wider valley of death when it comes to raising the capital to scale up for commercial production because of their capital intensity and novel technology; (9) a number of countries, including China, South Korea, Germany, and Japan, provide publicly funded incentives to attract these firms, recognizing that despite the risks, the long-term benefits of establishing leadership in emerging technology areas are large; (10) a study of manufacturing technology-intensive start-ups licensed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that almost all that scaled up into commercial production did so overseas largely because of this far more attractive capital and investment environment for manufacturing start-ups, which is a huge loss for the future of manufacturing in the United States; (11) if the United States loses the first generation of production for a new technology or manufacturing process, history suggests that it is an uphill battle once lost to reclaim that capability here given the unique learning and know-how acquired during the building of that first factory; and (12) to ensure that manufacturing technologies invented in the United States are ultimately made in the United States will require addressing the unique capital access challenges faced by these technology-intensive manufacturing start-ups.