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In a first for the manufacturing industry, the Small Business Administration convened a supplier expo in Charlotte, North Carolina, yesterday, where small and local suppliers met with some of the biggest companies in the U.S.

• Major companies that sent buyers to the event included Boeing, Eli Lilly, Ford Motor Company, Honeywell International, Inc. and Lockheed Martin, while about 800 small companies RSVPed that they would attend.

The kickoff: NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons kicked off the event at a reception the evening before, which also featured SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler and James Mismash, the deputy assistant secretary for industrial base growth and director of small business programs for the Pentagon.

The NAM’s message: “Just a couple of weeks ago, the NAM traveled across the country for our State of Manufacturing Tour,” Timmons recounted. “On the road, we reinforced a simple message: the smartest investment that policymakers can make in our industry isn’t in dollars.”

• “It is in smart and sustainable public policy—a framework that reduces uncertainty and drives down the cost of doing business in the United States,” he continued.
• “Take H.R. 1, for example—the tax and investment incentives that the administration and manufacturers championed together. These amount to the investment of a lifetime in the strength of manufacturers in the United States.”

Policymakers’ support: “We spent a lot of time with manufacturers—including many in this room—who are looking for ways to support this nation’s great ambitions to make the United States the best place in the world to make things,” Timmons continued.

• “The Trump administration is committed to that goal. And the speakers we have the privilege to hear from today are driving it.”
• “They understand that, in an environment where global volatility can reshape markets overnight, resilient domestic supply chains are essential—not just for competitiveness, but also for national strength.”

The last word: “That’s why this partnership between the SBA and the NAM matters,” Timmons concluded. “It brings together large manufacturers and small suppliers—primes and new entrants—to strengthen the full industrial ecosystem.”

NAM in the News: Timmons and Loeffler appeared together on Fox’s “Mornings with Maria” ahead of the expo on Wednesday, and Loeffler promoted the event on social media.