Supporting Our Manufacturing Communities
The Urban Manufacturing Alliance (UMA) was founded in 2011 to provide a space for manufacturing practitioners to come together because they felt isolated in their work, disconnected from the broader economic development landscape. Over nine years later, we remain a way to find “your people,” even if those people were across the country. What started as a commitment to bring 12 cities together, is now close to 1000 members across 200 cities of all sizes. And while in many ways in this time of COVID, we’re now more distant than ever, we can also rely on our years of experience connecting to each other from afar.
It’s during times like these that collaboration and idea exchange become even more important. UMA is committed to supporting the ecosystem that, with our members, we’ve collectively built over the past nine years — and to creating spaces, content, and resources to support small and large manufacturers in cities of all sizes as we move through this moment of acutely needed relief, and into a time of rebuilding and recovery.
Because as we look towards the future, we see supporting the manufacturing sector as an economic imperative — and as a matter of national security and of public health.
One example we’re all familiar with is the constant and tragic search for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). As we watch our hospitals look for masks, gowns, and gloves, and now as we must do ourselves to slow the spread (with urban grade masks), we see both the effects of dismantling local supply chains and the opportunity to bring them back. And in fact, many of us have been doing this work for years. Now is the time to step up, collaborate, and make sure the manufacturing sector and our communities come back, but stronger and more inclusive. UMA is doing our small part in this by supporting a growing group of 80+ practitioners who are organizing, championing, and leading their ecosystem around PPE production. We will have more about the inspiring work of our Sewn Trades Collective practitioners soon.
Broadly, UMA is in a privileged position to begin thinking beyond direct, immediate relief — so that practitioners, when you come up for air, have a place to start thinking about what’s next for your manufacturing communities.
Whether that’s creative financial products to help businesses come out of “hibernation;” or how to put a portion of the million unemployed workers to work in manufacturing; or how to help manufacturing companies become more sustainable through product diversification, UMA will be there to support you. Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be leveraging our existing programming and Community of Practice architecture to start thinking about how to support industrial economic development in our “new normal.”
Most critically, we must remember that if we don’t put equity work front and center in our response, too many communities will be left behind — as they historically have been coming out of many crises. We’re already seeing the devastating health consequences in so many communities of color, and we must make sure that our economic response reaches all communities. This could be a moment of true systemic transformation, and we are in solidarity with those organizations who have been doing this work for decades. We remain committed to building an equitable economy, recognizing that manufacturing can be a powerful wealth-builder for individuals and communities.
We hope that you use UMA as a resource, a sounding board, and a partner for this time of transformative change. We’ll be here for you, just as you are there for your communities. Join us today. We keep membership intentionally free to make sure everyone has access to our movement.
