On Friday, Governor Martin O'Malley issued a proclamation declaring October 'Manufacturing Month,' and issued a press release talking about everything he was going to do to turn around manufacturing in the state. O'Malley reasoned, "manufacturing offers one of our greatest opportunities to strengthen our middle class, grow jobs and create new opportunities in Maryland."
"Governor O'Malley finally recognizes - six years too late - the importance of manufacturing to our economy. But we wholeheartedly disagree about the solution," stated Larry Hogan, business leader and Change Maryland Founder. "The O'Malley-Brown plan includes a whole lot of talk - more studies, commissions, roundtables, a monthly blog post, and even a proclamation - but no real solutions for an industry that has lost over 26,000 jobs since 2007, and has lost over 2,000 jobs between July and August of this year."
"The O'Malley-Brown administration has been openly hostile to manufacturing and the private sector in this state since the day they were sworn into office. A monthly blog post isn't going to reverse the troubling downward trend of manufacturing in our state," Hogan said. "In fact, it is an insult to the thousands of middle-class workers and their families who have struggled to find employment and make ends meet because of the O'Malley-Brown misguided policies."
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' State and Area Employment data, Maryland businesses employed 133,200 workers in January 2007. In August 2013, preliminary results indicate manufacturing employment has dropped to just 106,800 jobs - a total drop over 20% in the sector since 2007.
Hogan went in to say, "no amount of lip service can undo this Governor's deplorable record on jobs. 120,000 more Marylanders remain unemployed since O'Malley took office, and 26,000 of those are in our manufacturing sector. It's time we had a governor who will put action behind their words. It’s time to Change Maryland."
Change Maryland founder Larry Hogan is also the founder, President and CEO of the Hogan Companies, leaders in economic development who have brought hundreds of companies and thousands of jobs to Maryland, and have done over $2 billion in business in the state.
Hogan concluded, "This manufacturing proclamation is just the latest stunt by this governor to hide his horrible jobs record. Last month, the governor made a ridiculous claim about recovering 100% of the jobs lost in the recession when in fact 120,000 more Marylanders are out of work today than when he first took office."
Bureau of Labor Statistics research shows Maryland's unemployment rate was 3.6% in April 2007, and nearly doubled to 7% in July 2013.
Change Maryland is the largest and fastest growing citizen organization in the state. The group organized a Business Summit on Improving Maryland's Economic Competitiveness which focused on solutions to the state's serious economic issues, which was attended by federal, state, and local government officials, economists, think tanks, and over 400 Maryland business leaders.
