November 9, 2005

NOTE: The legislation in question is the Conference Report on H.R. 2862, the Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2006.

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives approved legislation Wednesday which includes $500,000 requested by Rep. Tom Petri to establish a Competitive Manufacturing Through Innovation Management Program at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

"This program will provide consulting services and targeted educational resources to small manufacturers to enhance their ability to innovate," said Petri. "The goal of this program is to spread manufacturing process advancements throughout our region to help keep our companies growing and our people employed and prosperous."

Petri said that among the consulting services to be offered by the program will be the development of and access to a database of patents not being developed for commercial purposes and a second database cataloguing the attributes of successful manufacturing companies. Educational programs will include an innovation in management series which will conduct workshops that allow manufacturers to learn, share and collaborate in an effort to become more competitive.

An Innovation Leadership Program will identify individuals for leadership skills training to be put to use at small manufacturing companies, and an Innovation Academy will focus on moving techniques for innovation from the classroom to the factory floor.

"This project is important for us because we rely on manufacturing to provide a higher percentage of our total employment than many other areas," Petri said. "In the current highly-competitive climate, our companies that have remained successful have had to work smarter and become more productive."

The Senate is expected to approve the legislation in coming days, after which it will be sent to the President for his signature.