Gillibrand bill could help Long Island manufacturers get federal aid 

Legislation introduced this month in the U.S. Senate could help designate a Hauppauge-based consortium as a "manufacturing community" eligible for federal financial and technical assistance while potentially addressing pandemic-related supply chain disruptions, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Monday.

The senator visited the headquarters of Ignite Long Island, a Hauppauge-based manufacturing consortium representing 3,000 businesses and 70,000 employees, to promote the "Made in America Manufacturing Communities Act of 2022."

The bill would allow the secretary of commerce to designate consortia such as Ignite Long Island as "manufacturing communities" for a five-year period — and eligible to apply for additional two-year re-designations.

Advocates said the measure would boost the manufacturing sector and give companies a leg up in securing federal grants.

"By allowing groups to come together in consortia and develop their own plans, they can develop programs that fit their own unique skills, needs and capabilities," said Gillibrand, adding that the proposed legislation could also help address supply chain problems that have stalled products at ports across the country in recent months.

Eligible consortia would include partnerships between commercial industry, state and local government organizations or universities that invest in manufacturing communities.

The federal assistance could include help with equipment or facility upgrades, workforce training, recruitment and retention, research, commercialization, supply chain development and strategic planning, officials said.

"Long Island manufacturers have a history of redefining themselves," said Anne Shybunko-Moore, chief executive and owner of GSE Dynamics, one of 1,300 companies located at Innovation Park in Hauppauge, the second largest industrial park in the country. "We demonstrate resilience. We are innovative and we often express our New Yorker determination to succeed."

The Made in America program is the successor to the Obama-era 'Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership' — also sponsored by Gillibrand — that enrolled 24 locally-organized public-private consortia.

Gillibrand's Senate bill has seven co-sponsors, including three Republicans, while an identical bill in the House has Democratic and GOP co-sponsors.

A similar bill cleared a Senate committee in 2017 but never came up for a vote on the floor.

Manufacturing generates about $14 billion in economic output annually on Long Island, said Terri Alessi-Miceli, president and chief executive of the Hauppauge Industrial Association.

"Manufacturing is the third largest industry in terms of payroll and a major force behind technological innovation," Alessi-Miceli said.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone wants Long Island to be the first place with a designated manufacturing community if the bill is signed into law.

"This bill," he said, "is so critical to the future of manufacturing here and across the country."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.