Transforming Northeast Illinois Manufacturing NORBIC joins partners in forming Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing Chicago, IL, December 15, 2005: Beginning January 1, 2006, NORBIC, the Association for Manufacturing Excellence and a core group of alliance partners will come together as the “Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing” in an effort to help Northeast Illinois Manufacturers improve profitability and global competitiveness. The Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing will proactively assess the needs of Northeast Illinois manufacturers and provide targeted solutions to improve these manufacturers in a measurable way. “The Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing will be a collaboration of tax-payer supported and non-for-profit organizations that leverages, coordinates and focuses their collective resources into integrated solutions that transform Northeast Illinois manufacturers into globally competitive companies,” says Chris Multhauf, President & CEO of NORBIC. “The Alliance will continue and expand on the efforts of NORBIC to retain manufacturing in Northeast Illinois, while leveraging the resources of alliance partners to address the vital process improvement, product innovation and peer support issues that have been traditionally beyond the scope of NORBIC’s services.” As an Alliance Partner, NORBIC will focus of its efforts on achieving industrial retention through the provision of technical and professional services delivered by its Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity and City of Chicago funded business centers and grant programs. "NORBIC’s new proactive business model has helped us to identify the core challenges facing manufacturers throughout Northeast Illinois," says Chris Multhauf, President and CEO of NORBIC. "We believe that the solutions to these challenges already exist in the community in the form of non-profit, taxpayer supported programs, but that there is a fundamental disconnect between the need and solution. Rather than recreating existing programs, the Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing will serve as the link to assess the needs of manufacturers and match them with a vast range of affordable solutions that address their core challenges." Addressing the needs of manufacturers is critical to both the US and Northeast Illinois economy. 20% of US manufacturing output comes from this region, representing more than $60 billion in output. Manufacturing in the Illinois’ Northeast Economic Development Region is dominated by older, privately held companies with fewer than 100 employees. These companies are struggling with challenges related to products at the end of their life cycles, older inefficient manufacturing processes, shrinking customer bases, and ownership succession. Since 2000, the region has lost over 100,000 manufacturing jobs with a disproportionate impact upon workers who are minorities and women, many of whom are residents of low income communities. While foreign competition contributed, a significant portion of the loss is attributable to failure of these businesses to adapt to a rapidly changing global marketplace. The Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing will help Northeast Illinois manufacturers in making this adaptation so that they will remain a viable source of high wage jobs in our economically disadvantaged communities. To launch this new organization, alliance partners have pledged financial support and the technical expertise of key personnel in developing the core programs of the Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing. “As a non-for-profit business development organization, the Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing will have the ability to provide meaningful solutions to manufacturing clients with a broad range of needs,” says Ralph Keller, President of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence. “There are a lot of great solutions in our community to help manufacturers become global industry leaders, but the manufacturers are not connecting in a meaningful way to the many free and low cost resources available to them. A vibrant manufacturing base is vital to the Northeast Illinois economy and I am proud to support the creation of an organization that is dedicated to helping revitalize the manufacturing community through lean initiatives, product innovation, market development and peer support programs.” About NORBIC and the Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing While NORBIC will become an Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing alliance partner, it will remain an independent organization and will retain its current business assistance programs, grants and membership. The NORBIC Network Newsletter and all NORBIC marketing materials, with the exception of the website, will be communicated under the banner of the Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing. The Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing has been incorporated as a separate Illinois corporation and is seeking to obtain 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit organization. It will be co-located with NORBIC at 5353 W. Armstrong Avenue, Chicago, Illinois For more information, contact Chris Multhauf, President & CEO, 773/594-9292.