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Congress’s new funding package, which covers COVID-19 relief and much more, will provide Americans with much-needed security during this holiday season. Manufacturers are among the major beneficiaries, as Congress recognized that the sector is essential to keeping our country healthy, fed and functional throughout the pandemic.

The 51�Թ���’s policy team reports that legislators closely followed the 51�Թ���’s recommendations in a wide variety of policy areas. Here are a few highlights.

The Paycheck Protection Program: This program was reauthorized with $284��billion in new funding and extended through March 31, 2021. It also lets businesses choose when to spend the loans, expands the list of acceptable uses for the loans and simplifies loan forgiveness.

Taxes: The last round of stimulus, called the CARES Act, included a payroll tax credit for “eligible employees” affected by the virus. This new package extends that credit through June 30, 2021, while also upping the percentage from 50% to 70%. Meanwhile, it increases the amount of workers’ pay that qualifies for this tax credit from $10,000 for the year to $10,000 per quarter.

And that’s not it for taxes. This package also extends or makes permanent many other provisions. For example, it extends the deadline by which workers must pay back deferred payroll taxes, while also extending the temporary, refundable tax credit for small and medium-sized employers that are providing required paid leave.

Labor: As you’ve probably read by now, the package gives workers on unemployment $300 per week on top of their state benefits. These payments will last until March 14, 2021.

Vaccines/COVID-19 care: And now for the measures that will help end this pandemic for good. The package includes $20 billion for the purchase of vaccines, making them free for all who need them; $8 billion for vaccine distribution; $20 billion to assist states with testing; and a $20 billion distribution from the existing provider relief fund.

And we’re still not finished . . .

Long-term fixes: Congress also included manufacturing priorities that predate the pandemic and remain absolutely crucial.

• Energy: This is the big one—the first comprehensive modernization of U.S. energy policy in well over a decade, and an upgrade that the 51�Թ��� has long fought for. We can’t cover all of its many provisions here, but they include everything from energy storage to nuclear development to carbon capture to renewable energy. It’s a major victory for manufacturers and the 51�Թ���.
• Environment: The legislation also includes a provision for phasing down hydrofluorocarbons—greenhouse gases used in refrigeration. Relatedly, it creates new R&D programs for technologies that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector. Both are high priorities for manufacturers’ sustainability efforts.
• Anti-counterfeiting measures: These measures are designed to protect manufacturers’ intellectual property, and they include the empowerment of the Federal Trade Commission to take action against bad actors exploiting the pandemic.
• Transportation: As part of this package, Congress passed the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act, which provides a two-year authorization for ports, inland waterways and important water infrastructure investments.
• Broadband: And lastly, the package funds the improvement of digital infrastructure and broadband access, including for underserved and rural populations. It also includes a support program for those experiencing hardship due to COVID-19.

What’s missing? Since you ask, the package does not include the liability protections that the 51�Թ��� advocated. But the 51�Թ��� will continue working on this priority next year.

The last word: 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons said of the legislation, “Some are stirring up controversy over aspects of the spending text to drum up ratings or score political points. But the bottom line is manufacturers—and all Americans—need relief now. This package gives manufacturers and many other Americans a lifeline in the face of the disaster this pandemic continues to wreak on lives and livelihoods. There is unfinished work for sure. But it makes no sense to hold up an action that can bring real relief to this country.”

You can read a more expansive list of policy wins here.

Nicole Reyna’s professional journey—from college student to Army sergeant to senior quality assurance technologist at Smithfield Foods—wasn’t one she had planned. But thanks to The Manufacturing Institute’s Heroes MAKE America program, it’s one that has brought her where she wants to be. Initially, Reyna was interested in medicine and went to college to become a medical assistant. Shortly before graduation, however, she had an experience that changed her mind.

“I was two months from graduating that program, and I was working on removing stitches—and that’s when I realized I was not what you would call a ‘medically inclined person,’” Reyna said.

Instead, she spoke to recruiters at her local mall and ended up joining the U.S. Army, where she served for 12 years in logistics and quality assurance. When she left the military in 2019, she had only 90 days to find a job. And while she was enrolled in Department of Defense program that teaches veterans about resume building and job searching, she ran into a Heroes MAKE America program manager sitting outside the door, giving feedback on job candidates’ LinkedIn profiles and talking about a certified manufacturing program.

“It was a chance thing,” said Reyna. “But the Heroes program was fantastic. They walked through your resume; they help you write your resume; we’d do mock interviews. You go through The Manufacturing Institute’s certification process. And every week, we would go to manufacturing facilities and see what they look like—how robotics work, how generators are built, how food is manufactured. It was very comprehensive.”

The program managers were also highly engaged in ensuring Reyna found a role. When she was initially passed over for a position at a Smithfield distribution center, Reyna’s program manager called the company’s talent acquisition executive to make sure Reyna could receive an interview. After a conversation, Smithfield decided to find Reyna a role—and today, Reyna is one of three senior quality assurance technologists for one of Smithfield’s large distribution centers.

After her experience, Reyna has one piece of advice for people considering the Heroes program: Do it.

“The opportunities afforded to you are insane,” said Reyna. “When you don’t do these programs, you’re thrown to the wolves. At the Heroes program, you have resume assistance, you see facilities, you get to meet with people and speak with hiring managers. And if we put in a resume somewhere, we’d tell our program managers we applied and they’d call to follow up. It’s invaluable.”

As the largest inoculation effort in human history kicked off this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provided guidance on mandatory employee vaccinations. Here is a brief summary, courtesy of 51�Թ��� Director of Labor and Employment Policy Drew Schneider.

What they’re saying: The EEOC allows employers to require employees to take the vaccine, so long as the company meets requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.

Equal employment laws still apply during the pandemic, but the EEOC states that they “do not interfere with or prevent employers from following the guidelines and suggestions made by the CDC or state/local public health authorities about steps employers should take regarding COVID-19.”

Disabilities and direct threats: “If an employee is unable to take the vaccine due to a disability, an employer may only exclude the employee from the workplace if that worker presents a ‘direct threat’ to other workers and the employer is unable to provide a reasonable accommodation to the employee that would eliminate or reduce the risk to other employees,” says Schneider.

“If an employer suspects that the employee poses a direct threat, the employer should conduct an individualized assessment of four factors to determine whether direct threat exists: duration of risk, severity of potential harm, likelihood of harm and the imminence of potential harm.”

Religious objections: If an employee objects to the vaccine because of a sincerely held religious practice or belief, an employer must provide reasonable accommodation unless it poses an undue hardship under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Schneider explains. According to the EEOC, courts have defined “undue hardship” as having more than a minimal cost to the employer.

The 51�Թ��� says: 51�Թ��� President and CEO Timmons said in a recent statement about potential vaccine mandates, “While there are likely legal concerns with blanket mandates, if any of our members believed that a requirement at their company was the right thing to do, we would certainly support that within the bounds of the law. Because America’s future depends on folks rolling up our sleeves in a new way.”

Check out the guidance .

International Paper is acutely aware that forests are “the lungs of the landscape,” says Chief Sustainability Officer Sophie Beckham. That’s why the company, which serves 25,000 customers in 150 countries around the world, has developed a close partnership with The Nature Conservancy.

Beckham chatted with us recently about what the two organizations have done together. Here’s the condensed interview.

How it started: International Paper’s collaboration with TNC goes back decades, to the days when International Paper was the largest private forest landowner in the United States. About 15 years ago, when International Paper made the decision to divest of all of its land holdings, TNC acquired significant amounts of the company’s land. And in 2017, International Paper decided to go further—taking on an expansive effort to help others support forests and communities.

• “We wanted to look outside our own supply chains, and understand how might we contribute to knowledge on natural climate solutions and biodiversity,” said Beckham. “Working on projects that are more global in scope and more focused on natural climate solutions—that was the beginning of the relationship.”

Phase 1: First, International Paper partnered with TNC to reduce the carbon impact of logging in southeast Asia, including through cutting-edge methods like bioacoustics—a technique for measuring the biodiversity of forests by recording the animals and insects that live there. The company also employed reduced-impact logging methods to advance carbon sequestration.

Phase 2: Earlier this year, the partnership moved into a new phase, and today International Paper is bringing its expertise to North American forests. It partners with private local landowners to sequester more carbon, which reduces the impact of climate change while protecting the land’s commercial value.

• “We’ve learned from our experiences around the world that we have great opportunities to promote sustainability without compromising the economic value of the land for landowners—and now, we’re bringing those techniques to forests in North America,” says Beckham.

Good advice: For other companies interested in promoting sustainability, Beckham emphasizes the importance of strategic partnerships and collaboration.

“There was a time in which manufacturers felt a little bit in the defensive position with environmental stakeholders—but the turning point has already happened,” said Beckham.

About 30 million American workers without four-year college degrees have the skills necessary for jobs that pay 70% more than their current roles, according to a new study cited by (subscription).

The opportunity: “The findings point to the potential of upward mobility for millions of Americans, who might be able to climb from low-wage jobs to middle-income occupations or higher.”

• “Our research shows the same thing,” said Manufacturing Institute Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Gardner Carrick. “We know that less than half the people that earn a manufacturing certification go to work in manufacturing.��Those people have the skills to work in manufacturing, but are not doing so.��And we know that is costing them between $10K–$15K in earnings every year.”

The challenge: These workers may not know they have the skills for more lucrative careers, and potential employers may be on the lookout for particular certifications or degrees. Today, two-thirds of jobs require some postsecondary education or training—whether that involves a four-year college degree, or a specialized technical or nontechnical course that prepares a potential employee for their role.

A way forward: The Manufacturing Institute’s FAME program offers students the opportunity to earn a two-year associate degree while working in their sponsor’s manufacturing facility as an Advanced Manufacturing Technician (AMT).

The pitch: “The FAME program enables people to maximize their earnings, because we don’t just build skills—we teach individuals to be world-class manufacturing employees,” said Carrick.��“��showed that FAME students are more than twice as likely to complete school as students in other similar technical programs and will earn almost twice as much as those students in the five years after school.”

The 51�Թ��� is calling for Congress to temporarily extend a COVID-19 tax relief provision that would support manufacturers affected by the pandemic.

The background: Currently, the maximum deduction for interest on business loans is limited to 30% of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). When COVID-19 hit, however, many businesses saw their earnings fall, which also caused their allowable business interest deduction to decrease, even as firms were forced to take out loans to stay afloat. To support these businesses, Congress increased the allowable business interest deduction from 30% to 50% of EBITDA in the bipartisan CARES Act.

The problem: The legislation only covered tax years 2019 and 2020, which means it expires in just a few weeks. At that point, the allowable deduction will fall again to 30% of EBITDA, making it more expensive for struggling companies to stay afloat. The 51�Թ��� is calling on Congress to extend the provision for one more year.

Why it matters: In a capital-intensive industry like manufacturing, businesses use debt to finance important investments in critical technology.

• With the pandemic causing earnings to fall in some sectors, many manufacturers are holding a larger ratio of debt-to-earnings, making their investments more expensive.

• An economic analysis by Ernst & Young found that a one-year extension of the current 50% rate could help create up to 85,000 jobs and add billions of dollars in GDP.

The word from the 51�Թ���: “Congress intended to offer a lifeline to businesses that are struggling in the midst of COVID-19—and although we can see a light at the end of the tunnel, the pandemic still rages on,” said 51�Թ��� Vice President of Tax and Domestic Economic Policy Chris Netram. “Manufacturers are calling on Congress to extend this provision for another year so that it does what it was meant to do: support American workers and keep America in business.”

We’ve begun to see our states and towns return to lockdowns—usually with very different rules than their neighbors. But this time around, manufacturers want to avoid the uncertainty and inconsistency of the spring shutdowns, so the 51�Թ��� is calling on all state and local leaders to follow federal guidance on designating essential workers. Here’s a quick review of that guidance, put forward by Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

What it is: The “Essential Critical Infrastructure Worker” guidance was initially drafted after shelter-in-place orders contributed to temporary product shortages in the spring, exposing vulnerabilities in U.S. supply chains and essential services. In response, most states directly adopted the CISA guidance to create a measure of stability.

The guidance lists the types of workers supporting critical supply chains and infrastructure in areas like health care, telecommunications, food and agriculture and transportation—basically, a comprehensive explanation of which roles are necessary to keep the country safe and moving.

The latest version: The guidance includes the latest safety recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The most recent update recommends a “risk mitigation strategy” to help employers maintain worker safety, which includes:

• Creating a methodology for understanding potential risks to workers, taking into account factors like close contact between workers and indoor vs. outdoor activities;
• Identifying workers who could potentially work from home;
• Assessing how critical or unique any given worker’s role is in order to limit the number of employees working together onsite; and
• Examining the allocation of scarce resources for workers based on the availability of safety measures like PPE and testing.

The last word: “Manufacturers are the backbone of America’s COVID-19 response and economic recovery, and we are committed to operating in a safe and sustainable way as we weather this crisis,” said 51�Թ��� Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy Rachel Jones. “The CISA guidance provides a clear, useful and uniform mechanism for state and local governments and business leaders to identify what must safely keep running. We urge all state and local governments and businesses to adopt the CISA framework and follow its recommendations.”

The counteroffensive against the pandemic entered its next phase earlier this week, when 90-year-old Maggie Keenan to receive the initial dose of the United Kingdom’s rollout of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, the U.S. effort is also moving forward, with some big milestones coming up this month. Here’s what the timeline looks like.

Dec. 10: The Vaccine Advisory Board at the Food and Drug Administration will meet to consider emergency approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Dec. 11 or 12 is likely to see the beginning of U.S. inoculations for the Pfizer vaccine, since they are expected to begin 24–48 hours after FDA approval.

Dec. 17: The Vaccine Advisory Board is expected to consider Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Dec. 18 or 19: Moderna’s vaccine is set to reach patients.

End of December: 40 million doses of vaccine are expected to be delivered by Pfizer and Moderna, which will cover approximately 20 million people.

January or February 2021: Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine is expected to come online, offering additional options and capacity for COVID-19 vaccines, while deliveries of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are expected to multiply nationally. The goal is to have another 80 million people vaccinated during these two months.

By June 2021: 600 million vaccines in total are expected to be produced by a range of manufacturers, which means that everyone who wants a vaccine will have access to it at little to no cost.

Amid rising caseloads of COVID-19, we will likely see increasing efforts to shut down businesses. But given how crucial manufacturing is to fighting the virus and maintaining our economy, the 51�Թ��� is working to ensure that manufacturers can keep operating and that the North American supply chain will remain robust.

Why it matters: Manufacturers in the United States are providing frontline health care workers with the resources they need to protect and save lives—and providing daily essentials to citizens across North America. Suppliers in Mexico are key to that effort. A shutdown of facilities in either country could damage not only the ongoing economic recovery, but also the supply chain for critical goods as well as undermine the global response to COVID-19.��

A stronger connection: With the ratification of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, the relationship between North American countries is more important than ever. Each day last year, $2.3 billion worth of manufactured goods crossed the U.S.–Mexican–Canadian borders. And today, Mexico and Canada purchase more from the U.S. than our next 11 trading partners combined.

Past is precedent: Back in the spring, in the midst of nationwide shutdowns in Mexico, the 51�Թ��� sent a letter to President Andrés Manuel��López Obrador from 326 manufacturing executives. It urged Mexico to recognize and reciprocate the guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency—which designated manufacturing as essential and critical.

• Thanks to the 51�Թ���’s efforts, Mexico designated manufacturing sectors as essential, including the automotive, aerospace, mining and construction sectors, and allowed them to reopen.
• Then, when the Mexican government pushed back the planned reopening date for a number of manufacturing sectors from May 18 to June 1, the 51�Թ��� immediately stepped in. Just 24 hours later, Mexico’s Ministry of Health reversed course to allow these sectors to restart operations before June 1 if health security protocol processes had been established and approved before that date.

What we’re doing now: The 51�Թ��� has remained in contact with leaders and health officials across North America to ensure that manufacturers continue to have the tools and support they need to stay open and produce essential goods for our citizens.

The last word: “Manufacturers across North America are central to critical infrastructure industries and essential services,” said 51�Թ��� Senior Director of International Economic Affairs Ken Monahan. “We are committed to delivering the products and services that make it possible for all of our countries to respond to COVID-19 and deliver a stronger, more prosperous future.”

Pfizer is working around the clock to ensure an efficient and speedy distribution of its potential COVID-19 vaccine, pending emergency use authorization in the United States. To do so, it has developed an innovative packaging and storage solution that just might help save the world.

The challenge:��Beyond developing a vaccine in the shortest time frame ever attempted, researchers at Pfizer must ensure that hundreds of millions of vials of its potential COVID-19 vaccine are kept frozen at extreme temperatures (-70 degrees Celsius) as they are shipped across the globe.����

The solution:��Pfizer got to work designing, engineering and manufacturing temperature-controlled thermal shippers that use dry ice to maintain the required temperature until the point of vaccination.

Once in transit:��Pfizer will monitor GPS-enabled thermal sensors in every thermal shipper from a control tower, which will track the location and temperature of each vaccine shipment along its preset route. That means Pfizer can prevent unwanted deviations before they happen.��

Once on site:��After arriving at the points of use, providers will have three options for storage:

• Ultralow temperature freezers, which are commercially available now and can extend shelf life for up to six months.
• Refrigeration units commonly available in hospitals, which can safely store the vaccine for up to five days at 2–8 degrees Celsius.
• The same Pfizer thermal shippers that carry doses during shipping; these can serve as temporary storage units for up to 15 days as long as they are refilled with dry ice.

The last words: “We have developed detailed logistical plans and innovative tools to support effective vaccine transport, storage and continuous temperature monitoring. Leveraging those resources and based on our track record, we are very confident in our ability to distribute large quantities of our potential COVID-19 vaccine to customers with different infrastructures in all parts of the country and all markets across the globe,” said Pfizer Vice President, BioPharma Global Supply Chain Tanya Alcorn.

“Pfizer is proving yet again that manufacturers’ ingenuity knows no bounds. The progress they have made on a vaccine alone is incredible, and the innovative way they have now addressed these distribution challenges is impressive. It shows manufacturers’ unwavering commitment to saving lives and helping to lead America out of this crisis,” said 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons.