ABI is Iowa’s champion for the manufacturing industry

The Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) represents 1,500 businesses employing more than 330,000 Iowans. Our members range from Fortune 100 companies like Arconic, Collins Aerospace, General Mills and Deere & Company to small metal fabricators in all 99 counties. Our greatest concentration of members includes manufacturers.

Many know ABI for its advocacy on behalf of manufacturers—and ABI has delivered powerful and meaningful results with that advocacy:

$97 million in savings due to clarification of the sales and use tax exemption for supplies used in manufacturing and coupling Iowa’s tax law with the federal code for Section 179

$39 million in annual savings for Iowa workers’ compensation premiums

$2 million annual savings for the unemployment trust fund

Thousands of dollars in savings in legal fees and judgments related to tort reform, as well as administrative time related to state preemption on wage and employment issues

 That’s more than $138 million in savings for Iowa employers!

Fewer are aware of all the other ways ABI works on behalf of manufacturers—even when legislators are not in session. ABI offers year round manufacturing-specific programming, peer learning, networking and promotion of manufacturing as a career of choice.

 Legends in Manufacturing Awards—October  

Manufacturing Buyer Supplier Matchmaking—October

Advanced Manufacturing Conference—October

Manufacturing Technology Roadshow—Fall

Operational Excellence Roundtable—all year

MFGWise SW Peer Learning—all year

 ABI leaders in manufacturing statewide created the Elevate Advanced Manufacturing initiative to improve the perception of manufacturing across the state. ABI partnered with statewide resources and Iowa’s 15 community colleges to help better train students for careers in manufacturing and correct the outdated notions people have about this ever-evolving and increasingly technical industry.

In addition, ABI regularly partners with those passionate about manufacturing—from earliest technical education through the span of the entire manufacturing career. ABI is proud to partner with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, the Iowa Economic Development Authority, CIRAS and ABI member manufacturers to grow the state’s GDP in manufacturing by over $3B over a five-year period through work in the following five strategies: Leadership, Market and Product Development, Technology, Productivity and Workforce. As the manufacturing industry evolves, ABI is at the heart of efforts to better connect manufacturers, support Industry 4.0 initiatives and support statewide manufacturing workforce efforts including Elevate Advanced Manufacturing and Future Ready Iowa.