Members of the Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America (WMMA) traveled to Washington, DC, in February to support manufacturing and specifically wood machinery and the importance of the woodworking industry to our nation’s economy.

One bill that we have been diligently working on is called the Manufacturing Reinvestment Account (MRA), which is basically an IRA for manufacturers. It allows manufacturers; specifically s-corps, to save money in a savings account and upon withdrawal invest back in their company at a reduced tax rate of 15%. This would help manufacturers save thousands of dollars for additional investment back into their businesses.

A friend of mind came up with this concept and I brought it to my congresswoman, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). She introduced it on the first day of this session as Manufacturing Reinvestment Account Act of 2011 (HR 110) along with Rep Don Manzullo (R-IL). Currently we have bi-partisan support with 15 co-sponsors. The bill states it is designed to “To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow manufacturing businesses to establish tax-free manufacturing reinvestment accounts to assist them in providing for new equipment and facilities and workforce training.“

I have also just received word that our new Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is working it introduce a similar bill in the Senate.

The concept is also making its way to state government whereas a similar bill has been introduced in the Connecticut general assembly.

If you like the idea of investing in your company to help stimulate growth, contact your U.S. congressmen. Ask them to support this bill by being added as a cosponsor. For additional information click here: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.00110:

Editor's Note: Jamison Scott is a corporate officer of Air Handling Systems of Woodbridge, CT, and also the chairman of the Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America’s Combustible Dust Task Force. He can be reached at [email protected].

Readers interested in more information on the combustible dust issue should check out www.wmma.org/wood-industry-resources/dust.cfm or airhand.com/combustibledust.aspx.