The summit kicked off with welcoming remarks from Mayor Lily Mei of Fremont, a city recognized as a national leader in advanced manufacturing, home to 900 manufacturing companies that employ over 45,000 workers. In his opening remarks, Matt Bogoshian, Executive Director of the American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative (AMCC), emphasized the importance of targeted and coordinated economic development activities and investments by local, regional state, and federal partners, to achieve an innovative and sustainable manufacturing sector to revitalize the country’s manufacturing capabilities. Following these comments, Tim Rosenthal, Senior Commercial Relationship Manager with Fremont Bank—a family-owned bank headquartered in Fremont and a summit title sponsor—expressed pride in continuously supporting the financial goals of manufacturing businesses across the Bay Area.
Andrew Switky from Stanford University’s School of Engineering & Product Realization Lab delivered an insightful keynote, exploring the profound transformation in manufacturing driven by robotics, 3D printing, augmented reality, generative AI, and other cutting-edge technologies. His address highlighted the evolving landscape and significant changes in workforce dynamics, operational methods, and the geographical distribution of manufacturing.
Following Andy’s presentation were three different panels of industry experts focused on various issues impacting the manufacturing sector, including the “microclimates” of the East Bay and broader Bay Area innovation system, the future of manufacturing talent, and supply chain resiliency and international trade. Panelists from the public sector, academia, and private companies highlighted the importance of continuous ecosystem collaboration, sustained investments in human capital and physical infrastructure, and strong public-private partnerships to support ongoing and future manufacturing needs. These elements are crucial for advancing the East Bay’s manufacturing leadership.
“The Bay Area is obviously not competing on low cost. It is competing on talent, productivity, and output. That is why it is important to shore up support for the sector, which represents about 30 percent of the region’s gross regional product. It is a critical segment of the East Bay economy and that of the Bay Area as a whole,” Stephen Baiter, Executive Director of East Bay EDA, noted.
The summit was a resounding success, helping to foster connections and partnerships that will drive the future of manufacturing in the East Bay and beyond. We look forward to continuing these important conversations and collaborations!
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Special thanks to our summit sponsors:
Thank you to the following companies and organizations who shared valuable information, products, and resources:
To learn more about the East Bay’s manufacturing industry and resources, please visit: www.resilienteastbay.org.
