EMS Plugs in to Capitol Hill

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Pop quiz time. Can you name an industry that doesn’t rely on electronics?

Trick question! Electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies turn parts and components into the systems and products that power every sector of today’s economy, including agriculture and healthcare, to autos and the F‑35.

Similar to the EMS industry, Congress is tasked with turning problems facing each state and territory of the U.S. into solutions for every American. So it’s fitting that a dozen EMS leaders from companies across the country descended on D.C. in late September to speak with federal lawmakers about the most pressing issues facing the EMS industry.

EMS leaders and Global Electronics Association staff standing with Bart Gordon, former U.S. Representative for Tennessee’s 6^th District from 1985-2011.

Stephanie Austin, Marketing Director at Zentch, pointed out that “Electronics are invisible, but they're the brains that allow us to live a comfortable life. I'm hoping we can help lawmakers understand the entire ecosystem of the circuit board, not just the chips.”

Essential Parts for Everyday Life

“Electronics manufacturing in general, be it printed circuit boards, cables, chips; these are the foundation for things we need to live our everyday lives,” said Neil Mori, CEO of Syscom Tech.

From massive industrial machines to the smallest gadget, one would be hard-pressed to avoid interacting with an EMS product or system in 2026. And yes, that includes data centers.

But the relationship between these massive warehouses of electronic equipment is not quite copacetic. The rapid and massive build out of data centers has left EMS companies in a bind. On the one hand, some EMS companies supply critical parts and components that are integral to the AI race. On the other, the data center industry is causing significant backlogs for memory, PCBs, and more for those very same EMS companies. Backlogs mean delays in production and higher operating costs.

Syscom Tech’s primary problem is securing access to capital. While Mori’s company has seen progress on that front, particularly via innovative lending programs from the Small Business Administration, there remains a disconnect between lending banks and smaller companies like his that don’t fit the typical customer profile.

This may seem like a localized issue for the southern New Jersey-based EMS company, but it’s a familiar tune echoed by the other executives who joined the Association last week. Each of them faces their own resource restraints from labor to equipment. Each of them came to represent their hundreds (or thousands) of employees and the towns they’re a part of...which makes for a message that resonates with the U.S. Senators they met with on both sides of the aisle.

Neil Mori (second from the left), and Stephanie Austin (third from the left) listen to Kevin O’Hanlon, Head of North American Government Relations for the Association, in preparation for meetings with U.S. Senators.

Austin underscored civic pride as a factor for coming to Washington, D.C. “Just as an American, it’s like voting. I feel like it’s my civic duty to raise awareness of a topic that’s important to me. I feel like I’m doing something good.”

Building more in the U.S. makes sense for companies and consumers. Meeting rising EMS demand domestically makes sense for the competitive future of this country.

Building Tomorrow’s Workforce

Manufacturing in the electronics world is a far cry from the typical image that term conjures up.

“As a career, manufacturing gets a bad rap, but it's not dirty, it's not monotonous, and it's not boring. It's a great career to get into,” explained Austin.

However, for an industry that’s essential to this country’s national security, healthcare, agriculture, and banking systems (to name just a few sectors that need reliable and top-notch electronics), the talent pipeline simply can’t meet the demand. A common refrain among companies who joined the Association in D.C. was that attracting talent is tough – from SMT operators to electronics assembly, to computer programmers and solder-techs.

“The big concern is that it’s not just one or two people that companies need,” added Mori. “Some [Association member] companies have doubled their revenue, so they need a lot of people."

To put that in perspective, by 2030, there could be more than 150,000 openings in chipmaking alone. As a leader in setting standards and certifications for the EMS industry, we understand the hiring and training challenges these companies face.

Workforce challenges are especially difficult for small- and medium-sized enterprises to navigate. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 98% of electronics EMS companies fit that bill, which means everything that requires electronics to run needs a business environment where the smaller players can thrive.

While international trade agreements are up in the air, from Section 301 investigations to USMCA, it’s the workers on the ground who actually build the electronics we rely on every day.

“COVID-19 showed us what it’s like to not be able to get products from other places,” Mori highlighted. “America is telling manufacturers that we’re in a race with other countries and we have crazy demand for things. Now go build.”

But to build, Congress must make it easier for companies to hire skilled employees. That means investing in quality training and opening up pathways to certifications. That means incentivizing and supporting companies who are building today’s essential products and systems to simultaneously help build the workforce of tomorrow.   

Get Involved

Seamless access to capital. Smart workforce pipelines. Sharing the availability of critical components beyond data center hyperscalers. That’s the future of EMS we envision, and it’s all within reach for Congress – assuming they listen to their constituents whom they heard from last week.

For the companies that didn’t make it to our nation’s capital, there are still plenty of ways to help the Association advocate on your behalf.

1. If you’re already a member of the Global Electronics Association, join a committee to help shape the industry.
2. Write to your members of Congress; and take note of opportunities to do so through one of our upcoming campaigns.
3. Reach out to our advocacy team on the issues that are closest to your company.
4. Visit D.C. at our next fly-in and join your industry peers!