Momentum is building as advocacy, investment and policy alignment push US electronics manufacturing into a new growth phase.

There was a time not very long ago when North American electronics manufacturing was in pure survival mode. PCB shops were shuttering. Assembly lines were moving overseas. Critical defense suppliers were hanging on by their fingernails. The story of the American electronics industry was becoming a story of contraction, not growth.

That story is changing.

Today, momentum is shifting. Investment has flowed into some domestic facilities. More government leaders are paying attention. And at the center of this resurgence – quietly pulling the entire sector from the edge into a new era of growth – is the Printed Circuit Board Association of America (PCBAA).

This isn’t hype. It’s not wishful thinking. It’s the result of organized, relentless advocacy from an association that refuses to let the US electronics ecosystem fade into irrelevance.

This is the movement that can take American electronics from surviving to thriving. And it’s the reason every PCB, substrate and PCBA company in North America should be part of PCBAA.

The Mood Has Shifted – Optimism Is Back

Over the past decade, the electronics industry has gotten used to bad news:

• Loss of market share
• Loss of capacity
• Loss of workforce
• Loss of strategic influence.

But something remarkable has happened over the past three years: optimism has returned to the US. New chip fabs are being built. Companies are hiring. Defense contractors were already dealing with record demand, and as of this writing our country is in a military conflict with Iran and depleting inventory every day. Venture capital is showing interest again. Policymakers who once had no idea what a PCB is are now speaking publicly about the importance of domestic electronics manufacturing.

This is not an accident.

This is the direct result of persistent advocacy – educating Washington, sharing real data, showing the national security threat and explaining in plain language why America must rebuild its electronics backbone.

The truth needed a voice. PCBAA has given it one.

Advocacy That’s Opening Doors and Changing Minds

Here’s the simple reality: no single PCB shop, no single assembler, and no single OEM can move the federal government. But an industry voice can.

That’s why PCBAA has spent the past five years walking the halls of Congress, testifying at hearings, publishing reports and educating leaders who control the funding, incentives and policies that shape our future.

What has this delivered?

• Recognition of PCBs and electronic assemblies as critical technologies, something the government had never formally acknowledged.
• Increased funding opportunities for US electronics manufacturers.
• Inclusion in national security assessments, which historically focused only on semiconductors.
• New bills and federal programs aimed directly at rebuilding domestic PCB and assembly capacity.
• A unified presence that finally puts our industry at the same table as chipmakers and major defense contractors.

No single company could have achieved this. But a coalition – the right coalition – could. And did.

PCBAA made PCB manufacturing visible again. And visibility leads to investment. For decades, PCB and assembly manufacturers were the quiet backbone of the electronics world, critical but largely ignored. Everyone talked about chips. Everyone talked about software. But nobody talked about the physical board that connects everything.

PCBAA changed that narrative.

By publishing data showing how dependent the US had become on foreign PCB supply, by demonstrating how fragile the supply chain really was and by proving that national security is impossible without secure domestic electronics, PCBAA moved our industry from the background to the spotlight.

This shift is creating a ripple effect across the entire ecosystem, with federal agencies directing funds to strengthen domestic supply, defense primes revising supply-chain strategies to source more at home, investors recognizing opportunity, state governments competing to attract new facilities and university programs expanding manufacturing and engineering pipelines. This is what happens when an industry becomes a priority again. Walk through the industry today and you’ll see something that felt impossible 10 years ago: growth.

Shops are expanding. Companies are modernizing equipment. New technologies – additive, HDI, advanced substrates – are being pursued domestically again. Foreign dependency is being actively questioned. Customers are asking for US-made product because they finally understand why it matters.

Optimism is growing that more opportunities are on the horizon, including increased federal incentives, continued defense-driven reshoring, greater investment capital, stronger partnerships between government and industry and rising demand for trusted suppliers. This is the start of a new era, not a temporary upswing.

The foundation is being rebuilt. The industry is stabilizing. And the next decade could be the strongest period of growth North American electronics has seen in 30 years.

But only for the companies that stand up and get involved.

Why Join PCBAA? Because the Growers Join, Not the Shrinkers

Organizations that are growing have one thing in common: they align themselves with momentum, not with stagnation.

PCBAA is where the momentum is.

Membership brings you inside the conversation that is shaping the future of US electronics:

• You gain access to real legislative updates, not rumors.
• You influence the policies that affect your business.
• You connect with companies committed to reshoring, growth, and innovation.
• You become part of the voice that is securing government support for our industry.
• You stay ahead of the moves that will determine who thrives and who falls behind.

Companies that want to survive stay isolated. Companies that want to grow join forces. Companies that want to thrive join PCBAA.

This is not just about belonging to an association. It’s about putting yourself in the group of companies that will shape the next generation of American electronics. The American electronics industry is not dead. It’s not even dying. It’s being rebuilt piece by piece, policy by policy, investment by investment.

And PCBAA is leading the charge.

If you believe North America should control its own electronics destiny, that national security depends on trusted manufacturing, that the industry deserves a strong and unified voice and that your company should be part of the growth rather than left behind. Now is the moment to join PCBAA.

Because the old era of survival is gone. The new era of thriving has already begun.

And the companies that are part of PCBAA will be the ones who rise with it.

Learn more today at pcbaa.org.

Dan Beaulieu is a longtime management consultant to the printed circuit industry and a member of the PCBAA; danbbeaulieu@aol.com.

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