What ABB’s Make It American™ Certification Means for BABA Compliance

At the NEMA Annual Meeting, Trade Hounds sat down with ABB's Deni Miller to discuss a milestone for the company: achieving Make It American™ certification for its products and facilities under NEMA's initiative. This recognition comes at a pivotal time, as businesses across the U.S. are increasingly focused on domestic manufacturing and compliance with the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act.

A recent poll found that 92% of Trade Hounds users say they are more likely to buy products made in America—a stat that underscores the growing importance of domestic manufacturing across industries. This shift toward supporting U.S.-made products is influencing purchasing decisions, supply chain strategies, and how companies communicate their value to customers.

Keep reading to see how ABB is tackling electrification, energy efficiency, and workforce development to empower the next generation of skilled trades professionals.

ABB was recently certified as a Made in America company under NEMA. What does this certification mean for the company and its customers?

The Make It American initiative is super important to ABB. If I think about ABB as an organization, we sit at that intersection of electrification and automation, and we know our customers have a real strong desire to have products and solutions that are built in America. So being one of the first to be recognized with the Make It American certification is huge.

Now our customers can get everything from medium voltage switchgear, low voltage switchgear, switchboards, panel boards, power panels—everything you need for this dynamic demand that we see—all with a Made in America option. For us, it's really a recognition of one, validating our supply chain, but also really that operational excellence that we have. You know, looking at the product content, supporting BABA, so it's super exciting.

The Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act has a lot of implications for U.S.-made products. Why is it so important that ABB is getting certified right now?

I'd say right now it's important. We see a strong demand, but ABB has always focused on the U.S. We're an organization out of Zurich, but a little less than 30% of our revenue comes from the U.S. So, the investments that we are seeing in the U.S. are not new. If I go back and look from 2010 until today, we've invested $14 billion in the U.S. We saw this demand coming. We are super well-positioned with capacity, with investments not only in infrastructure but in people and tools. For us, it's about continuing the investment.

If I go back and look at 2022 to 2024, we invested another $500 million, and just this year, we've announced new manufacturing facilities. All that demand that we see—whether it's grid modernization, whether it's the AI boom, or whether it's just energy efficiency—we have the capacity and the tools now to support it.

We also heard you’re joining the NEMA board—what does that role mean for you and ABB?

It's an opportunity to get connected to NEMA. When I think about NEMA, it's the advocacy, it's the standards. And for ABB, it's about how do we partner along with NEMA. The geopolitical situation is rapidly changing. We want to make sure we're at the forefront, not only for ABB but for the industry. The electro-industry is thriving right now. All of the big trends that I've talked about all need power.

I'm really excited to join the organization. I think what Debra Phillips and the team have done is just incredible, positioning our organization and NEMA really for the future. So, it's going to be fun. I'm excited to join and really learn from the team as well.

AI is a hot topic in the industry right now. How is AI impacting ABB’s initiatives and the broader electrification and automation industry?

When we think about what this is doing for the industry, there are some really interesting statistics. From 2024 up until today, about 4.5% of U.S. electricity is being consumed by data centers. And then we project out what that's going to do in the future. By 2030, it's going to be more than 9%. Almost 10% of the electricity will be consumed by data centers.

So, for us at ABB, it's about having the capacity, having those American-made solutions, but it's also about reducing energy consumption. When I think about the portfolio that ABB has—things like drives and motors—how do we go into the old-aged infrastructure and really update it? Modernize it? Putting in new drives, putting in motors to work together to manage consumption?

We believe we could actually reduce energy consumption by about 10% by using the drive to really be the brain of that electrical infrastructure, working with the motor to be smarter about that demand. The demand is going to continue from data centers, but we also think there's a lot we can do to be much more proactive with NEMA, but also with the solutions that ABB has.

Beyond Made in America and AI, what other major initiatives are top of mind for ABB right now?

For us, labor is always a focus. All of this investment that we've done comes down to people. So when I think about the future for ABB and the future for this industry, it's really investing smartly in how we train our people in our factories and organizations, making sure that we keep them safe, and then also working with our contractors and our distribution partners in the field to make sure that labor trends continue.

It's a partnership. It's not just one organization. It's all of us doing that together and also attracting talent. This industry is so exciting. I tell my kids all the time, this is the Silicon Valley of the next generation. Everybody needs power. And it's about how we work together now to attract talent and develop them.

With manufacturing returning to the U.S. and a workforce shortage in trades, how is ABB approaching talent development, training, and demographic shifts in the industry?

We're trying to recruit in different places. If I think about traditionally how we recruited talent, it was locally near our plants or by our organizations where headquarters are now. We're going to nontraditional sources. How do we look at things like affinity groups? How do we go after veterans? How do we really partner to be smarter about people who have the right capabilities that we can then train?

It's no longer that you need to come in knowing what to do. It's really about the right grit and personality. We can then train you to do the roles. So, it's really shifted the way we think about talent development.

Final Thoughts

ABB’s Make It American™ certification shows how manufacturers can meet BABA requirements while delivering American-made solutions that support the entire supply chain. NEMA’s program gives distributors, contractors, and field teams clear visibility into which products are compliant and ready to use—helping projects move forward with confidence.

Want to hear more?

Watch the full conversation below for more insights.

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