For precision CNC machine shop Ketchie Inc., one of the biggest benefits of the 2025 tax law was the certainty it provided.
Consistency matters: “It’s so good to know the rules of the game and to have tax policy that doesn’t change every two years,” Ketchie President and Owner and NAM Infrastructure, Workforce and Labor Policy Vice Chair Courtney Silver told the NAM during a recent interview.
- H.R. 1 made permanent multiple pro-growth tax provisions that have served as “rocket fuel” for the manufacturing industry since their introduction in the 2017 tax law.
Full expensing: One of those provisions is 100% full expensing for equipment purchases, which Ketchie used to purchase three vital pieces of machinery.
- “I did deduct the entire value of those investments,” Silver said.
Boosting productivity: Ketchie also purchased digital twin software for its new equipment, which has helped the company speed up production—showing how the benefits of tax reform compound.
- “It basically takes our machines that we’ve invested in and creates digital twins of them and has tooling loaded in it,” she said. “When a customer gives me a model—if they have a model available of the part [they want]—I can put it into this digital twin software and I have a program within minutes.”
- The software has also reduced Ketchie’s costs and improved reliability.
More cash on hand: H.R. 1 also lowered Ketchie’s overall tax payments, freeing up more money for the company to reinvest in its operations.
- Now, “we’re going to keep [more of our] cash every month. I’m writing these checks and [saying], ‘OK, yeah, let’s go buy that software. Let’s go make that hire. Let’s pay overtime.’ I’m keeping liquidity in my company because I was able to take advantage” of those tax measures, she said.
Learn more: Ketchie is featured as North Carolina’s representative in the NAM’s “Manufacturing Tax Wins Across America” flipbook, which highlights how manufacturers in all 50 states are benefitting from H.R. 1. Learn more about the NAM’s ongoing tax advocacy here.
