A Few Rays of Hope for Manufacturing
Despite t
he pervasive economic gloom, there are occasional glimmers of cautious optimism in the manufacturing sector, especially at the regional level.
For example, the Middletown Journal, which covers the Cincinnati area, reported in a recent news story that industry in the 15-county Tristate region is expected to add jobs this year at a rate that will outpace the US manufacturing industry as a whole. The national rate is expected to grow at an estimated 1.5 percent; the Tristate region is forecast to add manufacturing jobs at a four percent clip. This according to the Cincinnati USA Partnership’s Regional Economic Outlook.
The article quotes Dennis McLaughlin, chair of the Clark Schaefer Hackett’s Manufacturing Industry Group: “I think we’ve got a number of middle market size manufacturers that have weathered the economic storm the past several years.”
He went on to say that business conditions are improving, and some manufacturers have been able to replace workers they might have laid off. Echoing a refrain being heard frequently these days, McLaughlin noted that hiring would be even higher if more workers had the right skills that match what manufacturers are looking for.
Read the full story here.
A Visit from the Nation’s Chief Manufacturing Officer
On the east coast, Michael Molnar, who was named to the newly created position of chief manufacturing officer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will be keynoting a meeting on manufacturing prospects in the US at SUNY New Palz on Dec. 9.
He will present a federal perspective to New York manufacturers and describe how NIST will leverage its strong relationship with industry to accelerate innovation and create 21st-century manufacturing jobs.
NIST supports the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership launched by President Obama last June.
You can find out more about the event here.
A Meeting at U-M
And speaking of AMP, on Dec. 12 more than 200 leaders from academia, industry and the federal government will converge on the University of Michigan to address the topic of how to boost American advanced manufacturing. This is the fourth and final regional meeting of AMP’s working group, which has been gathering information in order to shape the national initiative in 2012.
Here’s a quote from the news story in the U-M Record: “American manufacturing has been forgotten for more than a decade. Now we are engaging in a national dialogue,” says Sridhar Kota, a professor of mechanical engineering who is serving as assistant director for advanced manufacturing at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “The dialog is about innovation, which is not the same as invention or discovery. Innovation is translating a promising discovery into a practical product that can be scaled. That’s where we seem to be falling short in this country.”
You can read the full story here.
