Manufacturing Posts Big Gains

“Manufacturing Posts Big Gains,” was the headline in the Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly. The newspaper was surveying manufacturing jobs in the nine county NE IN region. I was in Angola, IN, the most NE county in the state, addressing the 23rd Annual Northeast Indiana Business and Industrial Conference. This nine county region is a dynamic one, especially in the manufacturing sector. Several of these counties have over 50% of their jobs in the sector, one of the highest levels that I’ve seen in my travels.

The article cited the 3,182 new jobs that were created in the manufacturing sector in 2004, comparing it to the 1,358 jobs that were lost in the area. As important as job creation is the $295 million in new investment that was made in the nine county region. The first sign that there are lay-offs on the horizon is when a manufacturer stops making capital investments, because it is only with these capital investments that the very significant gains in productivity can take place which ultimately result in higher wages.

A total of 43 new businesses were established with over 100 companies involved in an expansion of some sort in the region. Contrast that with the 13 companies that closed their doors.

As I scanned the list of companies that were growing, I wondered why news organizations like the New York Times and others aren’t out in NE IN reporting on the expansion and vibrancy of the manufacturing sector. Is it not news or it not news that they want to report? Hmm?