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WMS Press Stories
Certain Manufacturing Sectors Take Major Hits While Durable Goods Manufacturers Continue To Thrive
April 11, 2009
Puget Sound Business Journal - by Paul Freeman, Contributing Writer
The statistics aren't pretty, though in ways misleading.
In 2000, Washington had between 8,000 and 9,000 manufacturers; today, it has fewer than 7,500.
During the same period, Washington lost at least 50,000 manufacturing jobs, many paying $50,000 annually, the state's typical manufacturing wage, according to John Vicklund, president of Washington Manufacturing Services, a government-funded organization providing consulting services to small manufacturers.
Still, insiders refuse to declare a state of gloom-and-doom for Washington manufacturing.
It is more nuanced than that. There's a perception that Washington manufacturing is one huge industry. Not so. It's an amalgam of different industry segments, including everything from aerospace and auto manufacturing to high-tech electronics and food processing.
"People think manufacturing is dead. No such thing," said Dave Gering, executive director of the Manufacturing Industrial Council of Seattle, which advocates for policies and practices that promote manufacturing.
"Over the past several years, manufacturing in the Puget Sound region has been booming," said Craig Nelson, president of Washington Employers, an outsourcing human resources organization. "The manufacturers I've talked to have been having their best years in a long time."
Vicklund also remains an optimist. He's confident the state's durable-goods sector will remain strong.
Washington's durable-goods manufacturers include metal fabricators and companies making machines such as forklifts, cranes, compressors and farm equipment. Among them are Redmond's Genie Industries, which makes lifting equipment, and The Gear Works, a Seattle company manufacturing precision gear products and power transmission services for such industries as construction, products, agriculture, chemical, steel, packaging, marine, gas processing, energy, military and utilities.
"They're going gangbusters," said Gering. "That's what's really hot in the global economy."
Food processing also continues to show strength, said Vicklund, who gave a nod to Selah's Tree Top, which makes juice from apples.
Also, Vicklund expects certain manufacturing sectors to grow significantly.
"The biomedical arena really looks interesting," he said. So does alternative energy. "Washington is well positioned to become one of the leaders in the country, if not the world," he added.
But the decline in overall manufacturing jobs illustrates a reality in certain sectors.
Much of the woe has occurred with makers of high-volume, mass-produced consumer products.
"You can do this with employees that are bright and talented but not highly skilled," Vicklund said. "That's why in China and elsewhere this work is being done."
A poster child for this is the state's furniture manufacturing industry. "It has been hard hi, lots of it outsourced to China," Nelson said.
Washington's electronics industry has seen a slowdown, too. In the 1970s and 1980s, the state had many contract manufacturers making parts for computers and other electronic devices. Much of this work now is done in foreign countries. Except for some niche manufacturers, plastic injection manufacturing also has left Washington.
Wood products, a major Washington industry, isn't leaving Washington, but it is experiencing a decline in orders because of the country's economic slump, said Gering.
"We're national suppliers of these products," said Gering. "When construction nationally slows down, Washington's wood products industry is impacted by that." Still, the industry should rebound when the national economy improves, he said.
The same may not be true of the state's foundries.
"They've been struggling for some time," said Vicklund. Survivors will be those investing in upgraded technologies. "Those not upgrading are dropping out of sight," he said.
As for the future of manufacturing in Washington, the current credit crunch is injecting some uncertainty. If the crunch prevents Washington manufacturers from investing in equipment and inventory, "that could begin to impact and affect us," Vicklund said.
