Spring 2006 Issue - Special Report
Manufacturing 2006
Growth Sectors
Posted: October 15, 2008
Here are some of the good news stories about manufacturing that you probably never read about during the past decade. Activities are classified according to the North American Industrial Classification System. Comparisons are between 1994 and 2004 for jobs and sales figures are derived from gross business revenues reported to the state for tax purposes.
• Jobs and sales grew for companies that make “non-metallic mineral” products. That includes cement, glass, clay, gypsum board and “mineral wool,” such as insulation and fiberglass. Jobs rose by 14 percent, 7,892 to 9,009, and sales were up 69 percent, $1.3 billion to $2.2 billion.
• Jobs and sales were up for companies making machines for construction, agriculture, mining and other industrial activities. Jobs grew from 11,170 to 12,676, up 13 percent, while sales grew 124 percent, $1.4 billion to $3.3 billion.
• Jobs and sales increased for companies in metal fabricating, a sector engaged in the manipulation of metals, often to create parts for the machines described above. Jobs grew 9 percent, from 15,109 to 16,509. Sales were up 79 percent, $1.7 billion to $3.1 billion.
• Jobs and sales rose for companies making plastic and rubber products. Jobs climbed 8,397 to 9,402, an increase of 12 percent. Sales growth averaged 120 percent, $836 million to $1.8 billion.
• Jobs and sales grew for companies that make electrical equipment such as lights, lighting systems, marine equipment, appliances and electric motors. Jobs were up 56 percent, 2,625 to 4,100. Gross business revenues for the sector grew 244 percent, from $212 million in 1994 to $730 million.
• Boat building employment grew by 88 percent, 2,245 to 4,222, with 275 percent sales growth, $289 million to $1.1 billion.
• Furniture manufacturing experienced 94 percent growth in sales, $647 million to $1.2 billion, and jobs grew 6 percent, 7,440 to 7,878.
• Within furniture making, jobs with cabinet and countertop makers grew by 30 percent, 3061 to 3,999; sales grew 102 percent, $268 million to $542 million.
• Sales and jobs were also up in “manufacturing miscellaneous” with revenues up 133 percent, $1.3 billion to$3 billion, and jobs up 12 percent, 9,476 to 10,626.
• Within “miscellaneous,” sign manufacturing experienced 46 percent job growth, 881 to 1295, while revenues rose 136 percent sales growth, $74 million to $175 million.
• Jobs barely increased in oil refining, growing just three percent from 2,223 to 2,301, but high barrel prices for oil and retail gas prices triggered a 225 percent increase in revenues over the decade, $4 billion to $13 billion, surpassing the dollar value of our state’s entire agricultural output.
• While the job numbers for oil refining are relatively low, the “multiplier effect” of the industry is amazing, perhaps accounting for 20,000 additional jobs up and down the I-5 corridor. Average pay in the industry exceeds $80,000 per year.
• Growth rates for many manufacturers are fairly closely aligned with sales and job growth in construction.
• Construction sales grew by 87 percent during the decade, $16 billion to $30.3 billion, while jobs grew by 34 percent,122,600 to 164,000.
