As Colorado manufacturing employment surges, so should expectations

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CompanyWeek is pushing across the West at a time regional manufacturing is on the ascent. In Colorado manufacturing employment is up 2.7% through September this year, and the past four months has outpaced overall employment growth in the state.

How significant are the numbers?

Better than to be caught in the vortex of duplicate tough news Manufacturers’ News, Inc. (MNI) is offering up elsewhere the past week.

“High business costs and global competition have made it difficult for Pennsylvania manufacturers to climb back from the recession,” said Tom Dubin, president of Manufacturers’ News. “However, its educated workforce and investment in worker-training programs continue to be a draw for new businesses, particularly those focused on technology and innovation.”

“High business costs and global competition have made it difficult for New York manufacturers to climb back from the recession,” says Tom Dubin, President of the Evanston, Il-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. “However the state remains a major manufacturing hub, boasting an educated workforce, diverse economy and access to capital.”

“High business costs and global competition have made it difficult for Pennsylvania manufacturers to climb back from the recession,” said Tom Dubin, president of Manufacturers’ News. “However, its educated workforce and investment in worker-training programs continue to be a draw for new businesses, particularly those focused on technology and innovation.”

“High business costs and the decline of the coal industry have affected West Virginia industrial employment,” Dubin said in a statement. “However, its growing oil and gas sector and investment in worker training programs continue to be a draw for new businesses.”

To be fair, the declines were small. Dubin’s ‘statements’ are a template-response to any decline. And, not all’s rosy in Colorado’s broad-based sector. As Brian Lewandowski from CU’s Leeds School of Business notes in his column last week:

  • Manufacturing is still not all the way back, and “continues to operate under peak levels: from 2000 to 2013, GDP increased 51%, whereas employment decreased 29%.”
  • And through 2013, manufacturing employment underperformed compared to overall employment growth, increasing 1.6% in 2011, 2.4% in 2012, and 2.9% in 2013; and employment growth has averaged 2.7% in 2014.

But clearly, the market we’ve been reporting on the past year is a bright spot. Moreover, the increasingly diverse industry make-up of Colorado’s sector is providing lift. Colorado’s bright food and beverage prospects, growing aerospace and aviation segment and generally diversified industrial base seem well-positioned to build on success in recent years, post-Recession.

According to Lewandowski, this past September manufacturing employment growth was 4.5% higher year-over-year, ranking the state 4th for the pace of manufacturing employment growth in the month of September year-over-year.

Where do we go from here? It’s the $64,000 question. As U.S. investment in manufacturing becomes fashionable again, expectations should also grow. Reaching pre-Recession jobs and GDP levels shouldn’t be good enough. Ensuring the manufacturing surge continues should be a national – and regional – priority.