Several years ago, I wrote the headline, “Middle-market innovators steal the show at the inaugural Colorado Manufacturing Awards,” to describe the first CMA program. It’s also a takeaway from last week’s fourth annual event and list of winners. The region’s manufacturing sector is overflowing with creativity and success, owing much to mid-sized companies that have […]
For Democrats running for president and struggling to find a cogent economic vision for the country, America’s manufacturing renaissance holds promise. Sure, you say. But consider this: More than anytime in the 2000s manufacturing’s appeal stretches east and west — from rust belt to farm belt to Silicon Valley. It spans key industries, leverages America’s […]
In early 2017, I wrote that Fort Collins/Loveland had become Colorado’s top manufacturing community. The list of finalists for this year’s Colorado Manufacturing Awards (CMAs) suggests I wasn’t far off. Throw in Berthoud, Longmont, Greeley, and Fort Lupton, and 11 of the 37 finalists call northern Colorado home. This standout group reflects northern Colorado’s growing […]
Ever notice how media voices most quick to condemn bias are often those with the sharpest ax to grind? But the selective use of facts or intentional misrepresentation of opinion isn’t the unique domain of media personalities. We’re all guilty to a degree. We’re all selling something. Take Chuck DeVore, vice president of national initiatives […]
The irony of President Trump’s enmity for California is that if he cared to look, he could point to the state as a case study in success of policies he’s championed. The world’s fifth-largest economy is back in the black, an engine of innovation and entrepreneurship, and flashing a sign that should shine bright all […]
If you’re following the cannabis business, you know the 2018 Farm Bill creates an open and legal marketplace for hemp and hemp-derived products like CBD. Farmers can grow hemp, manufacturers can refine the crop into any number of new products, and cannabis businesses can act like real companies. They can operate between states, bank, borrow, […]
Each week, company executives outline challenges, opportunities, and needs in interviews with CompanyWeek writers. Here’s a summary of data from profiles published the final quarter of 2018. In Q4 2018, we published 48 in-depth profiles: Primary Industry: Oct.-Dec. 2018 Bioscience and Medical 4 Brewing and Distilling 7 Built Environment 3 Cannabis 1 Consumer and Lifestyle […]
The Wall Street Journal’s John Stoll touched on a topic last week that’s occupied us for years: factors motivating companies to reconsider manufacturing in China. As Stoll points out, today’s dust-up involving tariffs largely reinforces “sentiment that has simmered for years over the low flame of China’s rising labor costs, forced technology transfers and intellectual-property […]
We call manufacturing tech. Does it matter? Here’s a CNBC.com headline and story from last week: It’s a manufacturing story that’s labeled “tech.” It’s common in business media. Manufacturing’s not cool. Better in the publisher’s mind to call it tech. It’s a line that’s blurring, though. Manufacturing’s brand is on the upswing. Some in the […]
CompanyWeek editor Eric Peterson’s must-read Best of Manufacturing 2018 summary this week aptly describes the emerging maker economy throughout the western U.S.: “The connective tissue is ingenuity. Sometimes, it’s simply about efficiency in the face of a flood of imports. Other times, it’s about rethinking an entire category from the ground up. And in rare […]