American voices have been quick to denounce China’s ambitious Made in China 2025 manifesto, but would manufacturers here benefit from a national manufacturing strategy? Made in China 2025 is a sweeping plan designed to transform the nation’s sector from the global epicenter of low-tech manufacturing to a self-sufficient, high-tech behemoth, where Chinese computer chips, aircraft, […]
New research from the Reshoring Initiative confirms what many have been speculating: Rising costs for overseas labor and services and important brand considerations are now compelling U.S. companies to reshore jobs or create new jobs domestically. From the new report: “In 2014 and 2015 parity was reached between offshoring and returning jobs, indicating that the […]
How important is it to rehabilitate manufacturing’s brand? Last fall, I wrote that manufacturing had a media-fueled PR problem, but that grassroots growth in super-charged industries like food and beverage would overtake the dated, national narrative. Manufacturing is cool again, especially in its innovative early-and-middle stage companies, and for a sector searching for talent, an […]
There are signs that the cross-industry manufacturing surge we report on every week is developing on a scale that’s beginning to impact national metrics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week that 28,000 new manufacturing jobs were added in February, led by the non-durable sector including food, which led all categories with 8,800 new […]
If Utah’s political leadership was under the impression that any short-term damage relating to its opposition to Bears Ears National Monument would fade away, Amy Roberts, executive director of Boulder-based Outdoor Industry Association, put that notion to rest last week. In a memo to OIA stakeholders, Roberts said OIA would move Outdoor Retailer from its […]
Media coverage of manufacturing has become Groundhog Day, a series of recurring headlines and stories as unpleasant for manufacturers as it was for Phil Connors, the Bill Murray character who relived the film’s titular holiday again and again until he got it right. It’s a relentless loop of bad press that in one week last […]
Todd Dutkin, CEO of Fresca Foods and a winner last year of the Colorado Manufacturing Awards in Food & Beverage, reminded me earlier this year that “ideas are the currency of business.” Today it seems an apt metaphor for the flood of new ideas and innovation coursing through Colorado’s manufacturing community, and a perfect segue […]
In June 2015, having profiled over 300 Colorado manufacturing and supply-chain companies, we ranked the state’s Top 5 manufacturing communities. Today, 700 companies in, and armed with a regional perspective, here’s our 2017 ranking. Our criteria: a growing, compelling industry or cluster of maker industries, supported by purposeful public/private efforts to build a robust manufacturing […]
For outdoor enthusiasts, the twice-annual Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City is a feast for the soul. Last week’s Outdoor Retail Winter Market, the smaller of the two seasonal gatherings (small being a misnomer), again seemed a wild success, with nearly 1,000 brands and suppliers showcasing the latest in outdoor apparel, gear, materials […]
Utah’s powerful economy is no longer a national secret. Workforce advantages and an embarrassment of R&D riches driven by world-class universities is translating into, among other things, high-tech success. See the Silicon Slopes. But Utah’s manufacturing ecosystem is emerging into a national model for growth and innovation. Magnificent legacy operators provide a foundation for modern […]