Will Somebody Please Revive WNC’s Manufacturing Economy?
ByIt’s almost time again for the annual Homecoming Jobs Fair at Biltmore Square Mall (Tuesday, December 29, 2009
10 a.m. – 3 p.m.) sponsored by the Economic Development Coalition and the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. When I went last year, cars were backed up down the exit onto I-26. Two thousand people attended. Only a few of the 56 booths held manufacturers, and only a handful of jobs were actually available. It made national news. And the economy wasn’t as bad then as it is now.
So thanks go out to John Boyle for his piece in the paper today highlighting the ins and outs of North Carolina’s economic incentives in business development. Materials Innovation Technologies (MIT) will expand its operation in Florence County, SC rather than in Buncombe County, growing 120 jobs there instead of here.
Boyle’s articles highlight the problems North Carolina has in competing with economic incentives packages South Carolina is able to offer. Scott Hamilton of Advantage West notes that SC has more flexibility for offering tax incentives. Jim Stike, president of MIT said this:
“You do a spreadsheet analytic, a cost-benefit analysis and look at the bottom line,†Stike said. “If it would have been close — and you figure in the love of your town, you don’t have to travel, you care about your community — you could do it here. But when it’s not even in the ballpark, when it’s two times, three times or even four times what (North Carolina) can offer, only a crazy businessman wouldn’t go for it.â€
Ray Denny, vice president of economic development with the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce commenting on the MIT deal said, “We were not successful in matching it or even being very competitive.â€
Economic incentives are a touchy matter with taxpayers struggling to pay their own bills. Seeing businesses play one state against another for the sweetest deal, and getting tax breaks no private citizen could get draws the ire of voters. Boyle notes how the deal with Dell computers has gone bad. In these sour economic times, Dell has had to close its assembly plant in central NC. Performance provisions in Dell’s incentives package mean Dell will pay back state and local grants and incentives.
A common excuse from local economic development officials for failure to attract jobs to WNC is “lack of flat land.” But while the Citizen-Times article acknowledges the high cost of land in southern Buncombe County, note that MIT is relocating to a retrofitted existing building in South Carolina. As you drive around our area, note the number of abandoned industrial sites pushing up crabgrass in their unused parking lots. Lack of flat land? Please.
This is a sore point. As a consulting engineer, I know a little something about retrofitting existing industrial sites. When I am working at that or building new facilities, dozens (maybe hundreds) of other people get manufacturing jobs on the back end. We get paid for results. Meanwhile, there have been few local successes – Jacob-Holm being a notable one. Yet for twenty years I have watched as plant after plant has closed in WNC, throwing thousands out of work. A software startup rents space on Biltmore Avenue and brings in ten jobs and it’s celebrated by the Chamber as front page news a week after a manufacturer closes, displacing one or two hundred. Fourteen hundred jobs were lost in 13 days in Haywood, Buncombe, McDowell and Mitchell back in 2004. We not only can do better, we must do better.
At a reception last week, Rep. Jane Whilden mentioned that she was looking forward to working to improve economic conditions in Buncombe with newly elected city council members, including Cecil Bothwell, who was in attendance. Before the election, I had warned our new city council members that they would be hearing from me on this issue. Jane and Cecil started hearing from me that night.
The reality is we are not doing enough to resurrect our manufacturing economy in WNC. Too often, state incentives seem to cater to the Triangle and the Triad, and peter out west of Statesville. “Hell, we don’t even see any here,” a colleague in Charlotte complained recently.
But it’s not only incentives. You can’t sell what you don’t know. For years, it seems, the Chamber and Advantage West seem to have catered to expanding seasonal tourism over reviving the area’s manufacturing economy. But local people cannot save for their children’s education or for their own retirement on the kind of jobs they have been most successful at creating. My favorite Asheville joke (which some have heard before) is: “There are lots of good jobs in Asheville. I know people who have two or three.” During Patsy Keever’s 2004 congressional campaign, one of our volunteers had eight part-time jobs and no car.
Part of the problem with promoting manufacturing here is the long out-of-date, Champion Paper-inspired image of manufacturing as meaning noise, smells and smokestacks. As an example of how out-of-date that is, here is an aerial photo of the John’s Creek commercial park northeast of Atlanta. Among the office buildings, restaurants, hotels, retail, jogging trails, tennis courts, baseball fields and fairways, find the factory I helped design in 1996. It would hardly be noticed adjacent Biltmore Park’s Town Center:
Renewing our manufacturing base takes more than incentives. It takes a vision. So, if you will indulge me, I offer this study in contrasts from my personal blog from mid-June:
A friend put me on to this article in the New Yorker that explores how “the culture of money” among doctors who see themselves as entrepreneurs led to the overuse of medicine and significantly higher costs in McAllen, TX.
But I was struck by this paragraph about how key employers set the cultural tone for business in some areas:
Woody Powell is a Stanford sociologist who studies the economic culture of cities. Recently, he and his research team studied why certain regions—Boston, San Francisco, San Diego—became leaders in biotechnology while others with a similar concentration of scientific and corporate talent—Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York—did not. The answer they found was what Powell describes as the anchor-tenant theory of economic development. Just as an anchor store will define the character of a mall, anchor tenants in biotechnology, whether it’s a company like Genentech, in South San Francisco, or a university like M.I.T., in Cambridge, define the character of an economic community. They set the norms. The anchor tenants that set norms encouraging the free flow of ideas and collaboration, even with competitors, produced enduringly successful communities, while those that mainly sought to dominate did not.
A friend observes the same thing about cities like Seattle. Where once it was Boeing, now Microsoft sets the economic tone.
Living in Western North Carolina with a withered textile/furniture manufacturing base – one that sorely needs reviving – the idea of attracting anchor-tenants as a way of setting a new tone for manufacturing investment deserves attention.
Greenville, SC had seen its textile-based economy wither in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Building on the strength of the statewide technical school system, Democatic Governor John C. West lured Michelin Tire Company to Greenville, SC in the early 1970s, “anchoring” the area’s transition to a mixed manufacturing economy. Republican Governor Carroll Campbell built on that momentum in attracting BMW and Fuji Film to the area in the late 1980s.
Downtown Greenville, SC was boarded up and dying in the 1970s when Mayor Max Heller began promoting his plan to narrow Main Street, widen sidewalks and create a European-style downtown.
Heller convinced Hyatt to locate a new hotel at the north end of Main Street (rather than on a nearby interstate highway) to “anchor” the downtown redevelopment and set a tone that downtown was a place to invest. Decades later, downtown is thriving, lined with shops, restaurants and outdoor cafes. In the most Republican area of South Carolina, in downtown Greenville there stands a bronze statue of Austrian Jewish refugee, and Democrat, Max Heller.
The anchor-tenant concept could be used to revive manufacturing in Asheville/Buncombe. What name-brand company do we want to attract as an anchor-tenant?
46 Comments
December 6th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Did Seattle actively recruit Microsoft?
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December 6th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Cecil,
I don’t believe Seattle recruited Microsoft. They simply supplanted Boeing as the dominant actor that sets the pay/benefits standards for other Seattle-area employers.
Ironically, in the context of the current health care debate, Microsoft’s benefits package becomes a millstone around the necks of employees with pre-existing conditions who might otherwise go elsewhere (and is one reason other employers have a hard time hiring away some Microsoft employees).
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December 6th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I generally support the notion of trying to attract a large industrial player to our region. The problem now is the rising trend of businesses demanding large tax breaks and even outright subsidies that dwarf the economic benefits of whatever jobs they bring. North Carolina has suffered a number of these dubious “success stories” in recent years. Has anyone seen any thoughtful discussion of this issue, and how communities and/or states can avoid this problem?
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December 6th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
You’re right, Tom. If I remember correctly, both Bill Gates and Paul Allen are originally from Seattle, and they relocated Microsoft to Bellevue, WA when their business with MITS (makers of the Altair 8800, for whom Microsoft developed a BASIC interpreter) after their business ties with MITS shriveled up and they had no reason to be in Albuquerque anymore.
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December 6th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Taxpayer-funded sports arenas are a case study in the “heads we win, tails you lose” corporate model for dealing with city governments: http://reason.com/blog/2009/02/17/got-them-taxpayer-funded-no-re . That kind of scam has to end.
But if I read Boyle right, the Dell package had clawback provisions that meant that they couldn’t walk away with taxpayer money after not delivering the promised jobs. Perhaps that kind of taxpayer protection is one of the reasons NC cannot compete with – how did Boyle put it? – South Carolina’s “more liberal laws” and “more lucrative enticements.”
I just know from going to high school and college in Greenville as it went from dying to thriving, and as the Triangle and the Triad changed over from textiles and furniture to high-tech, that our area lacked either the same leadership or the same level of support at the state level to make that transition. But excuses? We’re good at making excuses. Or else what happened was, like we’ve seen play out on Wall St., WNC’s Haves looked out for themselves and left the rest to fend for themselves. How’s that working out for ya? Go to the Homecoming Job Fair on the 29th and see.
I was in Greenville when they started tearing up and reworking Main St. per Max’s vision. Now there’s what you get with visionary leadership.
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December 6th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Speaking of “heads we win, tails you loseâ€, remember the eminent domain case in Connecticut that went to the Supreme Court & got everybody freaked out? Well, after the city won, and tore down all those people’s homes in an attempt to pretty up the neighborhood for Pfizer, Pfizer just announced – “oh, thanks, but we decided to take a nicer offer from a different city.”
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Pfizer-abandons-site-of-infamous-Kelo-eminent-domain-taking-69580497.html
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December 6th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Model citizens, those guys, huh?
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December 6th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
It seems like the manufacturing economy of yester-year would be hard to revive due to our location. Importing all materials needed for manufacturing would not help costs and the limiting of logging does not help in the furniture or broom market (*fletch) (not that more logging is good, though it would provide a few jobs)
What about encouraging the growth of “local food” production, markets and distribution. We need to be shipping more out and offering more here. Tobbacco is out, food is in. There are plenty of tobbacco areas for food production.(no GMOs please)
Anchoring buisnesses is a great idea but the Anchors need to offer something produced here. Though high tech jobs are attractive, they still don’t produce something tangible working folks from around here could really get behind and support with votes and voices. Most of the people I see out of work are either in the building field or manufacturing but one thing we severely lack here is construction jobs and building materials suppliers.
A new trash to compost facility, a new recycling or FSC wood proccessing center and especially a new gypsum recycling center would produce immediate jobs and offer products which could be produced, sold and used locally while lessening the burdens placed on our landfill. The County could create jobs and revenue by assisting in tree and landscape transplants from new developments durring grading to new developments and homeowners at the retail level while keeping local plants here and lessening invasive foreign species.
We have a lot to work with here without bringing it in from the outside!
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December 7th, 2009 at 12:36 am
I don’t think we have to look beyond NAFTA [thanks democrats], CAFTA [thanks republicans] FTAA and other globalist trojan horses as the cause of job relocation. the “free trade” agenda is only a good deal for transnational corporations desiring cheap labor, not small business having to compete for customers while paying livable wages. The remaining companies then can play state governments against each other for tax benefits unavailable to smaller companies, leaving the taxpayer on the hook for higher taxes while having less opportunity for employment We just can’t seem to vote out the bastards responsible for bad legislation due to the 2 party voting system [bad or worse] we are afflicted with.
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December 7th, 2009 at 5:54 am
One more example of the Zero Sum Game of industrial recruitment.
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December 7th, 2009 at 7:31 am
One reason I advocate a tiered rate structure to encourage water conservation is that water will be a key issue in future industrial location decisions. The world is getting drier, fast.
And, it needs to be considered in any future water agreement with Henderson County because Henderson is already selling water over the ridge into the Green River watershed. IMHO the water will be worth a lot more for use in the French Broad basin than it will gain from sale elsewhere. And watch Raleigh, where there has already been an attempt to require municipalities to sell water to others. The Sullivan Acts could seem simple and sweet compared to that kind of taking.
Just thinking out loud here.
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December 7th, 2009 at 10:00 am
There is no “silver bullet” for economic revival these days – only the buckshot approach. As Mtn. Style has pointed out, we cannot compete with overseas markets for most manufacturing. Diversity in business and industry is the only way to build our economy, basing it on things that are tied to this place and not likely to be shipped overseas. Some manufacturing would be wonderful, but we must focus on a healthy mix. Food, medicinal herbs, supporting all of our existing small businesses and industry and helping them grow jobs, including wood and textile manufacturers where we can, energy efficiency jobs, renewable energy manufacturing (but we still cannot compete with china for labor rates in wind turbine manufacturing, for example), tourism, appealing to the better angels of businessmen who care enough about environment, equity and economy to invest in a local economy, and the list of a diverse economy goes on. The state incentives such as JDIG and One North Carolina Fund I believe require a business to be in existence for three years in NC? WNC has always been hardscrabble and frugal, and I don’t see that changing anytime in the near future.
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December 7th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Lack of sufficient water is another one of the reasons I’ve heard over the years for our inability to attract new manufacturing, but I still believe that’s an excuse for poor salesmanship. Water is a factor in site selection, but as noted, but manufacturers are now getting much smarter about how they use water. Cost is also a factor, and we have to be smart about that, as you suggest.
We have to be smarter about it than Atlanta:
http://undercoverblue.blogspot.com/2007/11/water-woes.html
While designing the facility in the aerial photo, I tried to sell the client on a cheap idea for recycling waste water. Remember, you pay for it coming (supply) and going (sewer). They weren’t interested until the county tried to renege on their water agreement. Now it became politically advantageous. We installed a $22k system that saved them 14.62 million gallons of water a year and paid back in 6 months. We got an ASHRAE design award for that one.
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December 7th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Great essay from Tom Sullivan. Positive thinking. What kind of manufacturing industry do we want to anchor our region? It really makes you think. Surely we have all the ingredients, including a fine labor force. This type of thinking gives a brand-new meaning to the word “development.” I’m hoping for something green, something aesthetically pleasing, plus high-paying jobs.
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December 7th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Tom,
I read your article with great interest. You are certainly right about flat land and buildings here that look like they could be retrofitted. I’ve wondered the same thing. Thanks for sharing your blog. I trust you will keep me up to date and on track. You know I value your opinion, advice and wisdom.
Patsy
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December 7th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I think situation is indicative of a couple of things:
1) The lack of strategic linkages between our industrial recruitment and economic development retention organizations. I know there are tons of opportunities for supporting our existing entrepreneur base, beyond the obvious recruitment incentives. Unfortunately, the majority of economic development organizations in WNC continue to focus on industrial recruitment. Furthermore, NC continues to put more economic development dollars towards incentives/recruitment efforts rather than on entrepreneur development. I believe a study last year showed that of all the money NC spends on economic development, only 1% went to entrepreneur development efforts.
2) The lack of a comprehensive 21st century regional economic development strategy. We need to be focusing on assessing our real regional asset base, development of our assets,import substitution, workforce development and the real opportunities on the horizon.
Our manufacturing base is changing- gone are the days of large companies coming into a region to “save the day”. Manufacturing will be done by smaller companies. That said, we are also in the middle of one of the fastest growing mega regions in the country. We have real opportunities. Leadership is required. We require a collaborative civic infrastructure that can quickly recognize these opportunities, adapt and gather the required resources. We need leaders with the same level of entrepreneurialism and nimbleness as our private sector leaders. Alas, I’ve seen leadership that more closely resembles the 20th century organization man- mid-level bureaucrats jockeying for political position, attempting to maintain their relevance and protecting their revenue streams.
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December 7th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
From what I understand, the Number One reason that companies expand/relocate to a new area is for that area’s Quality of Life. For most people, I suspect that means having nice public parks, decent public transportation, fresh air and clean water, a tolerance for diversity (including progressive attitudes toward gay and lesbian people), a thriving arts scene, great restaurants, excellent public schools, and efficient ways to travel in and out.
Build that foundation and they will come.
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December 7th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Actually, Quality of Life indicators are really important- and sustainability is quickly becoming one of those indicators. Tolerance is crucial and often overlooked. A quality workforce is also another key component of site locations. But all of those things are good for everyone, not just for potential industrial recruitment. (But maybe it would be easier to sell to the public if it was framed as a recruitment “necessity”.)
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December 7th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Quality of life and good jobs are not chicken-and-egg questions. They develop collaterally. What makes it go/grow – in my mind and in my experience – is leadership with a vision.
The manufacturing problem is not a matter our being able to compete with overseas labor. Boyle’s article quotes the NC Chamber’s “Sustaining Success, Breaking Away“: “Research shows that, even though companies are moving jobs overseas, jobs are still more likely to be lost to other states than to other nations.” Drive along I-85 south of here to see how it’s done. I’m not suggesting we can or should pursue that level of development, just that “we can’t compete with overseas labor” is a red herring. Here’s the Hubbell Lighting facility Asheville lost to Greenville a couple of years ago.
Local food sounds good (is good), but as I suggested, how many can save for their children’s education or retirement on that income? Manufacturing pays better, and many who have lost manufacturing jobs in recent years will not regain their family’s footing on two or three lesser-paying jobs.
The problem is being able to effectively promote what we have to offer. For example, there are 1.5 million square feet of commercial space in Buncombe County and another million in Henderson, plus the surrounding acreage that already exists. But finding prospective manufacturers to sell it to is no easy task, plus I just don’t think we are getting the help from the state level in being competitive that we deserve.
High-end manufacturing, in particular, doesn’t necessarily require large footprints. I just ran across Pisgah Labs in Pisgah Forest. “Pisgah Labs manufactures Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients on a contract basis. Pisgah Labs’ cGMP facility includes an aseptic manufacturing suite and microbiological testing laboratory.” (I’ve toured a facility like this in Greenville, SC, IRIX Pharmaceuticals.) The fact that such a facility already exists in our area suggests that we may be able to attract more. Not a huge employer, maybe, but good paying jobs.
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December 7th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Great article, by the way, Tom — challenging things to think about. Look forward to learning more.
MM
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December 7th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Quick question: Does SC have a tax structure more inherently favorable to corporations than NC? Not just the corporate tax rate but payroll as well? I’ve heard this a few times.
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December 7th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I just passed by CWS’ new construction recycling facility on Riverside today. Hats off to them for returning materials to the community for future use and job creation!
Tom, great stuff on the water conservation. Not only is it important that we maintain and conserve water but mandated pervious serfaces for new construction and greywater recycling can go a long way to improving the water-shed quality and lessening the burden on our treatment facilities in huge ways. Less waste water production = less upgrades to existing facilities = less out of pocket expenses to tax payers.
Though most think there is a lack of water here, we really have access to more than most of the country and there has got to be a way to harvest it sustainably and maybe use it as a local resource, besides recreation, creating it’s own job base. Not the river water but the harvested rain and greywater that is. Manufacturing of rainwater retention vaults, manufacturing of greywater systems, large scale natural wetland systems using local stone and native filtering plants….less paying for it comming and going.
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December 8th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Iagree that mfg.jobs are critical to wnc. A skilled labor force is going to drive expansions and relocations. Eighteen months ago mfg.were desperate for skilled labor for jobs paying over 15 bucks per hour. Right now every sector of our economy is hurting but long term mfg including inovation will determine if the next generation is as prosperous. There are still over 14k mfg jobs in buncombe so mfg is not dead!
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December 8th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Not to be Debbie Downer, but here’s a striking animated map showing national unemployment rates by county, January 2007 – October 2009. It ain’t pretty.
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December 8th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Ouch!
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December 8th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
That reminds me of that scene from Outbreak.
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December 10th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
If tourism is an important part of the Asheville economy, how soon can we get rail service from Charlotte and Raleigh restored?
And in the meantime, some kind of shuttle to the Amtrak in South Carolina?
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December 10th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Michael said: “Not to be Debbie Downer, but here’s a striking animated map showing national unemployment rates by county, January 2007 – October 2009. It ain’t pretty.”
Don’t feel bad, Debbie. That was interesting. I was struck by how the only bright spots in the entire Eastern third of the US were the area around Washington DC (no surprise there), and this place, Grafton County, New Hampshire:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafton_County%2C_New_Hampshire
Their principal industries are high-tech, bio-meds, and academia (Dartmouth College, among others.)
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December 10th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Yeah, what’s with those tiny, rural towns of Lebanon and Hanover in Grafton Co. on the edge of the White Mountains having a higher median family income than Buncombe?
Haven’t been there since I put in a gas turbine and cogeneration boiler at the Wausau paper mill in Groveton, NH (now closed). I worked in the first trailer nearest the footbridge on the left side of the river (about 7 o’clock in the picture). The boiler bldg. (tan) is just on the other side of the river. That’s where I was on 9/11.
http://www.hartcorp.com/Property-Detail/NH000282
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December 10th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Wow. The company I used to work for at one point supplied alumina-oxide and silicon nitride segments for the blades that were used for smoothing out the pulp at several paper mills, including the Wausau mill in Groveton.
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December 10th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Also interesting from that animation – the only county in NC not to go purple or green was Orange County, home to UNC-Chapel Hill, Triangle Research Park, and the “Floyd” from Pink Floyd.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Council
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December 11th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Speaking of WNC’s manufacturing economy, it looks like it’s taking another hit come March 31. Say goodbye to Volvo, Asheville…
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December 11th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
That really is bad news. Somebody correct me, but didn’t AB Tech actually create or expand their welding/mech. engineering programs just to train up new workers for that plant?
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December 11th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Yeah Barry. The welding dept. has a Volvo training space. I believe mech. engineering was involved but I can’t be certain of that. I wasn’t in the program very long. Metal dust in the eyes wasn’t my thing. It’s too bad too because the instructors had a lot of say in who got hired out there.
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December 11th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I had a friend at the time 4-5 years ago who enrolled in that program, and I remember thinking it was just the sort of partnership that could lead to good things for the region. I hope it doesn’t just roll up because Volvo is pulling out.
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December 12th, 2009 at 1:32 am
I’m expecting to be at the Homecoming Jobs Fair at Biltmore Square Mall (Tuesday, December 29, 2009 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.) with a videographer. If you thought events like the Kansas City free clinic were tough to watch on TV, come to see this in person.
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December 14th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Linda Brown writes:
Two words: Legalize marijuana.
Think of all the money and resources we’d save by not enforcing stupid dope laws and all the revenue we could raise by taxing it like other products. A whole industry could be created around farming, distribution and packaging…not to mention all the organic ice cream that would fly off the shelves.
Green. Aesthetically pleasing. High. Paying. Jobs.
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December 27th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
IN reference to Tom’s comments – “The manufacturing problem is not a matter our being able to compete with overseas labor. Boyle’s article quotes the NC Chamber’s “Sustaining Success, Breaking Away“: “Research shows that, even though companies are moving jobs overseas, jobs are still more likely to be lost to other states than to other nations.†Drive along I-85 south of here to see how it’s done. I’m not suggesting we can or should pursue that level of development, just that “we can’t compete with overseas labor†is a red herring.”
Not a red herring at all. I looked through the NC Chamber’s report, saw the statement, but no references to the “research”. Overseas competition IS our biggest challenge – just ask furniture and textile workers in Caldwell, Alexander and our other former furniture and textile producing counties. Did you hear the NPR report two weeks ago? A Broyhill furniture employee in NC makes about $15.00/hour compared with a Broyhill employee in China making $0.70 cents a day. WE CANNOT compete with those labor rates. Same is proving true in trying to recruit other manufacturers (wind turbines, looms, for example). We are told we cannot compare to Asian labor rates or work ethic. Yes, there is state-by-state incentives and we compete against other states to a degree, but it’s small potatoes compared with the manfacturing losses since NAFTA./ Caldwell County has lost over 7,000 jobs in the last 5-7 years, and even though they landed Google, that’s several hundred jobs as compared with 7,000 (fully half of their manufacturing jobs). The manfacturing we can recruit will be on a much smaller scale, and will/is be much more diverse.
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December 27th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
As a consulting engineer, I have worked in dozens of industries across NC, SC and GA, including textiles. But I don’t work in textiles any more. Times change and we have to.
If manufacturing were limited to TEXTILES and FURNITURE, then agreed, NC cannot compete with overseas labor rates. Those two industries will probably never come back. Luckily, manufacturing is broader than textiles and furniture. In fact, mixed manufacturing is thriving in Greenville-Spartanburg, the Triad and the Triangle. Those areas (Greenville-Spartanburg especially) saw the handwriting on the wall, left textiles behind decades ago, developed other industries and moved on. WNC did not.
Wind turbines, you say? General Electric recently re-tooled and expanded its 1960s-vintage gas turbine plant in Greenville, SC to build these 1.5 MW wind turbines. Occasionally, you’ll see the massive generator heads being transported on low boys up I-26.
The Triangle area specializes in pharmaceuticals, but lost is small microelectronics industry a decade ago. The Triad has a mix of manufacturing, including jet engines, buses, trucks and biotechnology. In GSP, they make cars, tires, cameras, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, chemicals, LCDs (like the one on which you are viewing this), plastics, lighting, carbon fiber and small engines, etc. (I know. I’ve consulted for many of those facilities.)
Soon, Greenville will be making small jet engines.
They are renovating an existing manufacturing site like dozens that now sit idle in WNC. That’s my point. Manufacturing is not dead in the U.S. or in NC. But it seems to be on life support around here. What are we doing about that?
Not enough, obviously. I don’t see that as a problem of overseas labor rates. I see the problem as failure of political leadership.
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December 28th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Tom, don’t know if you saw this AC-T article, but you might find it food for thought. Seems that incentives programs have their limits.
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December 28th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Thanks. No, I hadn’t seen that. (We don’t get the paper during the week.) I’m not a big fan of incentives, but since nobody asked me before going down that path, I figure we ought to get our share west of Statesville.
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December 28th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
The point, though, was how little incentives seem to work – and that companies often try to meet the obligations they’ve agreed to, but miss their goals and lose out on incentives. I’m not a big fan of incentives, either, but that was pretty eye-opening.
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December 28th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Indeed. My point all along, though, is that the local failure to rebuild our industrial base is not just a state incentives issue.
But there’s something else missing. When I bring up this topic to local officials (and some locals), I get this odd vibe that I’m stepping on toes (I am) and/or sticking my nose where it’s not wanted. People trot out a list of rote excuses for why our area cannot do better even after (drawing on years of experience supporting the manufacturing sector) I cite example after example of locales both larger and smaller that have solved similar problems, retooled and resurrected their manufacturing sector and are more prosperous than before textiles and furniture gave out. It’s like those in charge aren’t really interested in putting people back to work in good-paying jobs. Is it a lack of talent? A lack of vision? A lack of interest?
Does anybody else sense that? Is there a Mr. Big around here that no one dares cross? Maybe I just don’t belong to the right clubs.
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December 28th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Tom- I agree with you about the vibe you are getting from ED officials. I work in this field and am aghast at the somewhat purposeful lack of impetus/vision. I think it is a level of self-importance in a closed system marked by cultural insularity. They argue for their limitations, do ineffective and inefficient projects, and keep getting funding. No questions asked. The political dynamics supersede best practices/civic entrepreneurship. It truly is a good ol boys club- frankly, many of these people know nothing about economic development, and are still acting like it is 1980. No room in the inn for good ideas. I clearly don’t belong to the right clubs either! I’m incredibly discouraged.
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December 28th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I have McKnight’s “Building Communities” book in front of me right now. Thanks.
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December 29th, 2009 at 5:59 am
McKnight is a visionary! By the way, I grew up in No. NH- Franconia. I know the Economic development dynamics of the region quite well.
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