Don’t say we’re the ‘Screw Capital’

May 12th, 2008 at 10:26am Anna Voelker

The Rock River Valley used to be called the “Screw Capital.” Manufacturing used to make up more than a quarter of our local economy. Then we started losing those jobs.

When I was a reporter on the business desk, I wrote about CLARCOR moving its headquarters from Rockford to Nashville. I interviewed laid-off factory worker Doug Edwards, who lived near CLARCOR. He said, “We went from being the `Screw Capital of the World’ to the ‘Now We’re Getting Screwed Capital of the World,’” said Edwards, referring to Rockford’s former renown as a leading maker of fasteners. “Once the corporate headquarters moves, then the rest of the jobs will move. This town is dying.”

That was 2004. Today, local manufacturers are encouraged about their future. We’re talking less about lost jobs and more about diversifying the business. We asked several of them to blog for us. Manufacturing 2.0 focuses on global manufacturing and other local trend — and the continued importance of this industry on our community. None of them would say this town is dying. And a few of them didn’t want this blog to have any reference to the “Screw Capital” or the “Rust Belt” in its name. So, instead, we picked a name that looks at the future.

Bob Trojan, president of Rockford Linear Actuation, writes in his latest post: “So my message is … get into the export game, either directly or sell to customers who export and keep on making productivity improvements. It’s a good formula for keeping our local manufacturing economy growing.”

Entry Filed under: Manufacturing 2.0, New blog