Manufacturing Dying?

May 20th, 2008 at 01:16pm Bob Trojan

In the recent edition of The Fabricator magazine, a trade journal published by the Fabricator Manufacturers Association, I took note of the “Industry News” section. Here are some excerpts:

Ahjin USA, a metal stamping company and Kia supplier, recently broke ground on a 200 worker facility in Chambers County, Alabama…with plans to add more workers over the next 5 years.

Armor Holdings in Butler County is investing $75.6 million in capital and creating 400 new jobs.

BMW announced plans to expand it’s South Carolina plant by 1.2 million square feet and adding 500 jobs.

Gulf Island Fabrication, Houma, LA created a marine services division adding 300 jobs and investing $200 million.

Man Industries Ltd., India plans to open its Western Hemisphere headquarters and a manufacturing plant in Little Rock, Arkansas adding 250 employees by next year.

Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Ltd., an India-based manufacturer, announced plans to build a $100 million facility at the Little Rock Port Authority.

Nordic Windpower Ltd., a manufacturer of two-blade, utility-scale wind turbines, selected Pocatello, Idaho as the site for its new North American turbine manufacturing facility adding more than 160 technical, engineering and administrative jobs.

Superior Machine Co. of Florence, S.C. plans to expand its Marion, S.C. plant adding 34 jobs.

Toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg. Inc. Columbus, Indiana expanding for the 11th time since it opened in 1990.

Wabash National Corp., Lafayette, Indiana, announced plans to build a 300,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Franklin, Kentucky.

So maybe they aren’t in the Rockford area, but it’s encouraging that Manufacturing in the U.S. looks like it’s growing, not dying. But these companies could be customers for some of our Rockford base manufacturers. I know some can be mine.

Entry Filed under: Economy