By Mark Bashore, WKAR News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-918669.mp3
EAST LANSING, MI –
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There's been a rebound in the number of manufacturing jobs in the Lansing area over the past year. WKAR's Mark Bashore looks into how good that good news is.
AUDIO:
Despite fluctuations in the overall jobless rate, the trend for more than a year is much improved especially in manufacturing. Every month this year, manufacturing in the Lansing area has added jobs---a total of about 1,800 from the first of year.
"We're looking at about three times better growth in manufacturing than we are overall jobs."
That's Mark Reffitt. He analyzes mid-Michigan employment data for the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. Go back to June of '09 and you see an even more impressive 3,100 new workers. Good news, to be sure. But how good?
"It's terrific news, but..."
To Doug Stites, the executive director of the state-funded job training agency "Capital Area Michigan Works", the pattern is clear.
"I would say 90 percent of this is replacement callback of workers related to the Grand River (auto assembly)and the plant here in downtown Lansing. But still compared to other communities in the state, they'd love to be in our shoes today."
So it all gets back to the question, 'compared to what?' Stites and others say we'll never get back to the high-water mark of around 1980, when mid-Michigan had about 40,000 manufacturing workers. Even so, Lansing currently trails only Detroit in manufacturing job growth in the state -- a situation other urban centers would love to be in.
No one's willing to say how much more upside there might be, but economic developers suggest it's likely to be determined by a manufacturer's willingness to diversify away from transportation.
MI: WKAR's Mark Bashore joins me now with more on this story. Hi Mark.
MB: Hi Melissa.
MI: So granted, most of this recent growth is in automotive, but where else is there growth?
MB: It's defense, it's bio-medical, it's alternative energy. We've heard of the success of newer, high tech companies like the web and data company Liquid Web and Niowave, which makes parts for particle accelerators. These are companies that have carved out a niche for their products and are growing. Their success represents a growing diversification of the local economy, which is considered really important.
MI: And how much of Lansing's manufacturing is advanced manufacturing? Are we seeing more?
MB: Well keep in mind automaking in 2010 IS advanced manufacturing. Doug Stites emphasized that when I spoke with him. Here's how he put it.
"There is no more advanced manufacturing on the North American continent than GM building cars. Nothing is more technologically sophisticated than GM building cars here in Lansing, Michigan. Nothing."
MB: Other advanced manufacturers include Demmer and Spartan Motors in the defense area. Newer 'advanced manufacturing' companies creating jobs include Symmetry Medical, a Lansing company that makes prosthetic devices and implants. Astraeus Wind Energy in Eaton Rapids is a small, but growing wind energy manufacturer that branched out from making truck parts.
MI: But how big a dent will these newer companies make on the jobs that have been lost?
MB: Well, there's an acceptance that we're not going back to the tens of thousands manufacturing jobs from GM's heyday. More and more, as the so-called "economic gardeners" say, it's likely to be a greater number of small companies, like we're seeing here, adding SOME jobs, rather than just a few giants adding thousands. The other interesting component is that "advancing" manufacturing can be double-edged sword. The simple truth is that the more "advanced" manufacturing becomes, the more it's also apt to reduce the need for workers. Certainly over the years, technological advances and automation have cost many, many jobs, but the nature of technology is to continually evolve.
MI: And when do the area's next job numbers come out?
MB: That'll be a week from Thursday, the 26th.
MI: Thanks, Mark.
MB: Certainly, Melissa.
reWorking Michigan
For more on job creation and workforce evolution in Michigan, visit WKAR.org/reworkingmichigan