It’s somewhat difficult to get a straight answer on the state of manufacturing—one Google search brings up thousands of conflicting news articles about triumphs and losses in the industry. We’re happy to report that from our perspective, manufacturing is growing and changing in a positive way, and numerous reports have been released this summer confirming what we’ve been seeing.
Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research broke down Indiana’s successes in the annual Manufacturing and Logistics Report. The state received an “A” in major subjects such as manufacturing industry health, logistics industry health, tax climate, and global reach—although it didn’t fare so positively in human capital and sector diversification. The report also states Indiana has consistently improved its logistics score and received As in manufacturing, tax climate, and global reach for the past five years (the first year the data for this research was gathered).
We’re thrilled to see such high grades in our industry, especially when this results in job growth and more opportunity for our state. From April 2012 to April 2013, Indiana gained 8,020 manufacturing jobs, according to the 2013 Indiana Manufacturers Directory, an industrial directory published annually by Manufacturers’ News, Inc. These encouraging numbers encompass aerospace, automotive, instruments, chemicals, lumber, and furniture, all of which are industries with which we work.
In addition, the numbers for employment and high grades in manufacturing encourage business to push forward with additional hiring and expansion. We’re taking this to heart at Estes through continued expansion and upgrades within our company, and we hope 2014’s grades and numbers are even stronger. For more information on our full-service sheet metal fabrication, head over to our website.
