Manufacturing, simply put, includes any business that produces a product: any enterprise in which people manipulate raw materials or component parts into finished goods or items destined for further processing. While the whole range of manufacturing is important, from tiny partnerships making a single product to huge multinational corporations with different divisions and product lines, we may think of different subsectors as particularly vital to our state's economy.
We consider several factors to determine key manufacturing subsectors: how many people that subsector employs; how well those employees are paid; how much that subsector contributes to the state GDP; and, to a lesser extent, how many plants around the state are involved in making the products in the subsector. We might have chosen other parameters, e.g., the amount a subsector exports to other states or other countries, how sustainable and environmentally responsible its companies are, some measure of the technology involved, the number of entry-level positions available every year, or how well its supply chain is developed inside the state. However, for the purpose of "Manufacturing Matters," the employment, wage, and overall economic contribution seem to be most relevant.
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This graph displays the four parameters, with different manufacturing subsectors compared according to annual employment, average wages, GDP contribution, and number of units in the state.
Because at the time of this update the most recent wage figures were from 2008, the figure compares each parameter from that year: the position of each bubble relates to the wages and employment, the size of the bubble relates to the GDP contribution, and the color represents the number of manufacturing units.
Based on this data, we see that the food product and chemical manufacturing subsectors were quite dominant in 2008, and may be considered the state's two "key" industries. Food manufacturing not only employed the most people, but also contributed the most to GDP. Chemical manufacturing paid the highest wages and made the second highest GDP contribution.
This graph also shows a cluster of four other subsectors we might consider as additional key industry groups: machinery; plastics and rubber products; motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts; and fabricated metal products. While their GDP contributions are moderate, in 2008 they each combined relatively high wages with relatively large numbers of employees. Because they offer good wages and employ large numbers of people, they may present good opportunities for students graduating from high school and technical schools. In addition, fabricated metal manufacturing also boasts the highest number of plants in the state (even though most of them are quite small).
Bar Chart of North Carolina GDP based on Top 10 Manufacturing Industrial Sub-Sectors for 2008
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce
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North Carolina's GDP by Manufacturing Sub-Sectors showing % of total manufacturing for 2008
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce
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The food product industry contributes the most to the state manufacturing GDP at just more than 25% of the total. Food products made or processed in North Carolina include pickles, seafood, wine and tobacco products.
North Carolina Top 10 Number of Establishments per Mfg Industrial Sub-Sector for 2nd Quarter of 2010
Source: US Census Bureau - State & County Facts - North Carolina
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North Carolina is home to 1,384 shops that make fabricated metal products, which is 13.6% of total manufacturing establishments.
Number of Employees in North Carolina by Manufacturing Industrial Sub-Sector comparing 2009 to 2008
Source: Employment Security Commission of North Carolina
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North Carolina Chamber Manufacturing Council
IES brings research and expertise from North Carolina State University’s College of Engineering to the workplace, to help businesses and organizations thrive. We will work anywhere, with any industry, to solve problems and deliver results like lower costs, better products, and higher efficiencies. We succeed when our clients succeed. Since 2000, IES has helped create almost $2 billion in economic value to the state of North Carolina; clients working with IES generally receive a $25:1 return on their investment.
IES is part of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a nationwide program that is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). With a network of MEP centers in every state and Puerto Rico, the program's purpose is to provide small and medium-sized manufacturers with the tools they need to succeed. In an independent survey conducted quarterly by MEP, manufacturing clients reported that IES services have been worth more than $1.06 billion from 2006 - 2010 in jobs saved or created, productivity gains, increased sales and increased investment opportunities.
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