Post by WVUfanPHILLY on Aug 16, 2007 14:17:20 GMT -5
The Associated Press
Updated 2:44 p.m.
West Virginia has lost 1,558 manufacturing jobs and 147 manufacturing companies since June 2006, according to a new survey by an Illinois-based publishing company.
Manufacturing News said small manufacturers with no more than five employees have been hit the hardest. The survey found that 70 percent of the companies that closed fit that category.
Other data shows much the same thing.
Manufacturing employment declined about 2,200 in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year, said West Virginia University economist George Hammond. The state shed about 600 manufacturing jobs between the first quarter of 2005 and the same period last year.
"They lost jobs and that rate of employment loss actually accelerated,'' said Hammond, who explains there's a simple explanation: "Intense international competition.''
The decline runs counter to Gov. Joe Manchin's "Open for Business'' mantra.
"We know that that's an area that we have work to do in,'' Manchin spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg said. While the state can't provide much help to companies facing world market conditions, Ramsburg said it can assist with job training, for instance. "Certainly we face challenges, as I think every state does.''
And Ramsburg said the state has been successful attracting manufacturers, particularly from the automotive industry. Hino Motors Manufacturing recently announced plans to open an assembly plant in Williamstown and the former Union Stamping and Assembly Plant plans to reopen in January. Those two plants plan to add about 160 jobs.
There's little a state can do to counter international competition, Hammond said, adding that West Virginia should do more of what it can.
"Being more open for business would probably be useful, in terms of working to continue the progress that we've recently made in terms of lowering some business taxes and working on the regulatory environment,'' Hammond said.
While employment at mines and quarries -- the state's largest industry -- is up 4.7 percent, Manufacturing News said employment in the forest products industry dropped 5.6 percent. Chemical manufacturing employment fell 9 percent.
Hammond's manufacturing employment data doesn't include mining and quarries, but other statistics show natural resources and mining data, which includes oil and gas, among other things, shows an increase of 800 jobs in the first quarter compared with 2006. The category jumped 2,700 jobs from 2005 to 2006. "Decelerating, but still growing,'' Hammond said. "At least it was through the first quarter.''
West Virginia has 2,176 manufacturing companies that employ slightly more than 90,000 people, the survey found.
The northwest part of the state has the most manufacturing jobs -- more than 32,000 -- and Manufacturing News said nearly 12,000 of them are in the Northern Panhandle. Southwest West Virginia ranks second with almost 30,000 manufacturing jobs.
© Copyright 1996-2007 The Charleston Gazette
Updated 2:44 p.m.
West Virginia has lost 1,558 manufacturing jobs and 147 manufacturing companies since June 2006, according to a new survey by an Illinois-based publishing company.
Manufacturing News said small manufacturers with no more than five employees have been hit the hardest. The survey found that 70 percent of the companies that closed fit that category.
Other data shows much the same thing.
Manufacturing employment declined about 2,200 in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year, said West Virginia University economist George Hammond. The state shed about 600 manufacturing jobs between the first quarter of 2005 and the same period last year.
"They lost jobs and that rate of employment loss actually accelerated,'' said Hammond, who explains there's a simple explanation: "Intense international competition.''
The decline runs counter to Gov. Joe Manchin's "Open for Business'' mantra.
"We know that that's an area that we have work to do in,'' Manchin spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg said. While the state can't provide much help to companies facing world market conditions, Ramsburg said it can assist with job training, for instance. "Certainly we face challenges, as I think every state does.''
And Ramsburg said the state has been successful attracting manufacturers, particularly from the automotive industry. Hino Motors Manufacturing recently announced plans to open an assembly plant in Williamstown and the former Union Stamping and Assembly Plant plans to reopen in January. Those two plants plan to add about 160 jobs.
There's little a state can do to counter international competition, Hammond said, adding that West Virginia should do more of what it can.
"Being more open for business would probably be useful, in terms of working to continue the progress that we've recently made in terms of lowering some business taxes and working on the regulatory environment,'' Hammond said.
While employment at mines and quarries -- the state's largest industry -- is up 4.7 percent, Manufacturing News said employment in the forest products industry dropped 5.6 percent. Chemical manufacturing employment fell 9 percent.
Hammond's manufacturing employment data doesn't include mining and quarries, but other statistics show natural resources and mining data, which includes oil and gas, among other things, shows an increase of 800 jobs in the first quarter compared with 2006. The category jumped 2,700 jobs from 2005 to 2006. "Decelerating, but still growing,'' Hammond said. "At least it was through the first quarter.''
West Virginia has 2,176 manufacturing companies that employ slightly more than 90,000 people, the survey found.
The northwest part of the state has the most manufacturing jobs -- more than 32,000 -- and Manufacturing News said nearly 12,000 of them are in the Northern Panhandle. Southwest West Virginia ranks second with almost 30,000 manufacturing jobs.
© Copyright 1996-2007 The Charleston Gazette
