Stretching Dollars to Nurture Factories

One of the dilemmas tough times create is finding the resources to make strategic investments that can promote economic recovery. But Seattle-area governments’ support for their resurgent manufacturing sector proves it can be done.

Reports of the death of American manufacturing have been grossly exaggerated. While companies like Facebook and Google grab most of the headlines, the nation has seen 33 months of factory expansion. Between 2010 and March of this year, the manufacturing sector has added 470,000 jobs, a growth rate 10 percent higher than that of the private economy as a whole.

I suspect I’m not the only one who was surprised to learn that the majority of American scientists and engineers work for manufacturers, or that industrial companies account for more than two-thirds of business research and development spending.

By Charles Chieppo

Full Story: http://www.governing.com/blogs/bfc/col-seattle-region-city-county-state-investment-manufacturing-renaissance.html