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Boston Foundation releases CURP and Policy School report on the importance of manufacturing to state’s economy

‘Making things’ promotes innovation, well-paid jobs, economic growth

Conventional wisdom may relegate manufacturing to the ash heap of earlier centuries, but new research undertaken by the Center for Urban and Regional Policy (CURP) and the School of Social Science, Urban Affairs, and Public Policy at Northeastern University and released today by the Boston Foundation establishes not only the importance of manufacturing as a potent part of the regional economy but its role as a catalyst for future growth. Today, almost 10 percent of the state’s workforce is employed in manufacturing, creating almost $40 billion worth of goods annually. The sector retains more than 8,600 firms that are technologically sophisticated and well positioned to compete successfully in the emerging global economy.

A sharp increase in productivity has played an important role in the continued importance of the sector. Since 1997, Massachusetts has sharply outpaced the nation as a whole, with an increase in productivity of more than 60 percent, compared to the national increase of about 30 percent.

The report, entitled Staying Power: The Future of Manufacturing in Massachusetts, reviews the history of manufacturing in the state, from before World War II through recent decades of decline and renewal. In addition, surveys of more than 700 businesses were completed and separate interviews with more than 100 business leaders in the sector were undertaken by the research team, headed by Barry Bluestone, Dean of the School of Social Science, Urban Affairs and Public Policy and Director of CURP, and Don Walsh, a Senior Research Associate at CURP. Lauren Nicoll and Chase Billingham also contributed to the writing of the report.

“This research invites all of us to reboot our thinking about manufacturing,” said Bluestone. “We have moved far beyond the shoes and textile mills that put Massachusetts at the center of the American Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, and this information calls us to address the challenges we face if we are to maintain this important sector. That includes finding ways to lower the cost of doing business in the Commonwealth and securing the skilled and trained workforce manufacturing needs to thrive. It may not be as sexy as nanotechnology, but manufacturing is a powerful economic engine for Massachusetts.”

To read the full press release, download the report, and find out more information, click here.

Source: The Boston Foundation