The State of Manufacturing
BY BOB KILL
As we work together to chart a course out of the country’s economic decline, manufacturers will play a vital role in our overall economy and in the economic stability of our individual communities.
This is why we think that the State of Manufacturing survey research project that you’ll read about arrives at such a fitting time. In December, we commissioned what we believe is the first-ever survey research poll of 400 state manufacturing executives, supplemented with eight focus groups.
The results confirm my own experience: Minnesota’s manufacturers do not view an overall economic downturn as a time for hopelessness and hand wringing. Rather, they view the slowdown as a chance to analyze and upgrade their business operations so that they’ll be the first to exploit the opportunities of a recovery. The full poll, with analysis and focus group transcripts, has been published in a book. Also, the entire project can be viewed at www.stateofmanufacturing.com.
The State of Manufacturing project could not have happened without generous outlay of time and funding from: Brent Iserman, business banking specialty sales manager at Bremer Bank; Erik Skie and Brent Terhaar, partners at LarsonAllen, LLP; Mary Rothchild, assistant director of strategic partnerships and workforce development at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities; Judith Evans, associate executive director of Minnesota Center for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence; and Jeff Mulfinger, director of communications at RJF Agencies.
These individuals all understand the importance of the manufacturing industry in Minnesota. Each of them spent time helping us design and sharpen every aspect of the project—their assistance led us to a better understanding of manufacturing—and manufacturers—in Minnesota.
We also owe much to Bob Isaacson, division director of the Communications, Analysis and Research Division at Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), who worked with us through every level of planning this project. Through his work at DEED, Bob has organized and sustained a credible and thorough storehouse about Minnesota’s business economy, much of it devoted to manufacturing.
Rob Autry, our pollster, represents Public Opinion Strategies, a premier political polling firm based in Alexandria, Va. His capabilities as a pollster were outstanding, equaled only by his tenacity. It is a serious accomplishment to arrange and conduct interviews with 400 very busy manufacturing executives. We hope you will find the results both revealing and inspiring.