CBRE research released last month seeks to identify the
U.S. metro areas that are benefiting the most from rising
manufacturing employment by examining changes in area
manufacturing employment since 2010. Among the areas benefiting the most
are the I-85 corridor from Atlanta to Raleigh and the I-75/I-65
corridors from Atlanta up through Tennessee, Louisville and Cincinnati
to Detroit.
The snapshot also highlights the wealth of manufacturing that still
operates in California with the exception of the Los Angeles area. And
the map shows a decided surge in manufacturing jobs across most of
Florida — a topic explored in more depth in the forthcoming Florida
spotlight in the May issue of Site Selection.
But any manufacturing that wants to survive today has to be advanced
manufacturing, right? That means Industry 4.0, automation and
digitalization. So it can be a compelling exercise to cross-reference
the CBRE findings with the February report by Brookings Metro’s Senior
Fellow Mark Muro and former senior research analyst Sifan Liu that looks
at where
the digitalization of work has progressed the most and least.
Among their observations: Higher digitalization means higher pay.
“Accordingly, the places with the highest shares of
high-digitalization-level jobs in 2020 — such as Boulder, Colorado; San
Jose, California; and Washington, D.C. — are also the ones with the
highest mean annual wages, in the range of $70,000 to $100,000,” they
write. “By contrast, places with low digital scores — such as
Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana, and Twin Falls, Idaho — deliver much lower
annual wages for their residents, along the lines of $50,000.”
Muro shared his thoughts on Site Selection’s Top Metros of 2022 as well.
Meanwhile, you can put the Brookings
digitalization tracking tool to use yourself as you evaluate and
compare locations. — Adam Bruns
Autoliv last week announced this investment in a new airbag cushion and
fabric plant in Amata City Ha Long Industrial Park in northern Vietnam.
The project is the company’s first investment in Vietnam. “We
continuously look for ways to improve our footprint and reduce our costs
structurally, and the new plant will complement our existing footprint
in Southeast Asia.” said Colin Naughton, president of Autoliv Asia.
“With the significant growth in demand for our restraint system products
in Asia, Autoliv Vietnam will play an increasingly important role in
meeting our customer demands.” The facility is expected to begin
production of airbag cushions for Autoliv’s airbag module assembly
facilities in Asia by late 2025. When fully operational, the facility
can employ up to 2,000 people, the company says. This project is one of
several to recently be awarded investment registration certificates by
Quang Ninh province in the Red River Delta. According to Vietnamese
business publication The Investor, so far this year, “Quang Ninh
province has attracted FDI of $494 million into industrial parks and
economic zones, fulfilling 40.9% of the 2023 target of over $1 billion.”
Two years after announcing it would shut down a particleboard plant at
this site in Dillard, located along the South Umpqua River south of
Roseburg, Roseburg Forest Products announced this month it planned to
invest $700 million over the next four years to upgrade and expand its
manufacturing operations in Southern Oregon, where the company was
founded nearly 90 years ago. The investment includes the creation of two
new manufacturing plants and technological improvements and upgrades at
existing plants in rural Douglas and Coos counties. The total project
represents the largest ever known investment in manufacturing in rural
Oregon, and one of the largest private capital investments of any kind
in the state’s history. The new $450 million Dillard MDF plant will use
wood residuals from Roseburg’s local mills as well as other regional
mill suppliers to manufacture standard medium density fiberboard (MDF)
panels, as well as thin high density fiberboard (HDF), often used in
cabinetry, doors, and other applications. The $50 million Dillard
Components plant will convert specialty MDF panels manufactured at
Roseburg’s MDF plant in Medford, Oregon, into Armorite™ Trim, a finished
exterior trim product for residential and shed use. The two plants
combined will employ around 120 people. The balance of the investment
will go toward improvements at Roseburg plants in Riddle and Coquille,
Oregon. The company began the search across its Western U.S. operating
footprint in June 2022, ultimately choosing the region where it was
founded in 1936. “Not only are we proud of our long history in this
region, but our focus on advanced manufacturing and innovative
technology makes us an excellent fit for the future of Oregon’s
manufacturing sector as well,” said Roseburg Forest Products President
and CEO Grady Mulbery. “Our use of robotics, computer programming, and
other advanced manufacturing tools aligns Roseburg with the high-tech
evolution of manufacturing in this state.”
Photo by Hexashots_Olivier Groot courtesy of Netherlands Board of Tourism &
Conventions
Today is the national holiday of King’s Day in the Netherlands, when
everyone — dressed in orange, of course — celebrates King
Willem-Alexander’s birthday by going to fairs, visiting impromptu flea
markets, playing music and dancing, and, say tourism folks, indulging in
“silly traditional Dutch games” such as bite-the-cake,
“nail pooping” and throwing toilet bowls.”Wait, what?
This photo depicts Pythonbrug, an award-winning and very orange
footbridge crossing over the Railroad Basin in Amsterdam’s regenerated
Eastern Docklands. Constructed in 2001, the bridge links the former
docks now named Sporenburg and Borneo Island.
