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Manufacturing is important to the Economy of Southwestern PA

Facts and Figures You Might not Know

Manufacturing is the second largest employment sector in the region

• Employs over 177,000 workers
• Over 4,000 manufacturing companies are located in our 9-county region
• Represents a $7 Billion payroll; $42 Billion regional impact
• Provides opportunities with global outreach
• Highest average annual wages: $42,000

Unskilled production line jobs are gone and are being replaced by highly skilled "Gold Collar" Jobs

There is a shortage of skilled workers in the region

• 10% of local machinists (average age 43) will retire every year for the next decade
• 15% of southwestern PA's manufacturing workforce is over the age of 55
• The most recent Job Vacancy Survey conducted by Duquesne University's Center for Workforce Development during the Spring of 2006 indicated that there were approximately 1700 manufacturing job vacancies in the manufacturing region. These findings are summarized in the presentation Manufacturing Job Vacancy Spring 2006.
  
  

Metalworking is the largest manufacturing subcluster; accounts for 41% of manufacturing jobs

• 1,632 plants
• $3.9 billion payroll
• 63,000 employees

Other important manufacturing subclusters:

• Vehicle manufacturing: $1.6 billion payroll
• Communication, electronic/computers $1.1 billion payroll

Southwestern PA is a Center for Excellence in the Advanced Manufacturing of:

Electrical equipment Metalworking machinery Resin, rubber and synthetic fibers Plastics Architectural and structural metals

Glass Electric components Electric lighting equipment Medical equipment

PA: A Leader in Manufacturing

• High-tech manufacturing employs 67,945.
• Ranks 5th in number of doctoral scientists.
• Ranks 8th in number of doctoral engineers.
• Ranks 6th in number of science and engineering graduate students.
• 4th leading state for industrial electronics manufacturing.
• 8th in high tech employment.
• 4th in nation for consumer electronics manufacturing.
• Home to leading companies such as Sony, Alcoa, NuRelm.
• Support network available for advanced technology businesses.

(For more information see www.newpa.com - Manufacturers )

We are also the center for emerging manufacturing technology. These manufacturing clusters are fueling the region's economy:

• Electro-optics - technology that converts light into electricity and electricity into light
• Armstrong County houses the Electro-Optics Center, the focal point for many of the nation's cutting edge research initiatives, including products for NASA, the Department of Defense, and U.S. industry
• Fuel Cells - power technology that may eventually fuel our cars, homes and electronic devices
• Siemens-Westinghouse Power Corporation is now developing solid oxide cells at its research and development complex in Churchill
• Nanoscience - engineering at the molecular level
• Penn State University is a leader in nanofabrication research and education
• Robotics - development of machinery that can accomplish repetitive or dangerous tasks
• Pittsburgh is a world-renowned leader in robotics research

"Right now, many of these clusters are quite small…but we believe many of these clusters have the potential to make the region a center of innovation within their respective fields….if we combine these emerging clusters, the region, as a whole, truly has the foundations for a very diverse and well-rounded technology industry."
Steven G. Zylstra, President and CEO of Catalyst Connection, Pittsburgh
TEQ (Technology, Entrepreneurship, Quality) Vol.10, Issue 3, April 2004

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