By Steve Craig

Commerce Chenango

CHENANGO COUNTY – Never judge a book by its cover. The same goes for a manufacturing facility. From the outside, they can appear non-descript. But step inside and you will find a world of innovation, technology and know-how.

The manufacturing floor is an ever-changing environment where old products and processes are being reinvented every day to meet the demands of the global marketplace.

Here in Chenango, our manufacturers are literally world-class. They have to be in order to compete on the global stage. State-of-the-art equipment, advanced manufacturing practices and, most importantly, the best workers are all right here, sending sophisticated products out into the world every day.

The process starts, of course, with raw materials and components that themselves are of little value to a customer or end-user. However, the final products are incredibly valuable. This “value-added” is the reason manufacturing wages average over $53,000 a year in Chenango County, and the reason manufacturing has always been a leading economic driver here.

There is a perception that America’s manufacturing days are over. But in truth, manufacturing remains the backbone of our economy.

When you hear someone say “America doesn’t make things any more” tell them that manufacturing accounts for about 12 percent of US economic output, the same percentage as in 1960. What’s changed is how many workers it takes to achieve that output. In 1960, it was about 24% of the workforce. Because of technology-driven efficiency, that’s down to about 9% today. That 9% possesses a much more sophisticated skill-set than the manufacturing workers of the past.