Commentary: Charlotte Weber

Manufacturing -- Not Service -- Is The Key To Our Future

The Charleston Gazette, October 8, 2004

For many West Virginia families, “a trip to the store” means a trip to Wal-Mart. With its low prices and wide range of merchandise, Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer in the state. More than that, it’s also the state’s largest private-sector employer.

Before 1998, Weirton Steel Corp. occupied the top spot on the list of West Virginia ’s largest private employers. But that year saw Wal-Mart muscle the steelmaker out of first place, and the giant retail chain has remained there ever since. The newest figures from the state Bureau of Employment Programs show Wal-Mart in the top spot for the sixth straight year.

CAMC now stands in second place on the list, WVU Hospitals is third, Kroger is fourth and CSX is fifth. Meanwhile, Weirton Steel, struggling with the problems that bedevil much of the nation’s steel industry, has fallen to sixth place.

Wal-Mart might be popular with West Virginia shoppers, but the chain also has its critics, who note that the opening of a new Wal-Mart often forces local merchants to close their doors. Thus, there’s a lively debate over the rise of Wal-Mart and whether that’s a plus or minus for West Virginia .

But make no mistake about this: It’s clearly a minus for West Virginia when the four biggest private employers in the state all hail from the service sector. Indeed, it’s another sad sign of the long, steady decline of the state’s manufacturing base. In 1990, the state had 87,500 manufacturing jobs. By 1998, that figure had slipped to 82,400. By 2003, it had plunged to 64,700.

Given today’s increased global competition and the improved productivity of workers and machines, it’s likely that many of today’s lost manufacturing jobs are gone for good. But we can’t afford to stand idly by and simply watch as this country’s once-vaunted manufacturing base disappears. There’s no quick fix for manufacturing’s ills, but action is needed to halt — and ultimately reverse — the decline.

The National Association of Manufacturers reports that every dollar in final demand for manufactured goods generates $1.43 in additional economic activity. No other element of the economy contributes as much to our overall prosperity. Manufacturing is an engine of economic growth, and when manufacturing is in trouble, our economy is in trouble.

Manufacturing pays top wages and good benefits. It spurs innovation. And it’s an important link in our national defense. If we lose our manufacturing base and the vital job skills that go with it, the inevitable result will be a lower standard of living for all of us.

Surely that’s not an acceptable future — for West Virginia or the nation.

Weber is director and CEO of the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing and a member of the Board of Directors of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.