Massachusetts Manufacturing Week, May 10 - 14, 1999
12 May 1999
Massachusetts Manufacturing Week, May 10 - 14, 1999
BOSTON--May 11, 1999--John Gould
President and Chief Executive Officer
Associated Industries of Massachusetts
When most people think about manufactured products, they think of big-ticket items such as the car they drive, their computer, or a jet airliner. But not many think of all the other ways in which manufacturing impacts their lives. Thousands of Massachusetts manufacturing companies work very hard every day to make life better and easier for all of us. For example, Spalding Sports Worldwide in Chicopee, and the Fairhaven operation of Titleist & Footjoy Worldwide are major manufacturers of golf balls. Crane & Company in Dalton is one of the nation's largest paper manufacturers. Among the products manufactured by Kilmartin Industries in Attleboro are subway tokens, while Shanklin Corporation manufactures packaging equipment. Peabody-based Analogic Corporation manufactures medical imaging equipment. Russell Harringon Cutlery in Southbridge is the oldest cutlery company operating in the nation. These are only a few of our more than 13,000 manufacturers that employ more than 450,000 people and produce over $40 billion worth of goods for the Massachusetts economy.
The vast majority of manufacturers in the Commonwealth are small firms, with over 87% employing 50 or fewer people. It is these operations which form the foundation of manufacturing in Massachusetts and New England. They supply manufacturing services, parts, sub-assemblies, materials, and consumer, industrial and commercial products throughout the world and are the source of both current and emerging technologies.
The year-by-year improvement of the Massachusetts business climate since 1991 has been traced by the recovery of the state's manufacturing sector, which contends directly and measurably with competing industries nationally and worldwide. The Legislature and the Weld-Cellucci-Swift Administrations have worked together to cut personal and corporate taxes, establish incentives to encourage new investments in our economy, control non-wage employment costs, and have taken steps to ensure that the Commonwealth will benefit from a trained and trainable workforce in the future.
Massachusetts' economic recovery, however, is far from complete. After a year of decline, Bay State manufacturers are starting to shrug off the effects of global economic turmoil which began a year ago. The improved state business climate has helped to cushion the impact of deteriorating overseas markets and is helping manufacturers get back on track faster as global conditions improve.
In honor of Massachusetts Manufacturing Week, it is in Associated Industries of Massachusetts' view appropriate to examine why manufacturing is important. Did you know, for example, that manufacturing companies employ nearly one out of every seven workers in the state (448,000)? That the average wage of manufacturing employees in the Commonwealth is about $43,000 a year - which is 30 percent more than the average for all employees? Or, did you know that manufacturing produces $40 billion worth of goods for the state's economy - more than ever before in our history?
These and other facts such as the value of manufactured goods exported ($16 billion) are all reasons why it is important and appropriate to celebrate the fourth annual Massachusetts Manufacturing Week. The industrial revolution, which began in Massachusetts almost 200 years ago, goes on, touching every aspect of our lives. Associated Industries of Massachusetts (A.I.M.) and its 5,000 plus member-companies - half of which are manufacturers - will continue to work on behalf of all employers for a better business climate in order to make the Commonwealth a good place to live and work for all of its residents.
John Gould is president and chief executive officer of Associated Industries of Massachusetts (A.I.M.), an employer's association of more than 5,000 companies and institutions operating in the Commonwealth. A.I.M.'s mission is to make the Massachusetts economy more competitive and the Commonwealth a better place to live and work.
