Q&A with Dusty Cruise

Dusty Cruise

Dusty Cruise has served since 2010 as president and CEO of Missouri Enterprise, which is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The nonprofit public-private partnership works with manufacturers statewide, serving some 200 organizations annually. Cruise talked with Springfield Business Journal about the state of manufacturing heading into the new year.

How would you describe the outlook for the manufacturing sector coming into 2026? What’s the optimism level? 
I’d say a little bit of cautiously optimistic. I know ’25 wasn’t the best for some, and maybe it was better for others, but I would say the larger companies are a little more optimistic than the smaller companies. I think their concerns over some of the recessionary fears aren’t quite as much as they were last year. From what we’re hearing, of course it’s a little different in different industry sectors, but I think they expect their revenues and profitability to be a little bit better in ’26 than it was in ’25. Now, there’s some concerns. Obviously, there’s still a little bit of the volatility with tariffs and things like that they’re having to deal with. The uncertainty of that has got them a little bit concerned. 

Compared with 2025, what feels meaningfully different about the manufacturing industry in 2026?
I think the ones that are planning ... they’re looking at the things that they do that they’re really strong with and the things that they aren’t. They’re looking at a lot of the opportunities and the risks that they have in front of them. The others that aren’t planning so well ... that’s why they’re a little bit more cautious and uncertain. You talk to some of the companies: “How is your workforce doing?” The ones that have a more positive culture or they might be engaging more with their employees, they don’t have a workforce issue.

Talk to me about the impact of tariffs on demand.
Tariffs generally haven’t been too popular. Now there’s been three or four companies out there that we’re working with, and this is kind of interesting; their business is picking up because of tariffs. And I say that because some of your companies now – when you hear a lot about onshoring and things like that – you don’t just automatically do onshoring overnight. It takes a lot to move tools and negotiate contracts, find suppliers, find people that have the ability to provide quality, on-time delivery. So it takes a little time, but there are companies moving in that direction. With that happening, larger companies that are moving some of that manufacturing to domestic content are opening up a market for some of the smaller manufacturers to support that. Some of the smaller companies are seeing the added benefits of tariffs, and I would say some of them are doing better because of it. Although some of the smaller ones are also still paying tariffs, but not as much as the larger companies are, because obviously they have more volume coming from other countries.

How’s the workforce doing for manufacturers? 
There’s still a labor shortage, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the No. 1 priority now. They do want workforce, but I’ll tell you what some of the companies are doing now – they’re being a little bit more selective. If you think back a year, maybe two years ago, they just needed warm bodies. They said anybody who can come to my door, we’d hire them and we’d try to work with them and try to keep them on staff. A lot of companies still have job openings, but they’re being a little more selective in who they bring on board ... making sure that they’re contributing to the cause of the company. They’re trying to be more deliberate with the ways that they’re going to engage with their employees, too. I think they found out that they’ve had a shortage of labor for a while and they’re learning how to mitigate working with that shortage. We’re seeing a lot more work in helping companies with their culture and helping them with leadership training. We see with companies that are more deliberate with how they engage with their employees, and they prioritize some of their development and their commitment to their employees, it’s helping them retain those people. There’s still going to be this newer culture and newer generation. They do like their freedom, and they’re just a different kind of people, but it’s also causing manufacturers to be a little bit more thoughtful about how they’re engaging with them and trying to include them more in their business. We see this in companies that are (employee stock ownership plans) or have programs where they reward employees for better work, higher production and more efficiency. There’s a win-win for both people – the employee and also the company. The quality is better. Profitability is better. Workforce turnover is less. They have better machine uptime – just a better overall company. We still go into companies and they say their workforce can’t get enough people to work and they have high turnover. But when you start looking into the company, you see the obvious culture. Those tend to have much more trouble with workforce issues. It’s not necessarily the pay and it’s not necessarily the benefits – because they pretty much have to be competitive there – but it’s how the companies are engaging with their employees. There’s a huge difference.