Region loses 2,863 manufacturing jobs in 21 months

The local manufacturing sector has the dubious distinction of losing 2,863 jobs due to plant moves, closings or sales since January 2001, according to Becky Quinn, work force development specialist for the Missouri Career Center.

Data are for the Ozark region, which comprises Greene, Polk, Dallas, Webster, Christian, Stone and Taney counties.

"Right now, our manufacturing scene is in a drastic state," Quinn said. "If a person was looking for production jobs manufacturing jobs from somewhere else, they would have very stiff competition as far as our unemployed pool who would be competing for them with those same jobs."

Grim stats

Statewide, each of the 13 regions the Missouri Department of Economic Development surveys took a hit.

"We did experience a loss in manufacturing jobs in all regions of the state," said Jim Grebing, communications director for the DED. From February 2001 to February 2002, manufacturing jobs dipped 8 percent statewide with 31,300 jobs lost, compared to a national decrease of 7.2 percent, or 1,317,000 jobs lost, he added.

The DED's Springfield region, which consists of the same counties as those the Missouri Career Center covers, had 13 percent of its total jobs in the manufacturing sector in 2000, Grebing said. "The manufacturing companies you're seeing leave Missouri are low-tech manufacturers." The ones that are thriving tend to be better, higher-tech jobs that can be located anywhere, he added.

Grebing noted Jack Henry & Associates' success in Monett as an example of high-tech companies that are doing well in more remote locations.

The price of an hour

The loss to Springfield and other local communities in terms of spending income is significant. Weekly earnings in June 2002 for Missouri production workers in the manufacturing sector averaged $619, while service jobs came in at $397, according to the DED's Web site at www.missouridevelopment.org.

"In our region the most projected job growth is in the service industry. And that has been for some time," Quinn said.

Translated this means the most readily available job for former manufacturing employees provides wages at a 40 percent reduction from their previous earnings, she added.

Rita Needham, executive director for the Southwest Area Manufacturers Association, said job losses in the area may be leveling off. Based on information she's received from respective company contacts, she said layoffs "have stabilized and are not continuing to decline, but we don't see any rapid increase in orders either to bring them back."

Grebing said the overall decline in job loss statewide began leveling off in February and March of this year.

He added, however, that additional manufacturing jobs haven't been created to replace those lost.

Needham said there are companies holding their own. Examples include: Custom Manufacturing & Polishing Inc., which employs about 125 and does value-added work in commercial markets; Webco Inc., which employs more than 200 and makes customized HVAC equipment; and Loren Cook Co., which employs about 700 and builds ventilation equipment.

"Things for Loren Cook Company are tight," said Chip Cook, director of business development. "Our industry as a whole ... is down around 17.5 percent on new construction starts."

Cook noted high workers' compensation costs, rising insurance premiums and overall health care expenses as factors impacting company operations.

The demand for local manufacturing jobs is put into sharp focus when considering Loren Cook Company's recent two-day ad looking for assembly workers. It received more than 1,200 applications. There were about 12 jobs available.

"When companies close for whatever reason in manufacturing we have a significant population of good, solid, hard-working employees who get pushed farther and farther back into the employment framework," Quinn said.

"We know in our service area the chances are very inopportune as far as solid, stable employment if you do not have a high school diploma or a GED, " Quinn added.

Marketing adaptions

In slumping times, Needham said, research and development are essential so manufacturers can develop new products to meet existing market demands or diversify their current product line to reach new markets.

Grebing said for companies to remain competitive they have to utilize higher technology, especially when competing with cheap labor abroad. Gov. Bob Holden has targeted three industry sectors advanced manufacturing, information technology and life sciences as areas he would like to see more fully developed statewide, Grebing said.