Gubernatorial candidates vow to assist industry
Despite losing nearly 50,000 sector jobs in the last 20 years, Rhode Island’s manufacturing industry still accounts for nearly 50 percent of the state’s economic base, employs 14 percent of the state’s workers, and even pays 33 percent more than the state average.
So why do people say that manufacturing is dying?
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According to many it’s because the industry is caught somewhere between being a cornerstone in the old economy and a tech savvy financial generator in the new one.
"Manufacturing is not dead and does not have to be dead, but I think there are things that we can do, and need to do," said Republican gubernatorial candidate Donald Carcieri. "We have not been growing jobs in this state, that is clear. I think like everything in business and life, it’s what you focus on. We need to focus on the types of manufacturing that are going to remain here. We need to build on the strengths that we have."
Rhode Island’s manufacturers agree, progressive manufacturing – that which includes highly skilled workers, and innovative technology – is the wave of the future. In fact, many of the state’s manufacturers say finding a place for the industry in the new economy, is highly dependent in utilizing the parts of the old economy that are reinventing themselves.
On Wednesday, August 21, at the Crowne Plaza at the Crossings in Warwick, members of the Manufacturing Summit, a coalition of local manufacturers, asked the state’s five gubernatorial candidates to weigh in on the matter. Calling on candidates to create a plan that would result in 20,000 new industry jobs over the next five years, manufacturers in the state hoped to learn where they stood on each candidate’s political agenda during a "Town Meeting" that drew well over 500 spectators.
What they want is removal of additional roadblocks — the state’s current tax system, access to capital, and a shortage of skilled workers – that have continued to hamper manufacturing growth.
"We are at a critical juncture," said Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Bennett. "We live in a knowledge-based economy… we live in a global economy. They keys to growth is to equip our businesses with the tools to adapt. The government has to step aside. Right now what we have is the like cholesterol clogging the arteries. Government needs to be more customer-centric, and the taxpayers are the customer. We need to help, not hinder business."
According to Democrat Myrth York, the industry’s success lies in education.
"This state can’t afford to declare manufacturing dead," she said. "One of the problems we have is that young people don’t understand the industry. There is still this image of the assembly line, and the old way of doing things. We need to find a way to educate people that there is an opportunity here to make something, to be part of the economy by participating in the manufacturing process."
Democratic Sheldon Whitehouse, said the important thing is to support businesses already in here in both policy and economics.
"The best way to send a message to new business is to build on the strength of existing businesses," he said. "We need to focus on a strategy of moving Rhode Island forward."
Democrat Tony Pires pointed out a need for legislative reform when it comes to manufacturing, for example the implementation of more job-training credits and bi-weekly pay.
"We can’t retreat on the advances we have made," said Pires. "In order for manufacturing to succeed, we need to look at our inventory and our options."
Part of that strategy, manufacturers agree, is looking at the positive. For example instead of looking at the industry as losing more jobs that it has gained in the last two decades, they say it’s important to look at the 27 percent growth in wages over the last five years.
"Manufacturing matters everywhere," said John Hazen White, Jr., president of Taco Inc., and a member of the Manufacturing Summit. "What we have is fixable. The good news is that whoever is our next governor, it looks like they are willing to work with us."
