Manufacturing Still Strong in Portland Area
Published Mar 06, 2007
ESCO Corp., founded in Portland in 1913, manufactures parts and components for industrial machinery, including this excavator bucket.
At the turn of the 20th century, industrial companies began manufacturing in the Portland region out of necessity, providing the machinery and materials that helped build the then-isolated Pacific Northwest. Today, manufacturing remains a formidable economic force here, with more than 3,300 manufacturers employing about 122,000 people for a total payroll of about $6.7 billion – exceeding that of some venerable industrial strongholds elsewhere in the United States.
The variety of manufacturing here is impressive – from hulking steel mills to nanotechnology enterprises like FEI Co., which produces powerful electron microscopes.
“The face of manufacturing is changing. We’re moving away from the image as that of a purely smokestack, low-wage-earning industry to an industry that has living-wage jobs demanding innovation, creativity and problem-solving expertise,” says Elizabeth King, director of organizational development at ESCO Corp. “With that comes an exciting range of opportunities in a variety of fields, including well-paying factory jobs in addition to engineering and research and development.” ESCO, founded in Portland in 1913, produces highly engineered metal components for industrial machinery.
SHARING BEST PRACTICES
In 2004, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski tapped King to co-chair a committee to create a manufacturing workforce development strategy for the state. Today, that committee has put forward plans to link statewide centers of manufacturing activity, supported four regions in creating their own high-performance consortia and started a campaign for raising awareness of career opportunities in manufacturing.
“We cannot compete on the basis of labor costs with China or India, but we can compete based on the knowledge, skills and innovation of our workers,” she says. “What we also have here is the support of the governor and a dedicated group of companies that genuinely care about the success of other manufacturers in the region.”
King also serves as president of one of the four regional consortia that give manufacturers a forum for exchanging best practices. Her Northwest High Performance Enterprise Consortium’s 90-plus members include Gunderson LLC (rail freight cars, marine barges), Blount International Inc. (outdoor products, industrial power equipment, lawn mowers), Myers Container Corp. (steel drums) and Nike Inc. (sports equipment, apparel). The consortium offers learning tours where companies open their doors to other members for guidance in solving operational or technical challenges.
NURTURING THE WORKFORCE
Another regional organization helping to move industry forward is the Manufacturing 21 Coalition. This private-public partnership was established in 2005 to help meet the need for skilled manufacturing workers and to provide applied research to sustain and increase global competitiveness.
With a membership base that includes more than 70 members, the coalition – through partnerships with local colleges and universities – is laying the groundwork to build a Center for Manufacturing and Infrastructure Engineering in the Portland metropolitan area.
“The need for higher-skilled employees to fill positions is growing as we lose baby boomers in the workplace,” says Norm Eder, the coalition’s executive director. “The center will focus on helping fill the pipeline for these positions with young people who have undergone skills training. It will also provide modern facilities and instructional programs to enhance the region’s overall workforce-training, skills-development and professional-development capacity.”
Eder says construction of the 90,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to begin within five years.
While a number of similar initiatives are helping to attract new industrial companies to the area, Kevin Johnson, senior project/program coordinator for the Portland Development Commission, says traditional backbone manufacturers remain an important presence here. They include “heavy metal” hard hitters such as Oregon Steel Mills Inc., Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. and Oregon Iron Works, as well as market leaders such as Boeing Co. and Freightliner LLC.
Story by Valerie Pascoe
Photo by ESCO Corp.
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