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Noria Corporation

U.S. manufacturers to open 129 plants in 1st quarter of '07

Industrial Info Resources
2006 was a good year for the United States manufacturing industry, not only in capital and maintenance project activity, but also in terms of the number of new plants that opened their doors during the year. As we near the end of the year, 300 plants will have become operational representing more than 46,600 new jobs in the U.S. A sneak peak ahead at the first quarter of 2007 shows that the manufacturing industry is currently expecting an additional 129 plants to become operational during that quarter alone, 43 percent of 2006’s year-end totals. This also represents an additional 25,000 new jobs within the industry. At this pace, the manufacturing industry will come close to eclipsing 2006’s totals by mid-year and nearly double them by the end of 2007.

Click to view Industrial Manufacturing Industry 1Q07 New Plants ChartClick on the image at right to view a chart showing the breakdown of new plants by region.

The Great Lakes Region is once again leading the way with 30 new plants for the quarter, however, it only ranks third in terms of total new jobs with just under 4,200. The Southeast Region, which is second in terms of new plants at 21, leads in total new jobs for the quarter with just over 5,600. Rounding out the top five regions in new plants are the Rocky Mountains and Southwest, tied at 17, and the Mid-Atlantic with 15, while the top five regions by new employee count are the Southeast, Rocky Mountains, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic and Southwest.

A closer look at where these new plants will be located shows that North Carolina and Pennsylvania lead the way with nine plants each, followed by Texas with eight new plants; Illinois, California and Florida, tied at seven; Wisconsin with six; and Alabama, Mississippi, New Mexico, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, all tied at five. In regard to new jobs, Alabama is the front-runner with just over 2,100 new jobs, followed by Florida with 2,000, Michigan with 1,800, California with 1,700 and New Mexico with 1,600.

All in all, the signs point to a very good year in terms of plants moving from the construction stage to becoming operational within the industry. Despite slowdowns in certain sectors of the manufacturing industry, such as the automotive industry and the always cyclical semiconductors and computers industry, new plants abound in 2007 and with them come tens of thousands of new jobs, which are always welcome. 2007 has the potential to be the best year in recent memory for new plants and additional jobs within the U.S. and hopefully this current pace will hold throughout the year.

Industrial Info Resources is a marketing information service company that has been doing business for more than 23 years. IIR is respected as the leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing and energy-related industries throughout the world. For more information, visit www.industrialinfo.com. Subscribe to Machinery Lubrication