Manufacturing
There’s More Evidence of a Resurgence of Manufacturing in the United States
The Atlantic Monthly’s December issue offers up a pair of excellent articles on the resurgence of industrial activity in the United States. In “The Insourcing Boom,” Charles Fishman takes us through the story of Appliance Park, an industrial park in Kentucky that was headquarters to GE’s appliance division. The park had 16,000 workers in 1955,…
New Itron CEO will look for acqisitions and global alliances to strengthen leadership role.
Itron, a Spokane company that serves more than 8,000 utilities around the world with smart grid and other technologies designed to measure and reduce consumption of energy, water and other resources, said today that it drew from its own ranks to appoint Philip Mezey as CEO. In his first conference call with analysts following the…
Flying ANA’s Dreamliner to Tokyo
Does the 787 Dreamliner represent the great new era in travel Boeing would have us believe? My first impression on boarding the plane for All Nippon Airways‘ inaugural flight to Tokyo Tuesday was not a good one. Sure, the ceilings are high, but the business class seat to which I was directedIm told the tickets…
Deja vu at Sea-Tac
It was a little like the movie Groundhog Day. I woke up this morning to find myself doing everything I did the day before. I packed and headed for the airport. I checked in for All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight NH 1077, the same flight I checked in for yesterday. I received the same window…
Commercial Dreamliner flight now serving Seattle, more or less
EDITOR’S NOTE: Seattle Business magazine Editor Leslie Helm is aboard ANA’s first Dreamliner flight from Seattle to Tokyo. After years of delay and heartache, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner was set to leave Seattle Monday on a commercial flight for the first time, but it was delayed 24 hours by an undisclosed maintenance issue, stranding many…
Seattle To Promote Industrial Development
Local government organizations are looking for projects to back in the manufacturing and maritime sectors. Those two sectors enerate $6 billion in taxable retail sales and contribute $37 million in B&O taxes. We will be watching closely to see how this program does. Here is the full press release: Today Mayor Mike McGinn, Councilmember Richard…
State Markets Washington’s Aerospace Expertise At Airshow with Short Video
This Washington state is marketing its aerospace industry at the Farnborough Airshow this year with a short video. The goal of the video is to promote the state’s aerospace capabilities to the 120,000 or so aerospace leaders that attend the show. The one-minute video showcases Washington state as a global aerospace leader with 700 aerospace…
Manufacturers Tend to Cluster in Metro Areas Like Seattle, Says Brookings Study
The Brookings Institute has release a report that identifies Seattle area as one of the nation’s leading manufacturing regions with 167,000 manufacturing-related jobs, accounting for about 9.7 percent of all the region’s jobs in 2010. Of those manufacturing jobs, 63 percent are considered high tech. Interestingly, the study finds that 79.5 percent of all manufacturing…
Nonprofit Manufacturer of the Year
Orion Industries, Federal Way Orion Industries is a precision metal fabricator specializing in aerospace but with customers in defense, automotive, medical and marine industries. Just as important for Orion as the products it makes are the people who makes them. As a social enterprise, Orion provides job training and opportunities for those with disabilities and…
Food Processor of the Year (Small Company)
Ivars Seafood, Soup & Sauce Company, Mukilteo You probably know Ivars for its fast-food and sit-down restaurants around the region, and its legendary namesake showman founder, the late Ivar Haglund. A much smaller and quieter offshoot of the company is an operation that was started to make chowder for the restaurants, but which today turns…
Food Processor of the Year (Large Company)
Trans-Ocean Products, Bellingham Can you apply lean operating principles to an industry like seafood processing? Can you get employees to go along with the program? Thats what Trans-Ocean Products, a producer of imitation crab and lobster, wanted to find out. So it introduced a waste-reduction program in its factories, as many companies have. To get…
Innovator of the Year (Large Company)
Outdoor Research, Seattle Fleece-lined gloves that come with their own rain shield, tucked in a handy pouch on the back. A cap that comes with its own rain guard, tucked in a pocket on the rim, so that wearers are protected rain or shine. Such are the tweaks, innovations and improvements that mark a business…