Working to strengthen manufacturing

GREEN BAY - The news for manufacturing jobs has not been good lately.

"It concerns me, it should concern everybody," said Michael Kolaske of Oshkosh.

Koloske has worked at Hoffmaster for nearly 40 years.  Tuesday, he went to a town hall meeting at Lambeau Field put on by the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

"We exist for one purpose, which is to try to strengthen the manufacturing base in this country and we want to bring the issues out that are important to making that happen, so we can have good jobs in the community," said Scott Paul, the executive director for the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

While manufacturing news has not been good, statistics from the state Department of Workforce Development show northeast Wisconsin is still a leader.
In 2004, the most recent comparable information available, 24 percent of the people in 18 northeast Wisconsin counties worked in manufacturing.  That's more than the state average of about 18 percent and more than double the national average of 11 percent.

The department reports last year there was a gain in manufacturing jobs in that 18-county region.  Manufacturing jobs were up about one percent from the year before, which is an increase of more than 1400 jobs.

But the full effects of plant closings and layoffs that have happened this year haven't been felt yet.  And many agree northeast Wisconsin is not the manufacturing stronghold it once was.

"I think it can and it will come back and I think that the resurgence of manufacturing will grow up around this whole idea of green sustainable technology," said Jon Geenen, international vice president of the United Steelworkers union.

"Everybody knows the economy's so bad that we're losing jobs left and right and we gotta work together to do something," said Kolaske.

Whatever it takes, many are hoping industries that have provided a foundation to this area in the past will be able to do so, in the future.

When asked about advice to people who are facing layoffs, Geenen encouraged people not to give up hope and take an active role in issues that affect their work and their community.