THINK SMALL: BIG FACTORIES ARE THE EXCEPTION AS SMALL MANUFACTURERS GAIN STEAM.

AuthorMartin, Edward
PositionNC TREND: Manufacturing: Success stories

It appears almost rural, this rolling section of New Hope Road on Raleigh's east side. There are no smokestacks, though it's dotted with light industries, building-supply distributorships and other businesses. One is a modest metal building behind a thin row of roadside trees.

"I like running companies I can feel good around, and not just to make money," says Dan Robertson, who with partner Buck Wingo and two other investors created Progress Solar Solutions LLC in 2008. Of course, the company makes money. It has grown by double digits every year.

Progress Solar manufactures high-intensity light towers that illuminate highway projects, construction sites and sporting events. During the daytime, the lights recharge themselves from the sun and wind. Some hybrid models use supplemental generators powered by propane and other fuels.

The company is on the advanced edge of renewable-energy technology and at the heart of North Carolina's nearly $100 billion annual manufacturing economy. It also holds another distinction rarely noticed by the public, politicians and industry recruiters: Progress Solar has only 20 employees.

"Smaller manufacturers are thriving," says Phil Mintz, director of the N.C. Manufacturing Extension Partnership at N.C. State University. Established in 1955, the partnership helps fledgling manufacturers establish and grow. "They're more nimble, much more apt to be stronger in their niche area, and they're able to build on that a lot better."

North Carolina lost about 300,000 jobs during the 2007-09 recession, creating a deep pool of potential manufacturing entrepreneurs, says N.C. State University economist Mike Walden. Advances in compact, increasingly affordable high-tech equipment such as computer numerically controlled lathes and milling machines and 3-D printers are bringing manufacturing into the realm of smaller companies, Mintz says.

Many smaller manufacturers, such as Outdoor Quests Second to Nunn LLC in Statesville, find symbiotic roles with larger companies. Family-owned and with five machinists, the 5-year-old company does gunsmithing but also precision-metal machining for NASCAR teams and other customers.

While there's no firm definition of small, says David Rhoades, communications director at N.C. Department of Commerce, high-profile manufacturers such as Honda Aircraft Co.'s Honda-Jet plant in Greensboro, with more than 1,700 workers, are far outnumbered by their smaller peers.

In Raleigh, Robertson had spent...

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