Manufacturing still makes things happen.

• Author: Holloway, Constance
• Position: North Carolina's manufacturing industry

Despite press reports about the decline and fall of America's manufacturing might, the sector still employs one in four North Carolinians - a higher percentage than in any other state.

"Manufacturing has for many years been the backbone of the North Carolina economy," says Gary L. Shoesmith, director of the Center for Economic and Banking Studies at Wake Forest University.

That's not likely to change, even though manufacturing jobs in the state, as elsewhere, are declining as a percentage of the work force. Manufacturing, economists say, has a bright future here, brought about by a new wave of companies that want to call North Carolina home.

"Emerging manufacturing industries such as electronics, communications equipment and plastics are increasingly supplementing North Carolina's traditional manufacturing industries of textile/apparel, lumber, furniture and metalworking," says Robert L. Edwards, director of the North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

Shoesmith agrees. "[The state] will continue to attract many new manufacturers, given North Carolina's relatively low manufacturing wages, favorable state taxes, infrastructure, climate and overall quality of life."

Still, this stalwart sector and the economy it has helped to support for so long confront many challenges. Facing technological advances, an increase in exports and new markets overseas, the state's manufacturers must adapt to a new and fiercely competitive climate. They're responding by rethinking and re-engineering the workplace. They hope to do the same for the state's manufacturing work force.

Just how strong is this economic backbone? In 1994 alone, according to the state Department of Commerce, manufacturing employed 860,510, more than one in four of North Carolina's 3.3 million employees. The average manufacturing wage was $26,641, 14% higher than the average overall wage of $23,429. Its share of wages was nearly 29%. In all, there were 12,315 manufacturers in the state out of 183,677 companies - 7% of companies in the private sector.

The textile and apparel industry's share of the manufacturing work force is down to 16% in 1994 from 21% in 1976, but it remains North Carolina's biggest manufacturing employer. (The textile/apparel payroll is $5.6 billion, and textile/apparel operations are in 82 of the state's 100 counties.)

The furniture/fixtures sector follows with 9% of the manufacturing work force. Other major manufacturing industries include lumber...