Scorecard: Manufacturing thriving across region
Construction continued Wednesday at Universal Electric Corp.’s 81,000-square-foot expansion at its Cecil Township plant.
Joel Ross
PITTSBURGH – Western Pennsylvania’s legacy as a manufacturing center continues to thrive, based on the sector’s performance in the latest annual “Business Investment Scorecard” released Wednesday by the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the region’s economic development marketing organization.
The scorecard, presented to regional economic development officials and civic leaders at the Fairmont Hotel, revealed that advanced manufacturing led five key industry sectors with 68 business attraction, expansion and retention projects in 2014.
That was out of a total of 274 regional business investment deals worth $2.3 billion, which included announced investment and real estate development projects.
One of those projects featured Wednesday was Cecil Township-based Universal Electric Corp., which announced in December an 81,000-square-foot, $11.5 million addition that will nearly double the size of its current footprint while creating 68 jobs and retaining 233.
UEC is a family-owned and worldwide industry leader in the manufacture of flexible power distribution and management solutions for the data center and commercial markets.
Universal Chief Executive Officer Joel Ross said prior to PRA’s news conference that the foundation for the new addition is completed and that structural steel is partly up at the site, which is expected to be completed in August or September.
“It’s moving right along,” he said.
He later told reporters that Universal has experienced steady growth, particularly in its exports to countries with expanding economies such as India and China.
Like many others in the region’s manufacturing sector who have openings but can’t always find qualified people to fill them, Ross made a pitch for more workers.
“If you have anybody who knows anything about electrical assembly, tell them to apply to us,” he said, noting that while Universal’s expansion calls for 68 new workers, he expects more will be needed.
Two other manufacturing deals of note in Washington County also were on the 2014 investment scorecard:
• Areva Custom Nuclear Fabrication: An expansion deal at the intersection of advanced manufacturing with energy. Located in Canonsburg, the Areva facility was an acquisition from GE for a customer nuclear fabrication plant that was slated to close in December. The acquisition saved 65 manufacturing jobs, and could create between 50 and 75 in coming years. The facility manufactures canisters for dry fuel storage for nuclear power plants.
• Quality Pasta Co.: A startup deal that could create as many as 100 jobs. Based in Charleroi, the operations will house the company’s carton and microwavable cup lines, which manufacture and assemble store brand and retail dry packaged dinners and side dishes.
Greene County also had investment in manufacturing expansion in 2014, including:
• Universal Belting Resources, which is making two additions at its facility in Paisley Industrial Park for storage and office space. Total capital investment is $400,000 and affects 29 jobs.
• FMC Technologies, a global oil and natural gas equipment service company is spending $4 million for a building in EverGreene Technology Park, where 25 are employed; and
• Greene Team Pellet Fuel, a manufacturer of wood pellet fuel in Cumberland Township, is spending $154,500 for a plant expansion, affecting 18 jobs.
In a news release, PRA noted that manufacturing has been the most active sector in terms of deals for six of the last eight years that the alliance has compiled its scorecard.
More important, PRA noted that manufacturing – along with energy – are sectors with deals that are in nearly every county of the region. In 2014, manufacturing accounted for 68 announced projects worth $450,234,500 in capital investment.
“Manufacturing’s performance is especially encouraging,” said PRA Chief Executive Officer Dennis Yablonsky. “That sector’s investment deals are creating and retaining high-wage jobs that support a robust supply chain throughout the Pittsburgh region.”
The investment news comes at a time when the region is enjoying low unemployment, Yablonsky said, noting that the Pittsburgh region’s rate of 5.2 percent in February is well below the national average.
In keeping score of business investment, PRA tracks five key sectors that account for the bulk of the regions business activity: advanced manufacturing (68 projects in 2014); information and communications technology (47); energy/natural resources (31); financial and business services (28); and healthcare and life sciences (24).
Investment projects accounted for $713 million in announced capital outlay related to property, plant and equipment improvements. Development projects – energy sector-related infrastructure and new brick-and-mortar additions for the region’s commercial real estate landscape – totaled $1.6 billion, the third-highest amount on record.
In 2014, PRA said seven out of 10 deals involved the expansion/retention of existing companies, like UEC’s project.
“The expansion of existing businesses continues to be the backbone of the regional economy and accounts for the majority of announced deals, including in manufacturing where expansions accounted for 71 percent of all deals in that sector.
“Expansions as an economic driver are a scorecard trend, year over year,” Yablonsky said. “Because of that we are constantly working to make sure that existing businesses have what they need to expand here – from real estate to workforce. And we’re seeing results; businesses who are already here are making repeat investments in this region.”
The PRA noted that the region’s robust academic research and development, valued at $1 billion at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, complemented by another $1 billion annually in corporate R&D and $1 billion in government R&D spending in the region, support manufacturing here.
“When our strength in regional manufacturing converges with high-value industries including IT/cybersecurity, medical devices and energy, we’re setting the stage for greater prosperity,” said Petra Mitchell, president and CEO of Pittsburgh-based Catalyst Connection, an economic development organization dedicated to helping small manufacturers in Southwestern Pennsylvania improve their competitive performance.
“While today’s manufacturing requires fewer employees because of technological advances, the sector demands smarter, tech-savvy workers whose salaries are competitive and reflect the education and training that individuals bring to twenty-first century manufacturing operations,” she said.