MAYVILLE - A joint statement from County Executive Greg Edwards and Todd Tranum, Executive Director of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier National Manufacturing Day, was made Saturday.
National Manufacturing Day was formed to recognize the manufacturers and the people that work in manufacturing and their enormous contribution to the economy and quality of life in the United States.
"Manufacturing is a critical component of our economy here in Chautauqua County," County Executive Greg Edwards stated. "Whereas national employment in manufacturing is around 9 percent, here in Chautauqua County our manufacturers employ approximately 19 percent of our workforce. Manufac-turing is a significant contributor to our economy in terms of employment as well as economic contribution through purchasing supplies and paying taxes. As product is exported out of our County, manufacturing imports significant wealth back into our communities and that is critical to sustaining our local economy."
"Manufacturing is alive and well in Chautauqua County and throughout the Southern Tier. As the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier is completing one hundred and twelve years of serving manufacturers as an organization we can reflect on the ups and downs of economic cycles and a lot of changes that we have seen in manufacturing throughout the past 100 plus years. If you look over the span of a century or even just the past two decades the advances in technology have improved quality and productivity and have greatly changed the manufacturing experience from a workers perspective," Tranum stated. "Yet we are still faced with some significant challenges and among them is access to workforce to meet the needs of today's manufacturing. This is a challenge that is finally gaining a great deal of attention on the national level. We have made this challenge a core part of our mission and are addressing it through our partnership with James-town Community College and the Manufacturing Technology Institute training programs, as well as the implementation and expansion of Dream It Do It, an initiative to promote careers in manufacturing. We still have a lot of work ahead of us in terms of continuing to partner with our school systems to look at opportunities to expand Science Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education opportunities and inform students, counselors, teachers and parents of the opportunities in manufacturing."
