Become a Supply Chain Destination
State Department of Labor studies demonstrate that every manufacturing job creates or supports an additional four to nine jobs in the service sector. For this reason, it’s critical to make manufacturing a cornerstone of our state’s economy.
Furthermore, small- and mid-sized businesses are the primary drivers of job creation. Therefore, we need a strategy that fosters success for our state’s smaller manufacturers. We can do this by establishing New Jersey as a supply chain destination.
Larger companies from around the country may not be willing to relocate their entire businesses to our state. We would benefit from having them here, but realistically they may not want to deal with the costs and resources associated with moving. However, we can still take advantage of these companies by addressing their needs; large-sized organizations depend on their suppliers to operate and succeed.
Our new focus should be to encourage these out-of-state organizations to use New Jersey’s manufacturers for their supplies, thereby including our companies in their supply chain.
We can convince larger organizations to utilize our manufacturers by emphasizing the benefits of working with Garden State businesses. For example, we have the ability to transport supplies quickly and effectively because of our strategic location. Our unique spot on the East Coast allows us to use multiple methods of transportation. We have major highways, railroads, airports and nautical ports, facilitating transport with virtually any territory in the world.
New Jersey additionally has one of the most skilled and educated workforces in the entire nation. Between our numerous universities, technical resource centers and culturally diverse population, our workforce is among the strongest in America. It is important to emphasize that our varied core competencies can satisfy the requirements to build different parts, components and sub-assemblies.
Finally, we must highlight to these out-of-state organizations that developing stronger supply chains through our manufacturers benefits their businesses. Recently, there has been a strong, positive shift in public perception to buy quality products. Today’s consumers now look for value; the Made in America label has never been stronger.
New Jersey needs to strike while the iron is hot. Manufacturing is continuously improving and experiencing consistent job growth. Additionally, the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) measures manufacturing growth and continues to indicate industry progress. Every month, the PMI ranks the industry on a scale with numbers exceeding 50.0 pointing to industry expansion. For 35 consecutive months, the PMI has ranked above 50.0.
Now is the time to capitalize on this expansion and strengthen our state’s manufacturers. By declaring New Jersey a supply chain destination and highlighting our state’s business strengths, we can entice out-of-state manufacturers to work with our small- and mid-sized manufacturers. An increased volume of business conducted within our state will lead to job creation in the manufacturing field, which ultimately also will create and support jobs in the service sector.
The next step is for people to engage our manufacturers and elected officials and tout these core competencies; they in turn can use their appropriate resources to reach out to the large, out-of-state organizations and demonstrate how New Jersey can fulfill their needs. If everyone made a phone call, it would make all the difference.
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