Manufacturing a bright spot amidst slow recovery
The first is education and health services — a category that includes Shands, North Florida Regional Medical Center and the Veterans Affairs hospital systems.
The other is manufacturing.
That is a good sign for the local economy since manufacturing jobs tend to be higher paying and the industry also leads to a lot of indirect jobs created, according to the consultants hired by the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency to assess the Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center.
However, manufacturing jobs make up just 5 percent of private-sector employment in Alachua County, less than half of the national average.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the manufacturing sector in Alachua County grew from 4,000 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2005 to 4,152 in the fourth quarter of 2010, the latest available numbers. The 4 percent growth rate is in contrast to an 8 percent drop in employment among all industries, with nearly 10,000 jobs lost.
Average weekly pay in manufacturing grew from $855 to $973 in that time, while average pay for all industries grew from $656 to $837.
The number of manufacturing establishments grew from 159 to 196, making it the fastest-growing sector by number of firms.
That led the consultants to conclude that the new jobs were created by the small new firms rather than the community landing a single large firm, as is often the case in other communities.
According to local government tax records, the new companies include those in sign making, cabinetry, food products, construction materials, metal works, wood products, electronics, prosthetics, biotech and weaponry, among others.
They include companies such as the local subsidiary of Bren-Tronics, which is upgrading an old battery plant in Alachua with plans to create 15 high-tech jobs, and Fracture, which prints customer photos directly onto glass, and has gone from two to 10 people since 2008 and is moving from its 2,000-square-foot facility in an industrial area of northwest Gainesville to a 5,300-square-foot facility downtown.
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"Some things have fundamentally not changed about those very early beginnings," said Fox Valley Technical College President Dr. Susan May. "It was driven by the needs of industry and employers. Our employer partnerships are as critical today as they
Aden now works as a regional salesman. Credit: ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH Paula Wood was laid off in a downsizing at a company where she worked for 28 years. She reinvented herself and went to school to become a medical assistant.
OSHA 10-Hour Voluntary Compliance for General Industry: 7:30 am-12:30 pm both days, NWTC Business & Technology Center, 2740 W. Mason St., Green Bay. $275. Register at https:// corporatetraining.nwtc.edu or call (920) 498-6971.
While it once consisted of a lot of assembly line work that could employ people without a college education, it now includes work that requires specialized technical skills. That is certainly the case in Alachua County, according to Christensen,
It is difficult to see the wood from the trees. This week there is a gathering of the British ski industry as it attends the launch of the guidebook, Where to Ski and Snowboard. PlanetSKI wil be there and we'll be gauging opinion on how optimistic and
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