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| CRBJ Home > August 2006 | |||||
We have a great future in plastics
Obviously, our state's business leaders listened to the sentiments expressed by Mr. McGuire in the 1967 big screen classic, or they were inspired by some other source, and they did think about plastics, because today Wisconsin is a plastics industry powerhouse. The impact of Wisconsin's plastic industry may be a surprise to some readers; that state's plastics industry often falls below the radar. There is no Wisconsin Plastics Association, and most of our firms are privately held and employ, on average, fewer than 75 people. Still, that doesn't mean the industry isn't a huge part of our state's economy, because it is. While biotechnology, information technology and other "technology" business sectors tend to dominate the business pages and grab the headlines, our plastics firms quietly continue to lower their shoulder and push ahead with steady growth and new technologies of their own. Plastics is Wisconsin's fourth-largest industry and one that Forward Wisconsin, as the state's business marketing group, has focused on promoting for more than 20 years with the goal of attracting investment, companies and jobs. In June, Forward Wisconsin joined 50 Wisconsin plastics-related businesses in exhibiting at Chicago's McCormick Place for the National Plastic Exposition (NPE). NPE 2006 was the largest international plastics show of the year with more than 2,000 companies exhibiting, one-third of them coming from outside the U.S. There is no doubt that plastics is big business, with North America's plastics industry representing a $400 billion a year marketplace, and Wisconsin is right in the thick of it. Wisconsin geography provides a strong advantage to plastics firms and those that partner with them and supply them. Our state is at the center of the Great Lakes region, a region with more plastics processing and plants than any other part of the country. In addition, Wisconsin's location provides access to 38 percent of all plastics manufacturing activity within a day's truck travel. How do we rank compared to other states? Wisconsin is in the top 10 states in terms of plastics employment, number of plastics processing machines installed and value of plastics shipments. As part of our plastics marketing effort, Forward Wisconsin is compiling a plastics business directory and we have found that there are more than 750 plastics-related businesses in the state. According to the most recent data compiled by the Society of the Plastics Industry, employment in Wisconsin's plastics industry totals about 46,000 jobs with annual plastics industry shipments of nearly $11 billion. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development reports plastics industry wages of over $1 billion annually. In comparing our mature and growing plastics industry with an emerging industry that Forward Wisconsin also promotes, biotech, the difference between a developed sector versus a developing sector is clear. Our plastics sector employs twice as many in the state as our biotech sector and there are three times as many plastics companies in Wisconsin as biotech firms. Additionally, the plastics industry has a strong impact across the whole state, while the biotech industry is still proceeding down that path. While southeast Wisconsin is home to the highest concentration of plastics firms with more than 200 manufacturing facilities, plastics and related companies have found success throughout both rural and urban parts of the state. In fact, some of our largest and most successful plastics businesses thrive in Wisconsin's smaller communities. In Wisconsin, our economic growth strategy needs to focus on both traditionally strong manufacturing industries such as plastics and emerging technologies such as biotech. Simply put, Wisconsin's economic diversity has been and will continue to be our strength and we need to continue to nurture all parts of our economy. A balanced economic development strategy will continue to provide opportunities to all Wisconsin citizens. Pepi Randolph is president of Forward Wisconsin. madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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