Manufacturing helps drive local economy

Manufacturing is helping to drive the economy.

New numbers out Wednesday show orders at U.S. factories were up 1.8 percent in November after a two-month slide.

The Saertex plant in Huntersville, which spins fiberglass into composites used in wind energy, car and bus bodies and airplane wings, is a company with 175 workers that's finding a way to grow even in this tough economy.

“If you see the numbers from 2010 to 2011, we are growing more than 25 percent,” said Stefan Maier, the Saertex general manager. “We added 45 employees in 2011.”

In fact, while uptown's banks are shedding jobs, manufacturing companies have added more than 4,000 jobs in the past three years.

“It's much bigger than most people realize,” said Tony Crumbley with the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.

Crumbley said manufacturing jobs rival banking now, with 30,000 workers now spread across 1,100 local companies.

“The economic impact on this community is phenomenal,” Crumbley said. “You're talking $37 billion a year in product produced here.”

Groninger and Co. makes machines that fill jars, vials and syringes for pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies. The jobs require higher skill but also offer higher pay that Lothar Burger said is helping manufacturers attract talent.

“Everybody thinks about banks and insurance, but there's a good manufacturing area and I think these days, in manufacturing you can make a career,” Burger said.

Saertex said it hopes to keep hiring more workers this year.

Groninger is doing so well that it's building a new plant it hopes to move into this spring.