Regional Manufacturing Networks Need More Visibility

by Ilana Preuss

Key Highlights

• Models such as the Carolina Textile District and FORGE demonstrate successful regional collaboration and support for small manufacturers’ growth and commercialization efforts.

America’s recent effort to revitalize domestic manufacturing has focused on encouraging major manufacturers to locate their facilities in the United States.

However, that revitalization depends not simply on the location of large facilities but on mapping and connecting statewide and regional networks of suppliers: small-scale manufacturers that can support those large facilities.

Fortunately, models already exist, and new technology is revolutionizing the process—with great promise for the nation.

That promise can benefit every part of the nation. While large factories can only locate in so many places, small-scale manufacturers can grow everywhere. They can support their own communities and generate new local revenue, while serving the needs of larger manufacturers at a distance.

In doing so, they can provide a vibrant and varied pipeline of skills, products and innovation. That’s because small-scale manufacturers train their employees with skills that are relevant to other manufacturing settings; they provide services and products needed by larger manufacturers; and their creativity and inventions generate new products that larger manufacturers increasingly require to maintain their competitive edge in pursuing new markets. 

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[A]nother evolution is represented by FORGE, a nonprofit organization that helps innovators with physical products move from prototype to commercialization and growth at scale. With locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut, FORGE has supported more than 1,100 innovative hardtech companies during its 10 years of operations. Twenty-four percent of FORGE-assisted companies have moved from pilot to full commercial production, a much higher rate of success than the average startup.

The beauty of these models is that they are applicable everywhere, because every state—and every city, county and town—has the culture and legacy on which new small-scale manufacturing businesses can be built. Every state and region has resources that can be effectively networked to create directories of those strengths. 

 The collection and promotion of those strengths add up to a major economic impact. That impact can then address and attract the needs of larger businesses, while contributing to a more fertile and catalytic environment for advancing small-scale manufacturing throughout the nation in big cities and rural towns. If that dynamic is harnessed effectively, a robust future for domestic manufacturing awaits.