Under the direction of the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Ohio MEP), MAGNET: The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network conducted a thorough survey of Ohio’s manufacturing base. Contributing approximately 20% of Ohio’s jobs (and driving in some regions up to 50% of Ohio’s economy), and generating a disproportionate amount of export revenues and Gross Regional Product, manufacturing is critical to Ohio. Greater than 95% of Ohio’s manufacturers are small (under 500 employees), and these manufacturers need to remain competitive both nationally and internationally to ensure our economy’s health.
What manufacturers need today is not the same as what they needed 10 years ago. Cybersecurity, internet of things (IoT), automation, workforce shortages and more mean that getting to know the economic drivers themselves is increasingly important. This summary shares the major concerns, insights, and facts that face our region and our small and medium manufacturers.
More than 400 Northeast Ohio manufacturing companies took this survey, representing nearly 8% of manufacturers in the region, the majority of whom were C-level or plant managers, making this the largest survey of its kind. Most companies were well-established (10+ year in business), and they ranged in all sizes of employment and manufacturing industry sectors. Download the complete summary.
MAGNET’s 2018 Ohio Manufacturing Survey was conducted in coordination with Team NEO’s Quarterly Economic Report.