Summit Addresses New England Region’s Business Potential

Date: October 13, 2015

Area Poised To Be Manufacturing, Technology Hub, But Challenges Remain

Last week, New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan announced the 13th Annual Governor’s Advanced Manufacturing and High Technology Summit, which took place in Manchester. The summit was designed to discuss the potential for New Hampshire, and the New England region as a whole, to be a hub for “advanced manufacturing and high technology.” Gov. Hassan said, “It is critically important that leaders from business, education institutions and the public sector come together at events like this to exchange ideas and work together to build on our bipartisan progress and move New Hampshire forward.”

The New Hampshire Business Review reported that during the summit, Deloitte Strategy & Operations senior manager Alison Lands spoke about the New England region’s potential to grow its manufacturing jobs, presenting data from an April survey that “identified high concentrations of firms and employees in industry clusters” in New England. Among the industries concentrated in the region are “aerospace and defense; medical devices and biotechnology; semiconductors and complex electronics; signal processing, navigation, optics and measurement; and precision machining.” There are other areas related to manufacturing and technology on the rise in the region as well, the survey found. These “capability clusters” include “software and artificial intelligence, sensors and automation, and advanced materials.” Lands warned that despite “a set of capabilities” in the region, “a skills gap will dampen the industry.” Gov. Hassan recently announced a new director of STEM education in New Hampshire, who plans to work to improve classroom education. Lands said, “Clearly this state is focused on fixing this skills gap.”

What This Means For Small Businesses

Small businesses in New Hampshire and throughout the New England region should see this discussion as a promising indication that the region is poised for growth, especially in manufacturing and technology. However, small businesses in the region operating in these sectors that are likely to be key drivers of economic growth will struggle without a trained workforce. Efforts to expand STEM education should continue, with a focus on training tomorrow’s small business employees.

Additional Reading

The AP previewed the governor’s manufacturing summit.

Note: this article is intended to keep small business owners up on the latest news. It does not necessarily represent the policy stances of NFIB.

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