Report: But state’s manufacturing environment could use a boost.
When it comes to the health of its manufacturing industry, Texas has room for improvement, according to a new national study.
Texas received a “C” for the strength of its manufacturing industry, but an “A” for the health of its logistics industry, according to Conexus’ annual Manufacturing and Logistics Industry Report Card. The study, conducted by Conexus and Ball State University, has given the state’s manufacturing industry a “C” since 2011, and its logistics industry an “A” every year since the study’s inception in 2009.
The state improved its 2015 grade in two categories: its “expected liability gap,” a nod to its healthy fiscal standing when it comes to its pension and bond obligations, for which it improved from a “B” to an “A”; and its “human capital,” or availability of quality labor, for which it improved from a “D+” to a “C-”.
Meanwhile, the state also received “As” for “worker benefit costs” and “productivity and innovation.”
The study has positive news for Texas small business owners in both industries, according to one the report’s authors.
“The U.S. manufacturing base is not in decline, and we have recovered from the recession,” said Michael J. Hicks, an economics professor at Ball State University. “Nor are jobs being outsourced because American manufacturing can’t compete internationally. Moreover new jobs in manufacturing pay well above the average wage.”
