NE Ohio manufacturing sector expected to grow

Staff report

Cleveland

A fourth-quarter report released this week by Team NEO shows the shift from traditional manufacturing to advanced manufacturing in Northeast Ohio is playing a critical role in the region’s economic transformation.

The group, focused on attracting new business to the 18-county region that comprises Northeast Ohio, found that between 2010 and 2020, manufacturing gross regional product, or output, is expected to grow 39 percent. Overall, the region’s manufacturing sector is expected to gross $43 billion by 2020 and outpace manufacturing growth nationwide.

Much of the growth is expected to come from key sectors such as plastics and rubber, chemicals and food.

The study, conducted in the past three months of 2012, also found that the region’s unemployment rate of 6.6 percent represented a 1 percent decline from 2011.

Year-over-year manufacturing employment increased by 3.1 percent alone, according to the report. Team NEO officials say the growth rates, such as those in manufacturing and the oil and gas industry, are helping to attract more economic interest in Northeast Ohio.