All about jobs

In a region that has lost 40,000 jobs during the last 10 years, nothing could be more important than employment, Dan St. Louis said.

“For us, it’s all about jobs,” said St. Louis, director of the non-profit Manufacturing Solutions Center.

“This move will enhance our ability to save and create jobs.”

St. Louis was referring to plans to move the Manufacturing Solutions Center from cramped quarters at Catawba Valley Community College’s East Campus in Hickory to a new, 30,000-square-foot building at the Conover Station development in Conover.

So far, the Manufacturing Solutions Center project has received $2.7 million in state and federal grants, and more funding is being sought, said Conover City Manager Donald Duncan, who calls the project “a real opportunity for Conover, for Catawba County and for the region. This represents the future of manufacturing.”

The Manufacturing Solutions Center began 20 years ago as the Hosiery Technology Center, serving as an advocate for the U.S. hosiery industry and developing hosiery testing resources and procedures. It has since expanded into other industries — including furniture, medical devices, logistics and green manufacturing — and two years ago adopted the name Manufacturing Solutions Center.

The center’s move is a joint effort of Catawba Valley Community College, the city of Conover and the N.C. Department of Commerce.

The center fulfills its mission through numerous services for new and existing companies, including product testing, research and development support and assistance, marketing support, website design, and assistance with export sales. It also develops partnerships with trade groups, colleges and universities.

The center’s staff works with Underwriters Laboratories to test materials for lead, strength, color fastness, durability and more.

“The laboratories are like something you would see in a ‘007’ movie,” Duncan said.

“Engineers build prototypes or dissect products to figure out how to improve them. In turn, entrepreneurs then start manufacturing their items and hire people. That’s how jobs grow.”

The Manufacturing Solutions Center’s move to Conover Station is expected to be complete by late 2011 or early 2012.

Thus far, the project has received a $1 million economic development grant from the N.C. Department of Commerce, $200,000 from the Golden Leaf Foundation and a $1.5 million economic development grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Duncan said.

He said the Manufacturing Solutions Center will be a perfect fit for Conover Station, an $8 million downtown development project being created on a 27-acre site formerly occupied by Broyhill Furniture.

Conover Station will be the setting for train and bus depots, the city library, a city park and several small businesses, among other things.

Duncan and Conover Mayor Lee E. Moritz Jr. said the Manufacturing Solutions Center and Conover Station are important to the region for many reasons.

Moritz said the goal of Conover Station is to redevelop an unusable piece of property into a mixed-use sustainable development.

“This would include cultivating a new form of manufacturing, manufacturing that is based in smaller and smarter factories that nourish innovation,” he said.

“The catalyst for the new manufacturing economy is the Manufacturing Solutions Center.”

Moritz said two thirds of the net jobs in the private sector originate among small firms or small business births. The smallest segment (one to 19 employees) produces the most new jobs relative to its share of total employment, he said.

“The Manufacturing Solutions Center will become the business accelerator for new product innovation both in and outside textiles,” Moritz said.

“When companies launch their businesses from this facility, our hope is they will plug into our local communities, use our available industrial properties and employ our skilled and able work force.

“We have been very fortunate both North Carolina and federal agencies agree with this vision and have stepped forward to partner through grant funding and to make this a reality for western North Carolina.”

On the Web:

www.manufacturingsolutionscenter.org