Report cites higher pay for manufacturing jobs in state

The average non-degreed manufacturing worker makes $20.05 an hour in Colorado compared with $17.48 an hour for other workers, according to a report issued Thursday by the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

That figure would mean an annual wage difference of $5,345.60 for the usual 2,080 hours of full-time work per year, according to the report. Manufacturing jobs make up 5.6 percent of total state employment in Colorado, which the report ranked 41st in the nation by share of manufacturing jobs. In raw numbers, Colorado ranks 32nd in manufacturing jobs with 132,800, it said.

The institute is a nonprofit that advocates for low-and moderate-income families in the U.S.

Backers of a state initiative believe those wage numbers will be changing for the better.

“We’ve outpaced the national average” for annual growth of manufacturing jobs, said Harry Horowitz, senior manager for advanced industries in the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, in an interview on Thursday. “The national average has been 7 percent, and we’ve been growing at 11 percent.”

Horowitz said the OEDIT received $6.6 million last fall from the federal Defense Department to help create jobs and grow small- and medium-sized businesses in the advanced manufacturing sector.

The Defense Department program was created to offset the effects of decreased defense spending in local economies. Colorado pursued the award as “SMART Colorado,” a public-private partnership created to strengthen manufacturing by accelerating research and technology. The initiative included OEDIT, the Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Alliance, federal labs, military installations, research institutions, community colleges and other industry partners.

The initial phase of implementation will be the creation of centers of innovation, focused on the corridor from Fort Collins through the Front Range to Pueblo.

“They could be training centers, or they could be making centers” complete with 3-D printers, Horowitz said. “We’re working with each region to see what the needs are.” Completion of a supply-chain map will aid that process, he said.

The centers are to provide mentoring, technical assistance and equipment necessary to help grow early-stage and proof-of-concept businesses across the sector.

“We’re including the community college system in all our conversations,” Horowitz said. “It’s important to have that pipeline to vocational training.”

The Economic Policy Institute report said full-time manufacturing jobs for non-college degree workers pay more than $3,700 annually over jobs in other economic sectors and have a significant positive impact on the U.S. economy.

The report broke down manufacturing jobs not only by state but also by congressional district.

In Colorado’s Second Congressional District, represented by Democrat Jared Polis and including Boulder, Fort Collins and Loveland, it found that manufacturing employment represented 9.3 percent of the total in 2013, with miscellaneous, semiconductor, electronics, machinery and aerospace-related manufacturing representing the largest shares.

In the Fourth Congressional District, represented by Republican Ken Buck and including Greeley and Longmont, the report found that manufacturing represented 9.4 percent of the total in 2013, with food manufacturing claiming by far the largest portion.

The study, “The Manufacturing Footprint and the Importance of U.S. Manufacturing Jobs,” found that the sector employed 12 million workers in 2013, or about 8.8 percent of total U.S. employment, including a higher overall share of workers without a college degree.  On average, these workers made 10.9 percent, or $1.78, an hour more than similar workers elsewhere in the economy, it concluded.

The institute was founded in 1986 by six economists including Robert Reich, who served in the Ford and Carter administrations and was secretary of labor under President Clinton.

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