John Braun, president of Braun Northwest, points out the production line at his emergency vehicle factory in Chehalis to AWB President Kris Johnson and other members of the state's manufacturing association during the second day of their cross-state Manufacturing Bus Tour on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017.
Employees of Cardinal Glass FG stand with AWB's Manufacturing Tour Bus outside their Winlock facility on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. (Photo: Brian Mittge/AWB)
Around the clock, Cardinal Glass in Winlock produces glass panes to be used for windows across the United States, Canada and Japan.
As a way to highlight the manufacturing industry in the state, the Association of Washington Business has set out on a 54-stop tour of manufactures in a vinyl-wrapped bus. On Monday, two stops were made in Lewis County, one at Cardinal Glass in Winlock and the other at Braun Northwest in Chehalis.
“This industry really pulled us through the recession,” AWB President Kris Johnson said about manufacturers. “We really make great stuff in the state of Washington.”
According to a press release from the AWB, manufacturers account for 13 percent of the state’s total economic output, equal to $58.2 billion in 2015, and employ nine percent of the workforce, about 284,500 people. Last year, Washington manufacturers exported $66.2 billion in goods equaling 82.23 percent of total Washington exports.
Lewis County has 111 manufacturers creating 3,200 jobs with an average annual wage of $51,820. In Thurston County, there are 180 manufacturers supporting 3,500 jobs with an average annual wage of $52,524.
Cardinal Glass employs 215 people at the Winlock facility where they produce 650 tons of glass a day, General Manager Stephen Smith told The Chronicle. The company works to invest in their workers so they will remain at the company for the length of their careers, he said.
All but two counties in Washington feature manufacturers, Johnson said. The industry creates jobs in other fields as well, he added. For every one manufacturing job it supports three others in the community, such as truck drivers or dock workers. That’s why when a local factory shrinks, the whole community feels the ripple effect.
Smith said most of the in-state trucking is done by local companies, and the raw material used to make the glass mostly comes from in-state sources. Cardinal has another facility in Tumwater that treats the glass to be energy-efficient before it is shipped to Japan and other places. Most of the glass stays in the U.S. and Canada for residential windows or storefront panes of glass. Cardinal supplies the glass to window makers who then put it in a frame and get it ready to be installed in a home.
The manufacturers are also part of the local community, Johnson said. They support the school sports fields as well as events throughout the community.
“They are really the fabric of their community,” Johnson said.
One of the biggest challenges the industry faces is finding and retaining a workforce, Smith said. However, the turnover rate for employees is low and the company has about four new employees each month. Smith added one of the goals of the company is to keep employees and help them build a life.
Smith said the tour helps the company get its name out there and explain what it can offer its workers.
During the tour, Johnson said the AWB will be looking for ways to help boost manufacturing. One way would be to extend the business and operation tax break for the aerospace industry to all manufacturers in Washington to help them be competitive on the national and international level.
This past session, legislation that would have accomplished that goal passed the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Jay Inslee.
The AWB tour has scheduled stops at several Washington manufacturers making goods ranging from glass and aluminum to boats and airplanes.
