The Penn State Workforce Education & Development Initiative released on 27 June 2008 a report by Rose M. Baker and David L. Passmore, Benchmarks for Pennsylvania Plastics Industry, a report funded through a contract for the Pennsylvania Plastics Initiative from the Employment and Training Administration of the US Department of Labor.

Although manufacturing, in general, is declining in the United States, plastics manufacturing is growing in many regions of Pennsylvania. Plastics firms in Pennsylvania supply more than one–half of the plastics materials required by Pennsylvania’s fastest growing industries. At the same time, Pennsylvania plastics manufacturers have opportunities to capture an increasing share of the Pennsylvania market for plastics, in spite of strong competition from neighboring counties (Canada and Mexico) and trading partners (Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, and Japan); out–migration of younger workers; relatively high energy costs; and needs for infusion of new investment and venture capital, for improvement of worker skills to fit the “new economy,” and for reduction of business costs of taxes and real estate.

This report was funded by a grant awarded under the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative as implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment & Training Administration. The information contained in this product was created by a grantee organization and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. All references to non-governmental companies or organizations, their services, products, or resources are offered for informational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement by the Department of Labor. This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it and is intended for individual organizational, noncommercial use only.

Rose M. Baker and David Passmore completed a report, Powdered Metals in North Central Pennsylvania, which contains a précis for an analysis of the global competitive position of powdered metallurgy part manufacturing in Pennsylvania’s North Central Workforce Investment (WIA) area. The report was released through the Penn State Workforce Education and Development (WED) Initiative. They presented their report at a meeting of the Powdered Metal Industry Consortium in Ridgeway, Pennsylvania, on 19 February 2008. An 1.2 MB Adobe PDF file containing this report is available.

Powdered metallurgy manufacturing processes form green metal parts from particulate powders which, then, are sintered to produce complex, near–shape parts with high dimensional controls, low scrap, and desirable metallurgical properties. Pennsylvania, especially the North Central WIA, has captured the dominant share of the U.S. powdered metallurgy manufacturing.

Threats to the powdered metallurgy manufacturing industry in the North Central WIA include global competition and the possibility that the industry might begin reaching a growth ceiling associated with maturing industries. Opportunities exist for the powdered metallurgy manufacturing industry in the North Central WIA to yield cost and flexibility advantages relative to more traditional metal forming industries. Additional opportunities are available for improving the impact of the powdered metallurgy manufacturing industry on employment and earnings in the North Central WIA through substitution of local supply for imports and through increasing the competitiveness of the regional powdered metallurgy manufacturing industry.

The powdered metallurgy manufacturing industry is subject to global competitive pressures. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis provides a framework for benchmarking the global competitive position of the powdered metallurgy manufacturing industry. The five forces underlying Porter’s model include: threat of new entrants; threat of substitute products; bargaining power of customers; bargaining power of suppliers, and competitive rivalry within an industry.

The Penn State WED Initiative is designing a study of the global competitive position of the powdered metal part manufacturing industry around Porter’s framework as an aid to strategic planning for the stability and growth of the industry.
 

The Penn State Workforce Education & Development Initiative released on 25 January 2008 a report by Rose M. Baker and David L. Passmore about the impact of the closing of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base. The abstract of the 22-page report, Population, & Employment Consequences of the Closing of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base:

The Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, is scheduled to close by 2010. The Base closing is anticipated to have broad effects on the economy, population, and labor market of Montgomery County. This report contains a forecast of the potential impacts of the Base closing on the economy, population, and workforce of Montgomery County and on assessing a variety of industrial development opportunities afforded Montgomery County by use of the surplus land that becomes available after the property is transferred from the U.S. Department of Defense to its new owners. A team of researchers from Penn State’s Workforce Education and Development Initiative applied state–of–the–art information, forecasting, and modeling tools to assess the economic, population, and workforce impact of losses of jobs, spending, and reservists’ visits as a result of the Base closing. In brief, the closing of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base is forecasted to have a minimal effect on the economy, population, and workforce of Montgomery County. At the same time, development opportunities exist for use of surplus Base land. These findings imply that targeting additional workforce development efforts to mitigate the impact of the Base closing beyond those already available through PA CareerLink might not yield substantial additional benefits for the economy of Montgomery County and for the well–being of its workers and employers.

An Adobe PDF file containing the report is available for download at http://WillowGrove-BRAC.notlong.com. 

he Penn State Workforce Education and Development Initiative conducted an analysis that provides an estimate of the economic impacts of ethyl alcohol manufacturing in Clearfield County and produced an Economic and Workforce Brief, “Potential Role of Basic Organic Chemical Manufacturing in the Economy of Clearfield County.”
 
Bioenergy International LLC announced during August 2006 that they will build a plant, called Bionol Clearfield, in the Clearfield County Technology Park. The plant is anticipated to be operational in 2008 and is expected to produce 108 million gallons of corn-based and cellulosic ethanol per year.  For more information about Bioenergy International and its new plant, Bionol Clearfield, refer to:
http://www.bioenergyllc.com
http://www.bioenergyllc.com/projects.htm#clearfield
http://BionolClearfield.notlong.com

The analysis in the Brief focuses on the impact of the basic organic chemical manufacturing industry in Clearfield County, of which ethyl alcohol manufacturing will be a part. The Brief quantifies the role of every 100 workers employed by the basic organic chemical manufacturing industry in generating jobs, compensation, and property taxes in the region. This Brief helps explain the potential impact of ethyl alcohol manufacturing to the extent that ethyl alcohol manufacturing follows patterns of industry supply and compensation that are similar to its parent industry, basic organic chemical manufacturing.

Caution is recommended in the interpretation of estimates contained in the Brief. For instance, every 100 jobs in basic organic chemical manufacturing are associated with 316 jobs in other industries that supply basic organic chemical manufacturing with goods and services that the industry needs for its production processes. The levels of job, compensation, and tax impacts estimated in the Brief are possible only if the supply chain of industries that sell to basic organic chemical manufacturing is established and operating within Clearfield County. Otherwise, these potential local jobs will be exported to suppliers outside Clearfield County. Industry development and skill creation for Clearfield County enterprises that will supply the Bionol plant are critical.

An analysis behind a Penn State Economic & Workforce Brief targets an industry (a group of establishments providing similar products or services), not an individual firm. As a result, economic and workforce impacts calculated for a Brief represent an industry average, not the impacts generated by an individual firm.

For additional information about this Brief or about the work of the Penn State Workforce Education and Development Initiative, contact Rose M. Baker (814.865.9919) or David L. Passmore (814.863.2583). To view other Brief reports produced about other Pennsylvania industries and regions, navigate to:
http://PSUBrief.notlong.com

The Penn State Workforce Education and Development Initiative conducted an analysis of the economic impacts of electronic and appliance stores in Centre County.

An Economic and Workforce Brief, “Role of Electronic & Appliance Stores in the Economy of Centre County, Pennsylvania,” quantifies the role of every 100 workers employed by the electronic and appliance stores industry in generating jobs, compensation, and property taxes in the region.
 
This Brief explains the economic impact of a company such as Neutron Inc on the economy of Centre County. Neutron Inc is primarily a store which sells computers and software. The analysis in the attached Brief focuses on the impact of the electronic and appliance stores industry, of which the computer and software stores industry is a part. For more information about the Neutron, Inc, refer to the following website:
http://www.neutronusa.com
 
The electronic and appliance stores industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in retailing household-type appliances, cameras, computers, and other electronic goods. Computer and software stores are engaged in retailing new computers, computer peripherals, and prepackaged computer software.
 
Data from the 2002 Economic Census, the most recent economic census available, indicate that 395 establishments in Pennsylvania were computer and software stores. These stores generated $480.6 million in receipts (2.9% of US receipts in computer and software stores) with 2,810 employees (3.8% of US employees in computer and software stores) and an annual payroll of $58.2 million (3.2% of US payroll in computer and software stores).
 
An analysis behind a Penn State Economic & Workforce Brief targets an industry (a group of establishments providing similar products or services), not an individual firm. As a result, economic and workforce impacts calculated for a Brief represent an industry average, not the impacts generated by an individual firm.
 
For additional information about this Brief or about the work of the Penn State Workforce Education and Development Initiative, contact Rose M. Baker (814.865.9919) or David L. Passmore (814.863.2583). To view other Brief reports produced about other Pennsylvania industries and regions, navigate to:

http://PSUBrief.notlong.com

The Penn State Workforce Education and Development Inititaive released a report by Rose Baker and David Passmore, Forecast of Employment and Job Openings in Pennsylvania Plastics Manufacturing, 2004-2007. In brief, concluded in the report is that,

Between 2004 and 2017, Pennsylvania is forecast to lose employment and experience declining numbers of job openings in occupations in its plastics manufacturing industry as a result of manufacturing productivity increases and in spite of enjoying advantages relative to the entire US in delivered prices and in costs of production (except fuel). The industry is driven by net exports and by business–to–business sales. Disruptions of the export position of Pennsylvania plastics manufacturing or in increasing competition in Pennsylvania markets for Pennsylvania–manufactured plastics products would further degrade industry and occupational employment in the Pennsylvania plastics manufacturing industry.

Provided in the report is background about global competitive pressures faced by the Pennsylvania Plastics Industry and attempts to strengthen Pennsylvania plastics manufacturing through the Pennsylvania Plastics Initiative. A structural model of the Pennsylvania economy, a Pennsylvania REMI Policy Insight Model, was applied to document and forecast the performance and competitiveness of Pennsylvania plastics manufacturing. Then, forecasts of numbers employed and job openings (created by economic change and the need to replace plastics workers who die, retire, or otherwise leave occupations) were produced from the economic model from historical data in 2004 and from forecasts for 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2017.

Some highlights of the forecast:

• All occupations are forecasted to have declining employment due to economic change in the Pennsylvania economy and its plastics manufacturing industry. In particular, Pennsylvania manufacturing is shedding jobs in large part due to large increases in productivity that are occurring.
• Production workers represent approximately one of every three workers in the Pennsylvania plastics industry in 2004 and over the forecast period from 2007 through 2017.
• Production workers are likely to experience the largest decline of numbers employed between 2004 and 2017 (-1,620 workers) and as an annual average for 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2017 (-322 workers).
• At the same time, production workers have the highest average total separations (1,443) and net separations (241). US Bureau of Labor Statistics standards for forecast reporting would indicate that there are zero job openings for production workers in Pennsylvania plastics manufacturing because net separations do not offset job losses due to economic change. Using this reporting criterion, almost none of the occupations represented in the Pennsylvania plastics manufacturing industry would be reported with other than zero forecasted job opportunities. Exceptions to this trend include operations specialties managers, business operations specialists, buyers and purchasing production supervisors, assemblers and fabricators, and engineers, but the numbers of opportunities forecasted are few.
• Switchboard operators could lose the highest percentage of employment between 2004 and 2017 (-34.6%), but this percentage represents a loss of 5 jobs. This figure demonstrates the need for caution in interpreting job forecast figures in the report because the magnitudes of percentages of employment declines depend on the number employed in the base year of the forecast.

This occupational forecast report was funded by a grant awarded under the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative as implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment & Training Administration.  The information contained in this report was created by the Penn State Workforce Education and Development Initiative and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. All references to non-governmental companies or organizations, their services, products, or resources are offered for informational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement by the Department of Labor.  This report is copyrighted by Penn State and is intended for individual organizational, non-commercial use only.

The Penn State Workforce Education and Development Initiative released a report, Current and Anticipated Labor Market for Long–Term Care Workers in Bucks and Montgomery Counties, by Rose Baker and David Passmore.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania faces many challenges in delivering affordable, accessible, and quality LTC, not the least of which is the identification, development, and maintenance of a workforce that will meet these challenges. Careful investment is required to assure an adequate current and future supply of LTC workers in Bucks and Montgomery counties.

Contained in this report are the findings of demographic, economic, and workforce analyses that the Penn State WED Initiative conducted of the LTC labor market in Bucks and Montgomery counties. This report includes current and forecasted information describing structure of the labor market for LTC workers in Bucks and Montgomery counties. The horizon for forecasts conducted is 2015.

Information about training requirements is summarized from survey responses and focus group interactions with LTC providers in Buck and Montgomery counties. Moreover, uncertainties and opportunities in the market for LTC are reviewed. Information from this report is designed to contribute to strategic planning of resources and opportunities necessary to fulfill needs for LTC workers in Bucks and Montgomery counties. Implications for action are delineated from the information provided in this report for promoting an adequate supply of LTC workers in Bucks and Montgomery counties.