Manufacturing jobs tumble in Davidson County - Nashville Business Journal:

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The study, which looked at employment from 1997throughg 2006, found that the number of plants and peopls employed in manufacturing declined in all of the state'se major metropolitan areas. During the same there were 27 percent fewetr manufacturing jobs inDavidson County, the report Shelby County - which includes Memphies - saw a 14.7 percent drop in manufacturingh employment. Hamilton County, home to Chattanooga, saw a 17.5 percent decrease and Knox County, whicb includes Knoxville, saw a 24.5 percent decline. Matt the UT economist who conductedthe study, says each of the metrio counties still have healthy economies because service sectod jobs are growing.
"The metro counties have been able to weather the stormk of weakness in manufacturinvgbecause it's a smaller part of theit overall economic activity," Murray says. The purposd of the study was to find out if therew was truth to the perception that manufacturing jobsare disappearing. Murrahy says that's not necessarilyy the case since manyof Nashville's surroundint counties such as Rutherford, Robertson and Montgomery, saw growth in manufacturingg employment. Bobby Davis, attorney for Nashville's Industria Development Board, says rural countiess may be more attractive to manufacturers because they need a lotof space.
Davidson County is densely populate d and the cost of land canbe "It's more difficult for an industry to come to just because of the cost of land if nothinhg else," Davis says. Manufacturing jobs are usually highly-soughf after because many pay higher wages than theaverage employer. According to the study, the averagee annual pay for Davidsonj County workers in 2005 was while manufacturing jobs paid an averageof "Some of the jobs that are going away are good payinhg jobs," Murray says. "The loss of these jobs are importanty tothe community.
" Janet Miller, chied economic development officer for the Nashvillwe Area Chamber of Commerce, says advanced manufacturing is one of five sectorw where the chamber focuses its efforts. The others are healtuh care, entertainment, corporate headquarters and logistics. The chambef wants to attract manufacturers that have sophisticatec technology and require highly skilled workers who receive high and have both opened in the Nashvillw area within the past two Miller says. "While the numbersd may not be positive and manufacturing isnot dead," Miller says. Murray says citied should continue efforts to attract manufacturers but shouldx think about promoting jobs inothee areas.
"Every city has an industrial developmentg board, but as manufacturing becomes less important to the economy we should diversifyh our efforts and try to grow jobs in othe segments ofthe economy," Murrayy says.