The Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY, The Manufacturers Association) advocates for the growth and development of New York’s manufacturing sector, a critical component of a vibrant New York economy. As a not-for-profit 501(c)6 association, about three-quarters of MACNY members are engaged in manufacturing. The remaining members include companies networking with and assisting manufacturers, including financial, engineering and law firms, suppliers for manufacturing and others. In total, the Manufacturers Association
The workshop where John Randall assembles $3,000 pine-beam tables is so cramped that he holds client meetings at a sawdust-covered worktable and has to shuffle his equipment around to make elbow room for himself and a co-worker.
represents approximately 350 businesses and 55,000 workers across nineteen counties in Upstate New York. Founded in 1913, MACNY is the largest association of manufacturers in New York State and one of the oldest manufacturers associations in the nation. MACNY has helped manufacturers lower costs, improve profitability and compete with manufacturers throughout the world. With a portfolio of professional services designed for manufacturing, MACNY has long provided members with the tools, information, people and resources they need to compete in both New York and the global market. This portfolio features regional pay and benefit information, human resource consulting, industry-specific lobbying, grant procurement
But the recession notwithstanding, he has enough orders to keep busy through April and hopes to buy a $2,000 drill press and hire another full-time woodworker soon. So Mr. Randall recently signed a lease to double his space at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
“It doesn’t feel like a slowdown,” he said. “We all may not have any work in three months. But we’ve been saying that for three months.”
“It doesn’t feel like a slowdown,” he said. “We all may not have any work in three months. But we’ve been saying that for three months.”
expertise, purchasing consortia to reduce costs, custom training, and connection to an extensive network of manufacturing professionals on both the state and national level. Manufacturing is Essential to New York’s Economy. Manufacturing employs over 550,000 New Yorkers and contributes $65 billion annually to New York State’s GDP. Compared to other sectors of the economy, manufacturers pay higher wages, generate better benefits, and stimulate more high technology growth through research and development and productivity improvements. Manufacturing accounts for over 66 percent of private sector research and development in the United States. Every manufacturing job creates more that 2.5 related jobs in other sectors, and every dollar spent generates an additional $1.43 in economic activity. Simply put, manufacturing is the wealth generating sector of the New York economy.
Mr. Randall’s three-man company, Bien Hecho, may be one of the brighter lights in the city’s darkening economy. For more than 50 years, large-scale manufacturing in New York has been shrinking as textile factories, printing plants and sugar refineries have shut down or moved south and overseas.
But in recent years, small manufacturers like Bien Hecho (Spanish for “well made”) have been on the rise, making products for niche markets and wealthy customers. And now, even as the broader economy is suffering, many of those manufacturers are proving surprisingly resilient, city officials and economic analysts say.
The Manufacturers Association Serves Manufacturers.The Manufacturers Association offers an excellent affirmative action plans development service. Our expert staff can provide you with a quality plan quickly and affordably.
MACNY is also serving many members with low cost energy. Our electricity and natural gas buying groups are providing companies with a bulk buying advantage and reduced cost. Staff are also actively advocating for a long term, statewide energy program for manufacturers in New York State.
But in recent years, small manufacturers like Bien Hecho (Spanish for “well made”) have been on the rise, making products for niche markets and wealthy customers. And now, even as the broader economy is suffering, many of those manufacturers are proving surprisingly resilient, city officials and economic analysts say.
The Manufacturers Association Serves Manufacturers.The Manufacturers Association offers an excellent affirmative action plans development service. Our expert staff can provide you with a quality plan quickly and affordably.
MACNY is also serving many members with low cost energy. Our electricity and natural gas buying groups are providing companies with a bulk buying advantage and reduced cost. Staff are also actively advocating for a long term, statewide energy program for manufacturers in New York State.
Some businesses are making products that government agencies and companies are still buying, like body armor for soldiers in Iraq and sets for television programs like “Saturday Night Live.” They also make food products like tortillas for local immigrant communities and baguettes for Manhattan restaurants. Others make luxury goods, like high-end audio speakers, that affluent customers are still buying.
“There’s quite a market for niche products in New York City,” said Jonathan Bowles, the director of the Center for an Urban Future, a nonpartisan research group in Manhattan, and an author of several manufacturing studies. “For a lot of the niche manufacturers, including those that are broadly appealing to the high-end market, they may be doing O.K.”
The Brooklyn Navy Yard, on the East River between the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges, has become a hot house for more than 200 of the city’s small manufacturers, its sprawling 300-acre campus filled with the sounds of hammering and drilling on any given afternoon.
Indeed, the Navy Yard has had so much demand for new space that despite the recession, it plans to add 1.5 million square feet in the next two years, its largest expansion since World War II, said Andrew H. Kimball, the president and chief executive of the Navy Yard. The expansion is expected to be completed by January 2011, and Navy Yard executives hope that the tenants’ total work force, currently 5,000, will grow by 2,000. While data is sparse, many experts and city officials say they believe that smaller companies are helping the broader manufacturing sector to perform better than other parts of the economy.
“There’s quite a market for niche products in New York City,” said Jonathan Bowles, the director of the Center for an Urban Future, a nonpartisan research group in Manhattan, and an author of several manufacturing studies. “For a lot of the niche manufacturers, including those that are broadly appealing to the high-end market, they may be doing O.K.”
The Brooklyn Navy Yard, on the East River between the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges, has become a hot house for more than 200 of the city’s small manufacturers, its sprawling 300-acre campus filled with the sounds of hammering and drilling on any given afternoon.
Indeed, the Navy Yard has had so much demand for new space that despite the recession, it plans to add 1.5 million square feet in the next two years, its largest expansion since World War II, said Andrew H. Kimball, the president and chief executive of the Navy Yard. The expansion is expected to be completed by January 2011, and Navy Yard executives hope that the tenants’ total work force, currently 5,000, will grow by 2,000. While data is sparse, many experts and city officials say they believe that smaller companies are helping the broader manufacturing sector to perform better than other parts of the economy.
But it is also clear that smaller manufacturers have been expanding even as the city’s more traditional industrial base has continued to shrink. In Brooklyn, the number of jobs for niche manufacturers, which are not only small but also tend to have local clients, rose by 17 percent between 2001 and 2007, said James Parrott, the chief economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute, quoting numbers from September’s Brooklyn Labor Market Review from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. In the same period, the number for manufacturers making products for mass markets declined by 48 percent.
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Todd Heisler/The New York Times
A welder at Stiegelbauer Associates, which makes sets for TV programs. The company has had to limit staff but is profitable.
Niche manufacturers currently make up a quarter of the more than 25,000 manufacturing jobs in Brooklyn, Mr. Parrott said. No similar statistics were available for the rest of the city, which has a total of more than 92,000 manufacturing workers, he said.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard has housed manufacturing tenants since the city bought the land for $24 million in 1967.
Today, 70 percent of the Navy Yard’s 243 businesses have roughly five employees or fewer and specialize in niche products. Many business owners interviewed said they were staying strong in this market by employing few workers and keeping their products specialized.
“They tend to be very nimble, even in the downtimes,” said Mr. Kimball. “They can make it through a difficult stretch easier than the bigger players.”
Stiegelbauer Associates, which makes sets for television productions, remains profitable partly by limiting the staff to 15 workers and employing extra union workers for bigger jobs, according to Steve Paone, its vice president. The business has declined in recent years as soap operas like “Guiding Light” have invested more in permanent rather than temporary sets and have filmed more on location.
But because he ran a leaner business, he said the company was able to profit when a regular client, “Saturday Night Live,” added three election specials to its standard schedule of 22 shows in the fall. The company also picked up work with the new Jimmy Fallon show. Still, Mr. Paone is cautious about whether the recent streak will continue because so many television programs have cut back.
“They’ve been busier than ever. But they’re one of the few,” he said about “Saturday Night Live.”
Other manufacturers are thriving by selling products that government agencies consider essential.
Caleb Crye, the managing director of Crye Precision, said he had not seen any decline in demand for his security products, which include body armor for Navy Seals, flame-resistant uniforms for military officials and nape pads — Army helmet attachments that protect soldiers’ spinal cords by covering the backs of their necks.
Business has been good enough, he said, to avoid layoffs and keep his 70 workers at the Navy Yard and 30 workers in New Jersey busy.
Some products that have become too expensive for some people remain necessities for others.
John Devore, whose three-person company, DeVore Fidelity, designs $2,000 to $16,800 speakers, said that since Thanksgiving, business had dropped off among buyers from England, France and Israel. But that decline was balanced by orders from smaller West Coast audio stores, where consumers are spending more on fine speakers for their homes.
“While my business hasn’t really dropped off, it seems like it’s coming from different stores,” he said.
Then there are New Yorkers who still seem to have enough money to spend on luxury goods like custom-designed furniture.
Scott Jordan, a custom furniture maker at the Navy Yard, saw his business dip by more than 30 percent in November from the year before. But since Christmas, weekly sales for his $2,600 sleeper sofas and $3,000 beds have picked up. He says that while his more affluent clients may be cost-conscious, they are not “worried about where their next paycheck is coming from
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Todd Heisler/The New York Times
A welder at Stiegelbauer Associates, which makes sets for TV programs. The company has had to limit staff but is profitable.
Niche manufacturers currently make up a quarter of the more than 25,000 manufacturing jobs in Brooklyn, Mr. Parrott said. No similar statistics were available for the rest of the city, which has a total of more than 92,000 manufacturing workers, he said.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard has housed manufacturing tenants since the city bought the land for $24 million in 1967.
Today, 70 percent of the Navy Yard’s 243 businesses have roughly five employees or fewer and specialize in niche products. Many business owners interviewed said they were staying strong in this market by employing few workers and keeping their products specialized.
“They tend to be very nimble, even in the downtimes,” said Mr. Kimball. “They can make it through a difficult stretch easier than the bigger players.”
Stiegelbauer Associates, which makes sets for television productions, remains profitable partly by limiting the staff to 15 workers and employing extra union workers for bigger jobs, according to Steve Paone, its vice president. The business has declined in recent years as soap operas like “Guiding Light” have invested more in permanent rather than temporary sets and have filmed more on location.
But because he ran a leaner business, he said the company was able to profit when a regular client, “Saturday Night Live,” added three election specials to its standard schedule of 22 shows in the fall. The company also picked up work with the new Jimmy Fallon show. Still, Mr. Paone is cautious about whether the recent streak will continue because so many television programs have cut back.
“They’ve been busier than ever. But they’re one of the few,” he said about “Saturday Night Live.”
Other manufacturers are thriving by selling products that government agencies consider essential.
Caleb Crye, the managing director of Crye Precision, said he had not seen any decline in demand for his security products, which include body armor for Navy Seals, flame-resistant uniforms for military officials and nape pads — Army helmet attachments that protect soldiers’ spinal cords by covering the backs of their necks.
Business has been good enough, he said, to avoid layoffs and keep his 70 workers at the Navy Yard and 30 workers in New Jersey busy.
Some products that have become too expensive for some people remain necessities for others.
John Devore, whose three-person company, DeVore Fidelity, designs $2,000 to $16,800 speakers, said that since Thanksgiving, business had dropped off among buyers from England, France and Israel. But that decline was balanced by orders from smaller West Coast audio stores, where consumers are spending more on fine speakers for their homes.
“While my business hasn’t really dropped off, it seems like it’s coming from different stores,” he said.
Then there are New Yorkers who still seem to have enough money to spend on luxury goods like custom-designed furniture.
Scott Jordan, a custom furniture maker at the Navy Yard, saw his business dip by more than 30 percent in November from the year before. But since Christmas, weekly sales for his $2,600 sleeper sofas and $3,000 beds have picked up. He says that while his more affluent clients may be cost-conscious, they are not “worried about where their next paycheck is coming from
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