The Inland Northwest's diverse manufacturing ecosystem is growing, somewhat quietly, and its gains should be trumpeted as the sector has the potential to become a stronger cog in the region's economic engine.

As the Journal recently reported, the number of manufacturing jobs here has jumped by about 3,000 positions over the past two years, with a total of 18,000 people working in that industry in the Spokane area, according to Washington state Employment Security Department data. Those jobs represent roughly 7% of total employment with nearly 570 companies in a broad range of manufacturing subspecialties, ranging from the Kaiser Aluminum Corp., which has 1,000 employees, to small machine shops with a handful of workers. 

In the Journal's most recently published Largest Manufacturers list, eight of the 10 top companies, in terms of employment, reported increasing the size of their workforces between spring of 2024 and a year earlier. Of the 44 participating companies, three-quarters reported staffing levels at or above a year earlier. It's an encouraging sign in an era of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and automation.

The employment trend is occurring at a time when some companies are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into their Spokane-area facilities. As reported previously, pharmaceutical manufacturer Jubilant HollisterStier LLC is well underway on its second phase of a $285 million expansion at its plant in East Spokane. The company plans to hire another 450 people, on top of 830 workers it employs at that site currently. 

Also, Collins Aerospace, a manufacturer of carbon composite brakes, announced earlier this year plans to invest $200 million to expand its plant on the West Plains. The expansion aims to add 70,000 square feet of manufacturing space, growing the site by more than 50% over a multiyear period. About 80 new jobs will be created with the expansion, ranging in skill level from high school graduates entering as operators, to technicians, automation technicians, programmable logic control technicians, and computer numerical control technicians. 

The growth in the industry is occurring as a broad-based coalition of businesses, business organizations, educators, and others work to develop an advanced aerospace manufacturing center at the former Triumph Composites Inc. plant site on the West Plains. The envisioned project has received a federal designation as a "tech hub" and is awaiting news as to whether it will be one of a handful of projects nationwide to receive $40 million to $70 million in federal funds. 

Advocates say that project will move forward regardless of whether it receives federal funds, though those funds would accelerate it. 

Regardless of the aerospace tech hub's fate, manufacturing growth is an encouraging sign for a business community known mostly for its strong health care, hospitality, and finance sectors. State data show that the average annual wage for manufacturing in Spokane County is higher than that for health care, construction, and a number of additional fields. 

This trend should be celebrated and encouraged as a integral component of economic growth in the region.