washington business
It’s a practice that needs to be repeated in much of rural Washington where
double-digit unemployment persists and where there is little or no economic
development opportunity outside manufacturing and small businesses.
forget the past: today’s manufacturing is clean, high-tech
Anyone who works in manufacturing understands that the sector has
changed dramatically in the last two decades. But old perceptions remain
for much of the general public.
“Our machine shop looks more like a hospital than it does a factory,”
Marzetta said.
Both Vaughan and Marzetta stressed that today’s manufacturing industry
is precision-based and safety-minded.
“I think people think that you go out to the shop and hit a hammer for
eight hours and then you go home. But, the truth is there is so much more
complexity to the job,” Vaughan said. “Manufacturing has become a lot more
computer-centric over the years, allowing manufacturers to be more precise
and have better controls over the products.”
— Jesse Vaughan, marketing development, Vaughan Company
“Employees are generally working with stainless steel, titanium and other
exotic metals that are very expensive. It’s a very high precision environment
where everything is measured within plus or minus a half-a-thousandth-ofan-inch,” Marzetta explained.
And safety is paramount.
“I worked out in the shop for many years,” Vaughan said. “All the safety
standards are so much higher and better now. Employee safety is job one,
which the new generation of workers may not understand.”
“Employee safety is job one, which the new
generation of workers may not unde