Washington Business Summer 2016 | Page 35

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