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FBN's Jeff Flock talks to Rockford, Illinois Mayor Larry Morrissey about manufacturing jobs.
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A lot about a manufacturing Renaissance but plant closings have far more frequent than openings are Jeff Flock is in -- Rockford Illinois witness firsthand accounts.
-- -- -- And G Gloria I'll tell -- I love these old buildings in these old structures but -- -- -- there are a lot of them out there -- got the mayor of Rockford.
Illinois with me Larry Morrissey been mayor for eight years here we're inside a plant that was called -- Coleman.
It was a giant of manufacturing thousands of jobs yes it was about and it's in its -- about 3000 jobs walk me through this because it's fascinating to see this but I -- -- put some numbers out you know we talk about a manufacturing Renaissance but the fact is.
The numbers of plants in this country have been shrinking.
Since the seventies and really unabated and we talk about new plants opening but the fact is -- been at no time in the past well I guess it's almost thirty years.
Where we've had more plants open in a year that we've had plants close.
Is there really -- Renaissance going on there is a Renaissance in manufacturing but we've got to be prepared in cities like ours to respond to where the market is today it's not the same.
When -- Coleman was here and nobody's ever gonna build a structure like this are actually need a structure like this and it's right that that's right that's why we're looking for the right types of incentives.
To -- in the manufactures many times maybe a smaller manufacturer of boutique firm.
That's gonna find a place like this attractive where the other despite -- -- leave you with one other chart there and that is manufacturing workers and if you look at the very end of the chart even though.
We've lost.
40% of manufacturing jobs since the seventies the fact is ticking up a little bit in the last two years.
Long way to go to get back to what it -- wasn't probably never will be again but.
Some small progress -- -- -- Ever so slightly we'll take what we can get for manufacturing Jeff thanks as always.
