As the coronavirus pandemic underscores the importance of the domestic manufacturing of medical equipment and supplies, according to Ed Bartholomew, president and CEO of EDC Warren County.
\nBartholomew said that U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data is revealing for the first time that Warren County has the nation\u2019s highest concentration of jobs in that industry. According to a Center for Economic Growth (CEG) data analysis, over 1,509 jobs with total annual wages of nearly $93 million.
\nFor over 50 years, Warren County\u2019s medical equipment and supplies manufacturing industry has been making high quality products, earning the area the name Catheter Valley.
\nToday\u2019s companies in Warren County, such as AngioDynamics, Becton Dickinson (BD) Bard, Delcath Systems and Medline Industries, have kept that tradition alive, Bartholomew said.
\nBLS recently started disclosing the number of jobs in Warren County\u2019s medical equipment and supplies manufacturing industry. The data shows that in 2019 the county had 1,509 jobs in the industry, resulting in an 18.2 location quotient (LQ). That LQ represented the nation\u2019s highest concentration of jobs in this industry among more than 500 U.S. counties for which full employment data is disclosed, according to CEG.
\nBartholomew said Warren County\u2019s medical equipment and supplies manufacturing industry includes total annual wages of $92.8 million in 2019, with annual average wage per employee was $61,354.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve long known that Warren County\u2019s medical equipment and supplies manufacturing industry is unique on the national level, and we now have the data to quantify that,\u201d said Bartholomew. \u201cWhile our manufacturers do not focus on the personal protective equipment that is in high demand amid this crisis, COVID-19\u2019s supply chain disruptions have underscored the importance of domestically producing medical equipment and supplies. Warren County has a sizeable and skilled workforce that\u2019s been doing this type of production for decades, and with the possibility of more manufacturing coming back to the U.S. shore we will be ready.\u201d
\n\u201cAs the nation comes to terms with how much manufacturing of medical equipment and supplies and pharmaceuticals is no longer done in this country, we are developing a deeper understanding of how much of this activity we have in the Capital Region,\u201d said CEG.
\n\u201cWhat we have here is nationally unique, and we want the Capital Region to be the first place that leaders in business and politics think of when they start looking to increase domestic production of these essential products. When it comes to this type of manufacturing, Warren County is the Capital Region\u2019s northern star, and that is why CEG partnered with Warren County EDC for this research.\u201d
\nOther counties with high concentrations (LQs) of medical equipment and supplies manufacturing jobs were Yamhill County, Oregon (17.99); Pickaway County, Ohio (7.05); Lake County, Illinois (6.43); and Shelby County, Tennessee (5.95).
\nBLS last fall started reporting full employment data for Warren County\u2019s Medical equipment and supplies manufacturing industry. That data, from BLS\u2019s Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, had previously been suppressed due to disclosure standards for each quarter going back to 2015, CEG said.
\nBLS\u2019s disclosure of the industry data coincided with AngioDynamics\u2019 June 2019 sale of its NAMIC fluid management portfolio to Medline Industries. It appears this deal helped diversify the industry\u2019s employment makeup enough to overcome the disclosure standards that had prevented BLS from fully detailing the County\u2019s Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing employment, officials said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the coronavirus pandemic underscores the importance of the domestic manufacturing of medical equipment and supplies, according to Ed Bartholomew, president and CEO of EDC Warren County. Bartholomew said that U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data is revealing for the first time that Warren County has the nation\u2019s highest concentration of jobs in that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n