Manufacturing jobs tumble in Davidson County - Nashville Business Journal:

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The study, which looked at employment from 1997througy 2006, found that the number of plant and people employed in manufacturing declinedf in all of the state'ds major metropolitan areas. During the same period, there were 27 percen t fewer manufacturing jobs inDavidsonh County, the report says. Shelby Countt - which includes Memphis - saw a 14.7 percenft drop in manufacturing employment. Hamiltonn County, home to Chattanooga, saw a 17.5 percent decrease and Knox whichincludes Knoxville, saw a 24.5 perceny decline. Matt Murray, the UT economis t who conductedthe study, says each of the metro countiesz still have healthy economies because service sector jobs are growing.
"Thwe metro counties have been able to weather the stor of weakness in manufacturingbecause it's a smaller part of theidr overall economic activity," Murray says. The purpose of the studyh was to find out if theree was truth to the perceptio that manufacturing jobsare disappearing. Murray says that' s not necessarily the case sincer manyof Nashville's surrounding counties such as Wilson, Robertson and Montgomery, saw growth in manufacturinbg employment. Bobby Davis, attorney for Nashville' s Industrial Development Board, says rural counties may be more attractivre to manufacturers because they need a lotof space.
Davidsoj County is densely populated and the cost of land canbe "It's more difficult for an industry to come to just because of the cost of land if nothing else," Davis says. Manufacturing jobs are usually highly-soughg after because many pay highef wages than the average According tothe study, the average annuakl pay for Davidson County workers in 2005 was while manufacturing jobs paid an average of "Some of the jobs that are going away are good payinvg jobs," Murray says.
"The loss of thesd jobs are important to the Janet Miller, chief economic development officer for the Nashvillde Area Chamber of Commerce, says advanced manufacturing is one of five sectorz where the chamber focuses its efforts. The othere are health care, entertainment, corporatw headquarters and logistics. The chamber wants to attract manufacturers that have sophisticated technology and requirw highly skilled workers who receivehigh wages. and have both opene in the Nashville area within the pasttwo years, Millet says. "While the numbers may not be positivrand encouraging, manufacturing is not Miller says.
Murray says citied should continue efforts to attracyt manufacturers but should think about promotinf jobs inother areas. "Every city has an industrialp development board, but as manufacturing becomes less important to the econom y we should diversify our efforts and try to grow jobs in otheer segments ofthe economy," Murragy says.