Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
T
he MEP of Utah is a non-profit organization that provides assistance to manufacturers throughout the state with services to improve productivity, expand capacity, enhance growth and increase profitability. It assesses the individual needs of a manufacturer, identifies the roadblocks to success, opportunities for improvement and growth, and helps the company to leverage private/public resources and to access a consistent set of services to maximize their potential and grow their business. The MEP is the nation’s champion of manufacturing. MEP Centers are located throughout the U.S. and are affiliates of the National Institute of Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce. Chartered to assist small and mediumsized manufacturers (those employing less than 500 workers), the MEP potential service base includes 99% of the 3,800 manufacturers in Utah. MEP has limited resources and less than 7% of the manufacturers have access to MEP in any given year, and 2% engage in significant projects. However, those that are assisted by MEP report significant results. A study of the economic impact of MEP of Utah prepared by Utah State University shows that MEP served 494 total companies in 2008. Major projects assisted 72 companies reporting measurable benefits. The USU study concluded MEP’s impact on the economy in 2008 to be: • Additional Wages – $122.5M • Additional Jobs – 2,992 • Additional Industrial Output – $659.4M • Additional Indirect Business Taxes – $14.7M The nature of manufacturing in Utah is diverse, entrepreneurial, and falls under the classification of “small business”—30 employees is the average for a Utah manufacturer. Yet these small companies have large impacts on the state’s economy. Manufacturing provides significant employment with an industry payroll over $5.6 billion—the largest industry payroll in the state—which is $1.8 billion larger than the next industry sector. As the national and the state economies declined in 2008, so did year-to-year manufacturing employment in Utah for the first time since 2003.
Utah Mfg. Jobs July 08 – June 09
Utah Mfg. Jobs by Quarter, 2001 – 2009
Utah manufacturing jobs declined by 13,100 jobs over last 12 months. -Source: Utah DWS
54
Governor’s Office of Economic Development • Annual Report 2009
