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Where’s the Best Place to Work in Manufacturing?

By U.S. News & World Report

The last several months have not been kind to domestic manufacturing.

Data set after data set has depicted an American industrial sector that’s at best spinning its wheels and at worst slipping into decline. And regional manufacturing reports from Federal Reserve branches in Kansas City, Richmond and Dallas have been anything but optimistic, with an anonymous Dallas industry respondent recently indicating that “sometime after the election, historical data will show that in 2016 the U.S. was in recession.”

Whether that’s true or not, there are already signs that the manufacturing sector has fallen into contractionary territory. A recent employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed domestic manufacturers shed 14,000 positions in August, while the latest purchasing managers’ index from the Institute for Supply Management showed industrial economic activity had receded after five straight months of growth.

Yet while American manufacturing isn’t exactly thriving across the board in 2016, a new study shows industrial production still has signs of life in isolated markets across the country. Personal finance and research company SmartAsset on Wednesday published its Best Places to Work in Manufacturing rankings, which involved surveys of nearly 400 different metropolitan areas and grades based on short- and medium-term employment growth, short- and medium-term income growth, concentration of manufacturing workers in the entire population and disposable income left over after housing costs.

The results: The geographic South boasts four of the country’s top five manufacturing hubs, while Texas and Wisconsin are the only states to hold two top 10 industrial areas.

Best Places to Work in Manufacturing

1. Richmond-Berea, Kentucky

2. Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina

3. Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas

4. Morgantown, West Virginia

5. Longview, Washington

6. Marinette, Wisconsin/Michigan

7. Charlottesville, Virginia

8. Watertown-Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin

9. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah

10. Odessa, Texas

The Richmond-Berea region of Kentucky is considered the premier location for American manufacturing, thanks largely to its 40 percent increase in manufacturing employment between 2013 and 2014. South Carolina’s Charleston-North Charleston metro ranked second, with a 29 percent gain in manufacturing employment between 2009 and 2014 and a 26 percent increase in wages.

Overall, there isn’t a single manufacturing hub ranked in the study’s Top 25 from the geographic Northeast. The Midwest and the South appear to contain the country’s most thriving industrial powerhouses.

“[F]or a variety of reasons America is not the epicenter of manufacturing that it once was, and some communities have suffered badly from the loss of manufacturing jobs,” the report says. “But it is not all doom and gloom. Some places in America are bucking the trend and are in fact great places for someone who wants to work in manufacturing.”

Across the board, the domestic manufacturing sector lost more than 40 percent of its workforce between its 1979 peak and where it bottomed out shortly after the Great Recession. Payrolls have since climbed more than 7 percent, but manufacturing’s role in the labor market in 2016 is a far cry from what it once was.

Part of the sector’s decline is tied to automation, and part is related to overseas competition and the offshoring of industrial labor. Headwinds like the country’s persistently strong dollar, weak international demand and lackluster export totals have collectively weighed on industrial performance in recent years, and have dragged on macroeconomic growth metrics.

But the manufacturing sector is not a one-size-fits-all market, and wage and employment growth enjoyed by companies in the South and Midwest are often masked by more pessimistic national averages. SmartAssets latest report shows that not all industrial production in the U.S. is completely down and out.

“Overall, one could characterize manufacturers’ current economic outlook as cautiously encouraging, but still less than desired and highly varied by firm size and export sales growth expectations,” Chad Moutray, a chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers, wrote in a research note Monday.

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Where’s the Best Place to Work in Manufacturing? originally appeared on usnews.com

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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