In the world of manufacturing, it all
depends on what you make.
"The recession in manufacturing is not
over," said Ray Bacon, executive director,
Nevada Manufacturers Association in
Carson City. "It won't be over until the
business community is confident enough to
start buying capital equipment. Some stability
in the stock market could help. But
indecision about the
war is probably worse.
If there's anything the
business community
hates it's uncertainty."
Still, said Bacon,
"Some companies are
doing well and some
are not."
International Game Technology, the
Reno-based slot machine and video gaming
machine maker, for example, is doing just
fine, said Bacon.
"IGT is doing well because of the
expansion in Indian gaming," said Bacon.
And that, said Bacon, has a ripple effect on
companies that provide parts or supplies to
IGT and other manufacturers of gaming
equipment.
But other companies, such as Dayton's
Bruce Industries Inc., are suffering in the
wake of their customer's troubles.
"We make aviation lighting for commercial
aircraft," said James Bradshaw, chief
financial officer at Bruce. "That market is
dramatically depressed."
Bruce builds lighting systems for Airbus
and Boeing, which are scaling back production
due to the beleaguered airline industry.
But Bruce also makes lighting for what
Bradshaw calls smaller, regional aircraft that
seat 25 to 80 passengers.
"That market is doing reasonably well,
although everyone is scaling back," said
Bradshaw.
Helping to keep the company afloat is
another line of business, shelter lighting for
government tents. Due to the build up in
preparation for a possible war with Iraq,
that business has been improving for Bruce.
"It is keeping us profitable," said Bradshaw.
The threat of war with Iraq, though, isn't
all good for Bruce's business. "From a commercial
airline point of view, it only increases
people fears," said Bradshaw, which
reduces air travel and in turn aircraft orders.
"If something were to happen this
Christmas people would really be concerned.
That would dramatically affect our
business."
The hard times forced Bruce to start
looking for other markets. The company's
lighting is sophisticated, lightweight and
built to stringent Federal Aviation
Administration standards. So new market
opportunities are
limited. But Bruce is
currently bidding on
a few contracts with
the railroads to provide
lighting for rail
cars.
All in all,
Bradshaw said, "I am
pretty much optimistic."
Sierra Nevada Corp. has good reason to
be optimistic, too. The Sparks-based manufacturer
of landing systems for unmanned
aircraft has grown an average of 30 percent
annually for the last decade, said Jerry
Harvey, vice president of operations.
Harvey said he expects the company to
continue to grow, by at least 15 percent, in
the coming year.
The company makes landing systems for
the U.S. Army and the Coast Guard and
some shipboard systems for U.S. Navy tactical
fighters. Sierra Nevada is a prime systems
integrator for the government, which
means it manages large contracts, and outsources
much of the work, like a prime
building contractor does. The company is
now working on dozens of contracts, many
for which it provides engineering and subcontracts
out the manufacturing.
Despite its defense focus, war in Iraq
likely wouldn't have much impact on the
company's workload, said Harvey.
"Desert Storm did not have a lot of
direct effect on us," said Harvey. "Since the
Twin Towers homeland security has
become a big thing, and we've seen some
growth from that."
Harvey is optimistic about Nevada's outlook,
too.
"The economy is stable, the consumer
price index has been negligible this year," he
said. "There is a very real possibility for
growth in information technology and
manufacturing."
