The purpose of this
report is two-fold: (a) to take an inventory of high tech manufacturing
firms in Central Wisconsin, specifically, in Marathon, Portage and Wood counties; (b) to offer some
preliminary observations about the diffusion of high technology among
business firms in the region, based on their near-term expectations of
introducing new skills in their operations.
1.
What is High Tech?
Many definitions of
high tech have been suggested. They range from a list of 6 "core" high tech
industries (computer and office machines, drugs, communications equipment,
electronic components, aircrafts, and guided missiles and space vehicles),
to a much longer list of 50 or so industries, including several with a "low
tech" image: automobiles, tires, paints and household appliances. The
definition used by the Wisconsin Strategic Development Commission consists
of 28 three-digit SIC industries, as listed in Table 1.
2.
High Tech and The Economy
High tech industries
are commonly considered to be a major source of economic growth. They
generally enjoy relatively high growth rates, as their products move through
the early phases of the product cycle. They are also associated with high
value-added products, knowledge-intensive production processes, cleaner
industrial environment, a high proportion of scientists and engineers in the
work force, and growing and relatively stable employment.
However, high tech
industries account for only a small proportion of U.S. employment (Figure 1). Their
share in total U.S. employment is projected to remain small through the next
decade; in fact, high tech industries rank fairly low in their ability to
generate employment in the years ahead (Table 2).
In a paper published
in 1984 ("High Technology and Future Employment Opportunities in Wisconsin
Communities," The Small City and Regional Community, Vol. 6), Paul Warner
and Lawrence Weiser estimated that the high tech employment in 1980 in
Marathon, Portage and Wood counties was 12.72%, 0.37% and 2.23%,
respectively. In the decade 1980-90, high tech employment in these counties
was projected to increase by only
11.5%, 16.6% and 12.4%, respectively.
Thus, by 1990 high tech employment will remain a relatively small
proportion of total employment in the region.
FIGURE 1
U.S. Proportion of Total Wage and Salary
Workers Employed in High Tech Industries
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TABLE 2
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|
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HIGH GROWTH
VERSUS HIGH TECH INDUSTRIES: 1995 PROJECTIONS
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|
|
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U.S.
Employment
|
Absolute
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Thous)
|
Change
|
Percent
|
|
|
SIC
|
Industry Name
|
1982
|
1995
|
(Thous)
|
Change Rank
|
|
|
High-Growth
Industry
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
51-57,59
|
Retail trade
excl. eating & drinking
|
11792.0
|
15070.0
|
3278.0
|
.2780
|
1
|
|
739
|
Misc.
business services
|
3743.0
|
6183.0
|
2440.0
|
.6519
|
2
|
|
|
|
New
construction industry
|
4067.0
|
6043.0
|
1976.0
|
.4859
|
3
|
|
581
|
Eating &
drinking
places
|
5159.0
|
6742.0
|
1583.0
|
.3068
|
4
|
|
806
|
Hospitals
|
3016.0
|
4477.0
|
1461.0
|
.4844
|
5
|
|
50,51
|
Wholesale
trade
|
5585.0
|
6734.0
|
1149.0
|
.2057
|
6
|
|
801-809,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
exc 806
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Medical
services, exc. hospitals
|
1664.0
|
2688.0
|
1024.0
|
.6154
|
7
|
|
89
|
Misc.
professional services
|
2147.0
|
3004.0
|
857.0
|
.3992
|
8
|
|
82
|
Educational
services (private)
|
1882.0
|
2396.0
|
514.0
|
.2731
|
9
|
|
801-804
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Doctor's &
dentist's services
|
1503.0
|
2005.0
|
502.0
|
.3340
|
10
|
|
61,62
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Credit agencies,
financial brokers
|
1038.0
|
1518.0
|
480.0
|
.4624
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11
|
|
60
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Banking
|
1655.0
|
2120.0
|
465.0
|
.2810
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12
|
|
|
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Maintenance &
repair construction
|
1424.0
|
1882.0
|
458.0
|
.3216
|
13
|
|
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High Tech
Industry
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
367
|
Electronic
components
|
561.0
|
850.0
|
289.0
|
.5152
|
20
|
|
381
|
Engineering &
science instruments
|
226.0
|
349.0
|
123.0
|
.5442
|
30
|
|
382
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Measuring &
controlling instruments
|
226.0
|
349.0
|
123.0
|
.5442
|
30
|
|
283
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Drugs
|
199.0
|
281.0
|
82.0
|
.1412
|
42
|
|
366
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Communications
equipment
|
424.0
|
460.0
|
36.0
|
.0849
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52
|
|
386
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Photo.
equipment & supplies
|
140.0
|
177.0
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37.0
|
.2643
|
77
|
|
357
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Office &
computing machines
|
47.0
|
69.0
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22.0
|
.4681
|
96
|
|
383
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Optical
instruments
|
77.0
|
92.0
|
15.0
|
.1948
|
104
|
|
385
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Opthalmic
goods
|
77.0
|
92.0
|
15.0
|
.1948
|
104
|
|
SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of labor Statistics,
Employment Projections for 1995, March 1984.
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|
|
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3.
High Tech Manufacturing in
Central Wisconsin
Focusing on the 26
high tech manufacturing industries in the Wisconsin definition, high tech
manufacturing firms in Marathon, Portage and Wood counties are identified by
the SIC codes of their major products as reported in Wisconsin Manufacturers
Register 1986 (published by Manufacturers' News, Inc,), They are listed in
Table 3.
This list is limited
to manufacturing firms only. It is intended to be representative and by no
means exhaustive. To the extent that some firms may not have included all
their product lines in the Register, omissions are more than likely,
Some observations can
be made:
(a) The firms vary
greatly in size. In terms of average employment, they range from one person
to 1000 workers. This confirms the findings of other studies that there is
little correlation between high tech production and firm size.
(b) As expected, the
greater
Wausau area has
the highest concentration of high tech manufacturing firms.
(c) The contribution
of high tech firms to the local economy goes far beyond the jobs and payroll
provided. They can be viewed as seeds of structural change. If properly
nurtured, they can become the foundation for new industrial growth in the
region.
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TABLE 3
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HIGH TECH
MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN CENTRAL WISCONSIN
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|
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Avg. No.
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|
|
SIC
|
Firm Name
|
of Employees
|
Major Product
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MARATHON
COUNTY
|
|
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Brokaw
|
|
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|
|
2819
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Wausau Paper Mills
Co.
|
650
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Process paper &
sulphite pulp
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Marathon
|
|
|
|
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3559
|
Ceranski
Engineering and Machine Inc.
|
3
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Special machining
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Mosinee
|
|
|
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|
3842
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Mid-State
Orthopedics Inc.
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4
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Orthopedic &
prosthetic prod.
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Rothschild
|
|
|
|
3621
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L & S Electric Inc.
|
40
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Electric motors
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|
2821
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Reed-Lignin Inc.
|
140
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Lignin chemicals
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Schofield
|
|
|
|
|
3621
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L & S Electric Inc.
|
30
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Electric motors
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|
3822
|
Westco Inc.
|
12
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Back draft dampers
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Stratford
|
|
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3559
|
A & B Process
Systems
|
75
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Stainless steel
equipment
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Wausau
|
|
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|
3842
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Bard Home Health
Division
|
54
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Health care
products
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|
2851
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Hoffers Inc., Paint
Division
|
190
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Paints & tempered
glass
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|
3621
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Marathon Electric
Mfg. Corp.
|
1000
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Electric motors &
generators
|
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3842
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Marathon Rubber
Products Co.
|
80
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Protective
clothing, rainwear
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|
3554
|
Murray Machinery
Inc.
|
250
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Paper machinery
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|
3694
|
T-J Rebuilders
|
5
|
Electrical
components
|
|
3843
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Tollar Dental
Studio
|
2
|
Dental prosthetics
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|
2842
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Wausau Chemical
Corp.
|
25
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Water treatment
chemicals
|
|
2891
|
Wausau
Coated Products Inc.
|
20
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Adhesive coated
labels
|
|
3843
|
Wausau
Dental Laboratories
|
1
|
Dentures & partials
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PORTAGE
COUNTY
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Amherst
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|
2899
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Seco-Dyne
|
7
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Water treatment
chemicals
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Stevens Point
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3823
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Great Lakes Soft
Water Co.
|
4
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Water conditioning
equipment
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|
3622
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Woodward Governor
Co.
|
83
|
Prime movers
controls & access.
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WOOD
COUNTY
|
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Marshfield
|
|
|
|
|
3843
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Hermanson's Dental
Studio Marshfield
|
7
|
Dental prosthetics
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|
3551
|
Paget Equipment
Co., Inc.
|
30
|
Dairy equipment
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Port Edwards
|
|
|
|
2819
|
Vulcan Materials
Co., Chemical Division
|
70
|
Chlorine, caustic
soda
|
|
Wisconsin Rapids
|
|
|
|
2819
|
|
8
|
Liquid aluminum
sulfate
|
|
Source:
Wisconsin
Manufacturers Register 1986, (Manufacturer's News, Inc.)
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4.
High Tech Applications and New Job Skill
Another important
aspect of high tech is that the application of high tech products and
processes to production and daily operations promises to increase
productivity in most business firms, whether or not they are directly
related to high tech manufacturing. In fact, the diffusion of high
technology in the business sector tends to have greater impact on economic
development than the direct employment effect of high tech manufacturing.
It is difficult to
gauge the diffusion of high tech in the business sector. What is attempted
here is to make inferences based on some of the findings in the Central
Wisconsin Private Industry Council Employer Survey conducted by Yiu-Kwan
Fan, Jay Poutinen and Paul Warner in 1984, which covered Adams,
Marquette,
Portage,
Waushara and Wood counties. The results are meant to suggest tendencies,
and should be considered very tentative.
In the survey, among
other things, the respondent firm was asked if it anticipated a need for new
job skills in the next 5 years, and to identify the occupational categories
and specific skills that the firm would need. Of the 532 firms responding to
the survey, 261 anticipated needs for new job skills in the next 5 years.
An analysis of the
characteristics of the 261 firms shows that:
(a) The proportion is
pretty uniform across all industries, with manufacturing and contract
construction slightly higher (Table 4).
(b) The proportion is
higher among larger firms than smaller firms (Table 5).
The occupational
skills identified to be in growing demand are categorized in Table 6. Of the
597 entries, the most frequent ones are computer-related jobs, including
"computer specialists," "computer operator" and simply "computer" with no
job specifications. Together they constitute about 23% of all job entries
considered by the respondents to be in growing demand. Besides computer
specialists, other occupations in the professional and technical category
should also be instrumental to high tech diffusion.
The emerging picture
is that there is much awareness of the need for high tech applications and
technological improvement among business firms across all industries, and
the firm size (therefore available resources) may determine the rate at
which new technology is to be introduced.
TABLE 4
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DISTRIBUTION OF FIRMS ANTICIPATING NEW SKILLS BY SIZE
|
|
|
Firm
Size By Average
|
Number
of
|
No.
Anticipate
|
Percent
|
|
Annual
Employment
|
Firms
|
New
Skills
|
|
|
1 - 4
|
250
|
108
|
43.2%
|
|
5
- 20
|
173
|
93
|
53.8%
|
|
21 -
50
|
56
|
25
|
44.6%
|
|
51 -
99
|
25
|
15
|
60.0%
|
|
100 - 499
|
21
|
14
|
66.7%
|
|
> =
500
|
7
|
6
|
85.7%
|
|
|
_________
|
________
|
|
|
|
532
|
261
|
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TABLE 5
DISTRIBUTION OF FIRMS ANTICIPATING NEW SKILLS BY INDUSTRY
|
Industry
|
No. Firms
|
No. Anticipate
|
Percent
|
|
|
|
New Skills
|
|
|
Agri. services
|
35
|
15
|
42.9%
|
|
Contract
construction
|
49
|
32
|
65.3%
|
|
Retail &
wholesale trade
|
