Today, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker was among the thousands of Americans celebrating National Manufacturing Day at manufacturing facilities across the country. Secretary Pritzker traveled to Delaware with U.S. Senator Chris Coons, Governor Jack Markell, and U.S. Congressman John Carney to tour Accudyne Systems and M. Davis. 

Accudyne Systems, Inc. creates custom automation equipment that solves manufacturing challenges across various industries and has Fortune 500 customers all over the world. M. Davis & Sons, Inc. is a fifth generation, woman-owned industrial construction company that builds, installs and maintains corporate plants and facilities for national and international companies. Founded in 1870 and based in Wilmington, Del., M. Davis serves customers in the oil and gas, chemical, pharmaceutical, food, beverage and industrial markets.

As part of our fourth annual Manufacturing Day, Accudyne Systems and M. Davis, like companies in all 50 states, opened their doors to students, parents, teachers, guidance counselors, and others to showcase the true face of manufacturing in the 21st century – and to inform and excite young people, the next generation of workers, about the opportunities and benefits offered by a career in this vital sector of our economy .

Since 2010, manufacturers have added nearly 900,000 jobs – and these jobs pay well. In fact, an entry-level manufacturing engineer can expect to earn $60,000.  And the average manufacturing worker earns more than $77,000 per year, about $15,000 more than the average worker across all sectors.

Beyond its roles as a source of good jobs nationwide, a robust, innovative manufacturing sector is essential to America’s global leadership.

Manufacturing comprises 12 percent of GDP. For every dollar invested in manufacturing, $1.37 is added to the economy, the highest multiplier effect for any part of our economy. U.S. manufacturers are also the most productive in the world. And they perform more than three-quarters of all private sector R&D, driving more innovation than any other sector.

Secretary Pritzker closed out her Manufacturing Day visit with a roundtable discussion on manufacturing with local leaders at the Hagley Museum, the site where the DuPont Company got its start over 200 years ago.

Secretary Pritzker made it clear that Manufacturing Day cannot, and will not, be a one-off event; indeed, she said the Commerce Department is committed to making every day Manufacturing Day – by celebrating the importance of manufacturing to our economy; by helping manufacturers become more innovative and more competitive; and by making sure our people have the skills they need to succeed in the modern economy.