The tipping point in Denver-based Weaver Industries’ recovery from the pandemic came in November 2020, when orders soared.
The molded urethane and machined graphite maker returned to pre-pandemic production after briefly furloughing half its workforce, but the surge in orders paved the way for growth in 2021, said James A. Weaver, president of the family business in three generations .
Weaver is an example of how Lancaster County’s manufacturing sector survived the pandemic to become a key driver of the county’s recovery, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data released Thursday. The report shows that the county’s gross domestic product increased 4.7% from $26 billion in 2020 to $27 billion in 2021.
“We’re still seeing increases,” Weaver said. The workload is about 33% higher than before the pandemic, but the company has fewer employees than before the pandemic.
“We’re doing more with less,” Weaver said. The company is looking to increase efficiencies, such as reducing the amount of material left over for scrap, and is looking at ways to automate. The aim is to keep prices lower than those of the competition and increase market share.
Lancaster County’s recovery is greater than the state as a whole, which was up 4.4%, and provides a basis for weathering any downturns in 2023.
“Lancaster County appeared to be recovering very well from the pandemic,” said Eiman Zein-Elabdin, an economics professor at Franklin & Marshall College who compiled the data for LNP | Lancaster Online. “It completely reversed its negative growth rate of 2020 and outperformed the majority of the state at it — ranking in the top third of all counties.”
The county lost 4.6% of its GDP between 2019 and 2020.
Gross Domestic Product is the measure of the market value of all goods and services purchased by an end consumer.
The 2021 federal report shows Lancaster County ranks seventh out of 67 counties in the state. In 2010, Lancaster County’s total GDP was $22.5 billion, ranking seventh in the state.
The size of a county’s economy, as measured by GDP, varies widely across the United States. In 2021, the aggregate level of real GDP ranged from $11.7 million in Petroleum County, Montana to $711.9 billion in Los Angeles County, California.
Within Pennsylvania, the size varies from $100 billion in Philadelphia County to $19.3 million in Cameron County.
According to the BEA, manufacturing contributed 1.03% to Lancaster County’s 4.7% growth in 2021. This was followed by Professional and Business Services, which contributed 1.01% to the increase; arts, entertainment, recreation, lodging and gastronomy, which contributed 0.75%; and construction, which contributed 0.5%.
Manufacturing accounts for about 17% of the county’s GDP.
Since 2021, Weaver Industries has faced utility cost inflation that it didn’t want to pass on to its customers.
“We didn’t want to join that club: we didn’t want to burden our clients with constant raises,” Weaver said.
In the short term, the strategy will impact profitability, but it will also allow the company to attract more customers, Weaver said.
Also, American manufacturers are seeing more interest due to international supply chain issues. Weaver said the logistical problems encountered with post-pandemic shipping have prompted companies to turn to American suppliers. Delivery time takes precedence over cost in many cases, he said.
Bruce Newell, president and CEO of York-based MANTEC, one of the state’s seven industrial support centers, said that building on a positive 2021, companies have a large backlog and still need workers.
“If anything, GDP is currently limited by the lack of a skilled workforce,” Newell said.
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