A new report by Pat O’Connor, a regional economist for the state of Oregon, details how food manufacturing contributes to Oregon’s economy, and continues to grow.
“Oregon’s food manufacturing employment managed to grow 7.8 percent from 2007 to 2012, bucking the trend of large employment losses experienced by the rest of the manufacturing sector during the recession,” the study reports.
“The Portland area has the largest share of food manufacturing in Oregon with 37 percent of the state’s total,” the report says. “Portland, however, makes up 55 percent of the state’s total private employment, so food manufacturing is underrepresented in the Portland area compared with the statewide average. Although a significant amount of Portland’s food manufacturing sector produces products that are sold out of state, a larger percentage of the products produced in Portland are sold within Oregon compared with a rural area like Eastern Oregon. In Eastern Oregon, the vast majority of the frozen food manufactured is sold and consumed outside of Oregon.”
The report says the state’s manufacturing sector should experience significant growth in the next several years, with food manufacturing playing a key part of that growth.
“Looking to the future, food manufacturing is expected to be one of the bright spots in Oregon’s manufacturing sector,” the report says. “From 2010 to 2020, Oregon’s manufacturing sector is expected to grow 15 percent, adding 24,900 jobs. Food manufacturing is also expected to gain employment during the decade; it is expected to grow 10 percent, adding 2,300 jobs from 2010 to 2020. Although the manufacturing sector is expected to grow faster than food manufacturing, keep in mind that steep employment losses during the recent recession mean manufacturing will have less employment in 2020 than the sector had in 2008. Food manufacturing didn’t experience steep employment losses during the recession and is projected to have 10 percent more employment in 2020 than in 2008.”
Read the full report here.
