Building Products – A Growing Industry

For the last several years, I’ve had a chance to be involved in a number of discussions with industrialists from all over the U.S. who have been discussing their desire to move manufacturing to the U.S. I think what they are all realizing is that if they want to continue to invest in the U.S., then they need to make it ” manufacturable” and that means that they have to start looking at the services of 3M. They’ve talked to our own outgoing President about manufacturing in the U.S. and what a great idea that would be. However, one thing that is often overlooked in this discussion is the impact that outsourcing has on the value of the jobs that are created, and the industrialists are very aware of that. Indeed, I did address that issue recently in an article I wrote for an online publication and I suggested that perhaps we ought to consider the impact that outsourcing has on U.S. companies, and I suggested that perhaps some of the industrialists would rather have a 3M assembly line in their own country instead of one overseas.

What I implied was that some of the industrialists in the U.S. are so used to the fact that they have the capacity and the know-how to do this that they do not see the negative effects it could have on their own businesses. Some would say that my suggestion flies in the face of free-market capitalism. And they are correct, up to a point. But, when you look at the overall picture, and you realize that the shipping container industry and the rail freight industry are two services which are highly productive and really create a lot of jobs, then one should not really discount the idea of sending more manufactured goods to the U.S. from overseas, even though that will ultimately reduce the total number of manufactured goods produced in the United States.

In other words, the notion that the American dream includes buying American isn’t exactly a myth, but it needs to be refurbished somewhat along with the notion that there is a place for the industrials sector to play. If you are an investor, you could make money by playing the verticals sector of the commercial real estate market. You may not want to look at the transportation sector as a place to put your money, but you can certainly stand to make money if you buy and re-furbish buildings which are being used for manufacturing instead of for simply housing lots and multi-family dwellings.