Officials in Ulster County are extolling news that the average weekly wage in Ulster has risen, saying it is a sign that the county is beginning to show benefits from strategies to recoup manufacturing jobs.?Average weekly earnings in Dutchess and Orange counties in July were down $25 compared with the same month last year, but rose by $16 per week in Ulster County.
Part of it is statistical fluke but it also reflects success at growing a local solar and niche-manufacturing base. ?March Gallagher, deputy county director for economic development said that the resurgence of Tech City, the former IBM plant in the town of Ulster, has helped bring new jobs to the county, which suffered huge losses when IBM departed the facility in the mid-90s, taking thousands of jobs. “It”™s incredible what is happening at Tech City,” she said.
After more than a decade of struggles, the 260-acre Tech City is now leasing more than two-thirds of its available space, including to such rapidly growing companies as Precision Flow, which among other products creates equipment for LED lighting and has grown from an initial lease of 5,000 square feet at the facility to 170,000 square feet.  ?Some 2,500 workers are now employed at the entire Tech City complex and prospects appear promising for additional companies and jobs, particularly in hi-tech manufacturing realms making key components that are not easily outsourced.
“The strength of our manufacturing  is in these niche areas, where people make these very high quality products for customers,” said Gallagher, citing Precision Flow and companies beyond Tech City, such as Fala Technologies. “They  have a national  and international customer base,” she said.
Dan Wieneke, president of Tech City since 2008, said that “What is driving this is the skilled work force.” He said since IBM left, many workers with high skill levels could only find work in retail sales but retained the knowledge that made them attractive to hi-tech manufacturers. When Solar Tech Renewables was looking for a site to build a $30 million solar panel manufacturing business, he said the readily available employee base was a factor in choosing Tech City. ?“Now we are creating opportunity for those people (former IBM employees) to get back to the income level they were trained for,” Wieneke said.
Michael Dolfman, regional commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, said the trends reflect the transition of Dutchess-Orange and Putnam-Rockland-Westchester from manufacturing to retail and wholesale employment, while Ulster is growing new solar and related manufacturing jobs. ?“We saw an increase in jobs and these are higher-paying jobs than the average in the region, and that”™s going to have an effect on raising the average weekly wage,” Dolfman said. Because the Ulster County area has fewer people than most other relatively affluent parts of the state, a few higher-paying jobs will tend to drive up the weekly earnings average.?Ulster average weekly earnings rose 2.5 percent, from $647 per week in July 2009 to $663 July 2010.
Dutchess-Orange weekly earnings fell 3.1 percent over the same 12 months, from $790.26 per week to $765.58.?Weineke said the county and Tech City cannot rest on their success, but must continue to create conditions where manufacturing jobs are attracted to the county and the area. Tech City is finalizing a $350 million plan to upgrade the facility with a green theme, as well as by providing housing for workers.
