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AEM: economic report shows resilience in equipment manufacturing

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers says its latest economic impact report for the industry shows a return to growth and increased output after the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Kip Eideberg is the senior vice president of government and industry regulations with AEM.  

“If I had to sum (the report) up with one word, it’s all about resilience; the resilience of the equipment manufacturing company,” he says. “That is following three very challenging years, not just our industry but the U.S. economy overall, one of the greatest recessions, a global pandemic, layered in with severe supply chain challenges, and geopolitical instability in Asia and Europe.

Eideberg says AEM, in partnership with the Market Intelligence Team at S&P Global, release the report every three years. It is released at the organization’s largest trade show, CONEXPO-CON/AGG, which takes place every three years in Las Vegas.

He says the equipment manufacturing industry has remained resilient despite a global pandemic, supply chain challenges, and geopolitical instability.  

“What the 2023 AEM Economic Report tells us is that the industry has emerged stronger than it has been for some time. It’s certainly stronger than it was at the height of the pandemic and even compared to a couple of years ago. That speaks to what I said about the resilience of the industry,” he says. “The equipment manufacturing industry supports 2.3 million jobs across the country and that makes us roughly 11 percent of the total U.S. manufacturing employment base or 1 in 9 U.S. manufacturing jobs. We are a large part of the U.S. manufacturing base, something we are very proud of.”  

As for the economic impact, he says, “if you look at the equipment manufacturing industry’s contribution beyond jobs, it contributes roughly $316 billion in economic impact annually or contribution to the nation’s GDP annually. For the economy overall, we are a big part of that as well. If you look at what happened and what we’ve been through the past couple of years, we feel very good about where the industry is.”

Other key report findings include:
*On average, equipment manufacturing jobs pay 33 percent above the national average.
*The equipment manufacturing industry supports more than 1,000 jobs in 44 states, with a total employment impact of more than 10,000 in 32 states. The top 10 states support a total of 1.6 million jobs.

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Audio: Kip Eideberg