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Technology and geopolitical trends have changed a lot since advisory group MassMEP was founded 30 years ago. Back then manufacturers were navigating issues such as Y2K and offshoring. Today, it’s all about artificial intelligence and domestic production.
“People questioned whether manufacturing had a future in Massachusetts. Costs were high, global competition was intense, companies were leaving the U.S. to manufacture elsewhere, and many believed innovation and production would separate, that ideas would stay here, but that manufacturing would happen somewhere else,” said MassMEP President Kathie Mahoney during remarks at an event in Worcester on June 2.
“Massachusetts manufacturing has proven them all wrong, because manufacturing has always been a part of the DNA of the commonwealth,” she said. “What's exciting is not just that manufacturing survived, but it has evolved.”
Mahoney cited a litany of manufacturing milestone innovations from the state, such as interchangeable parts, sewing machines, the telephone, microwave technology, jet engines, modern computing and most recently the spacesuits worn by astronauts on Artemis II.
