Reinventing Manufacturing

California Manufacturing Regional Clusters Analysis
Northern California
Northern California is defined as Butte, Colusa,
Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino,
Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity, and
Yuba Counties. As of 2014, manufacturing accounted
for 13,491 jobs in the region, or 4.0 percent of employment.
Measured by 2014 employment, Food Manufacturing
(with 3,608 jobs) and Wood & Paper Product
Manufacturing (with 3,531 jobs) are the largest Northern
California manufacturing sectors, each making up over
25 percent of manufacturing employment in the region.
Over the long term between 1990 and 2014, Food
Manufacturing in Northern California experienced little
or no change in employment and had a 4.2 percent
decrease in number of establishments. However, in the
2010–2014 time period, Food Manufacturing in the
region experienced growth on both fronts, with a 24.9
percent increase in employment and a 17.9 percent
increase in establishments. In contrast, as the timber
industry declined, Wood & Paper Product Manufacturing
in the region saw decreases in both employment
(-75.5 percent) and establishments (-50.6 percent over
the 1990–2014 long term period and experienced only
modest growth during the 2010–2014 recent period
with a 1.0 percent increase in employment and a 1.1
percent increase in establishments.
Beverage Manufacturing is Northern California’s fastest
growing manufacturing sector, and experienced growth
in both employment and establishments during the longterm
period from 1990 to 2014. Driven by both vintners
and brewers, employment in Beverage Manufacturing
has experienced particularly strong recent growth, expanding
by 91 percent between 2010 and 2014. During
that same recent time period, the number of Beverage
Manufacturing establishments expanded by 29 percent.
Machinery Manufacturing provided 499 jobs in Northern
California in 2014 and expanded employment by 49.4
percent between 2010 and 2014, making it Northern
California’s second fastest growing manufacturing
sector, measured by employment.
Northern California Manufacturing Employment Change by Sector, 2010–2014
Manufacturing Sector Employment Size
4,000
3,500
3,000
Wood & Paper
2 ,500
Beverages
Furniture
2,000
Transportation Equipment
Chemicals
Miscellaneous
Computers
1,500
Fabricated Metals
& Electronics
Medical
1,000
Equipment
Nonmetallic Minerals
Machinery
Printing
500
Primary Metal
Plastics
Pharmaceutical & Medicine Textiles
Petroleum & Coal
0
-40% -20%
0% 20%
40% 60% 80%
Food
100%
Data Source: Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages, California EDD
Analysis: Bay Area Council Economic Institute
Employment Change from 2010 to 2014
87