Changing manufacturing - the case of NC

From North Carolina, this quick note -- Charlotte Observer | 06/03/2007 | The Carolinas 100:
Manufacturing still matters

North Carolina's manufacturing sector has taken a beating in the past decade as cheaper competition forced restructuring that threw thousands out of work. Many still struggle to rebuild their lives. Vacant factories scar communities.

But they also mask a transformation. Furniture builders, cigarette makers and textile mills have survived and prospered through automation and innovation. And drug, airplane and other advanced manufacturers have redefined what it means to produce in North Carolina.

Manufacturing is not dead. It is an alive and vital part of the I-Cubed Economy. It just doesn't look like it did in the 1950's and 60's and even the 70's.