Recession lingering for manufacturers

In the world of manufacturing, it all

depends on what you make.

"The recession in manufacturing is not

over," said Ray Bacon, executive director,

Nevada Manufacturers Association in

Carson City. "It won't be over until the

business community is confident enough to

start buying capital equipment. Some stability

in the stock market could help. But

indecision about the

war is probably worse.

If there's anything the

business community

hates it's uncertainty."

Still, said Bacon,

"Some companies are

doing well and some

are not."

International Game Technology, the

Reno-based slot machine and video gaming

machine maker, for example, is doing just

fine, said Bacon.

"IGT is doing well because of the

expansion in Indian gaming," said Bacon.

And that, said Bacon, has a ripple effect on

companies that provide parts or supplies to

IGT and other manufacturers of gaming

equipment.

But other companies, such as Dayton's

Bruce Industries Inc., are suffering in the

wake of their customer's troubles.

"We make aviation lighting for commercial

aircraft," said James Bradshaw, chief

financial officer at Bruce. "That market is

dramatically depressed."

Bruce builds lighting systems for Airbus

and Boeing, which are scaling back production

due to the beleaguered airline industry.

But Bruce also makes lighting for what

Bradshaw calls smaller, regional aircraft that

seat 25 to 80 passengers.

"That market is doing reasonably well,

although everyone is scaling back," said

Bradshaw.

Helping to keep the company afloat is

another line of business, shelter lighting for

government tents. Due to the build up in

preparation for a possible war with Iraq,

that business has been improving for Bruce.

"It is keeping us profitable," said Bradshaw.

The threat of war with Iraq, though, isn't

all good for Bruce's business. "From a commercial

airline point of view, it only increases

people fears," said Bradshaw, which

reduces air travel and in turn aircraft orders.

"If something were to happen this

Christmas people would really be concerned.

That would dramatically affect our

business."

The hard times forced Bruce to start

looking for other markets. The company's

lighting is sophisticated, lightweight and

built to stringent Federal Aviation

Administration standards. So new market

opportunities are

limited. But Bruce is

currently bidding on

a few contracts with

the railroads to provide

lighting for rail

cars.

All in all,

Bradshaw said, "I am

pretty much optimistic."

Sierra Nevada Corp. has good reason to

be optimistic, too. The Sparks-based manufacturer

of landing systems for unmanned

aircraft has grown an average of 30 percent

annually for the last decade, said Jerry

Harvey, vice president of operations.

Harvey said he expects the company to

continue to grow, by at least 15 percent, in

the coming year.

The company makes landing systems for

the U.S. Army and the Coast Guard and

some shipboard systems for U.S. Navy tactical

fighters. Sierra Nevada is a prime systems

integrator for the government, which

means it manages large contracts, and outsources

much of the work, like a prime

building contractor does. The company is

now working on dozens of contracts, many

for which it provides engineering and subcontracts

out the manufacturing.

Despite its defense focus, war in Iraq

likely wouldn't have much impact on the

company's workload, said Harvey.

"Desert Storm did not have a lot of

direct effect on us," said Harvey. "Since the

Twin Towers homeland security has

become a big thing, and we've seen some

growth from that."

Harvey is optimistic about Nevada's outlook,

too.

"The economy is stable, the consumer

price index has been negligible this year," he

said. "There is a very real possibility for

growth in information technology and

manufacturing."