Brownwood is the focus of a feature cover story in a publication produced by the Texas State Comptroller’s office.
The May/June issue of Texas Rising features Brownwood’s manufacturing based industries as an example of how some areas of the Texas economy remain strong.
This newsletter style publication is produced bi-monthly by the Comptroller’s office and is one way that the office communicates with taxpayers. The publication is available online and in print form.
The complete article is below, or visit the online version HERE :
Location, Work Force Keys to Success
Brownwood retains, grows manufacturing base despite downturn
By Clint Shields
Away from the bright glow of metro lights, Brownwood’s manufacturers keep rolling out products for sale around the world. Despite a weakened economy, there’s no slowing down in this northern Hill Country community of 20,000 situated about 130 miles southwest of Fort Worth.
“Our manufacturers here have done very well during this economic downturn,” says James Campbell, executive director of the Brownwood Economic Development Corporation (EDC).
About 45 manufacturing companies call Brownwood and Brown County home, and they employ more than 3,000 people. The county’s rural setting and employee-rich environment are vital to the area’s manufacturing success.
“Being rural, we don’t have a lot of competition with neighbors because we don’t really have any,” Campbell says. “And availability of a qualified work force has been a big plus, and it’s not just Brownwood. We have folks who commute 40 to 50 miles every day to work.”
Manufacturing Roots
Kohler (1,400 employees), 3M (600 employees) and Superior Essex (500 employees) are some of the area’s manufacturing heavyweights. 3M’s Brownwood operation opened in 1965, and is now one of the international company’s largest facilities. The plant occupies more than 800,000 square feet and employs between 500 and 600, depending on time of year. Reflective materials for license plates, signs, apparel and other purposes are the calling card of the Brownwood plant, which ships its products to customers around the world.
“You see products all over that read ‘Made in China,’ but we make ours here (in Brownwood) and then export them around the world, including to China,” says Plant Manager Dean Mill. “We feel we’re one of the success stories for manufacturing in a small community. We’ve had a very good partnership.”
City leaders and the area’s higher education providers embrace filling local industry work force needs. Howard Payne University, Ranger College and Texas State Technical College all have campuses in Brownwood. Ranger’s campus offers general education courses in addition to a licensed vocational nursing program and the science and biology courses that go with it to, so to speak, manufacture qualified nurses. The region’s health industry is buoyed by the Brownwood Regional Medical Center, Texas’ largest rural hospital with about 650 employees.
