Made in America: Delta Regional Authority helps invest nearly $100 million into West Tennessee economy

Editor’s note: Each Sunday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Made In America,” a round-up of state and global manufacturing news.

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DELTA REGIONAL AUTHORITY WITH LOCAL AND STATE PARTNERS INVEST NEARLY $100 MILLION INTO THE WEST TENNESSEE ECONOMY
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Delta Regional Authority Federal Co-Chairman Chris Masingill, together with public and private partners, announced on Oct. 13 nearly $100 million in new investments into strengthening infrastructure, supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs, and attracting new companies to West Tennessee.

The investments – a combination of the DRA’s 2016 economic development awards as well as state, local, and private resources – are expected to create and retain hundreds of local jobs, train workers, and support industries across the region.

To date, the DRA’s States’ Economic Development Assistance Program investments, together with its state and local partners, have leveraged $138 million in federal resources into more than $2.9 billion in public and private investment into local small business owners, entrepreneurs, workers, and infrastructure development projects. These investments have helped create or retain more than 26,000 jobs since the DRA was established.

BLS: ENGINEERING OCCUPATIONS TO ADD 65,000 NEW JOBS BY 2024
Employment of engineers is projected to grow 4% from 2014 to 2024, adding about 65,000 new jobs, according to forecasts by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among engineering specialties, several are projected to grow even faster than the 4% growth for engineers or the 6.5% growth for all occupations, including biomedical engineers (23.1%), environmental engineers (12.4%), and civil engineers (8.4%).

Three engineering occupations are projected to lose jobs from 2014 to 2024. Electronics engineers, except computer, are projected to lose about 1,900 jobs or 1.4%. Aerospace engineers are projected to lose about 1,600 jobs or 2.3%, and nuclear engineers are projected to lose about 700 jobs, or 4%.

The median annual wage for engineers in 2015 was $90,060. Petroleum engineers had the highest median wage, $129,990. Agricultural engineers had the lowest median wage, $75,090. For all types of engineers, a bachelor’s degree is the typical education needed to enter the occupation.

GLOBAL 2Q PULPWOOD PRICES UP AFTER DECLINING FOR SEVEN STRAIGHT QUARTERS
Prices for both wood chips and pulp logs have trended downward for a long time, but this came to an abrupt halt in the second quarter of 2016 when the softwood price index rose 2.3% and the hardwood price index increased 3.7% from a year ago, according to the latest Wood Resource Quarterly.

Wood fiber costs currently account for almost 60% of the cash costs when manufacturing wood pulp. The wood fiber costs for the world’s pulp industry had trended downward for almost five years until this year when both the softwood and hardwood fiber price indices jumped in second quarter. The two indices rose because price increases were seen for wood chips and pulp logs in practically every major market around the world.

The historically low wood fiber costs bode well for the world’s pulp and paper industry. With market pulp prices currently being slightly below their ten-year averages, the wood costs as a percentage of the market pulp price are close to their lowest levels in almost 15 years.