Last week’s State of Manufacturing & Logistics event was packed with celebrations of success, including the 10th anniversary of Conexus Indiana, the 10th year of publication for the Manufacturing & Logistics National Report Card, and the incredible strides the manufacturing and logistics industries have made overall in Indiana.

Katz, Sapper & Miller’s 11th annual survey assessing the state of Indiana’s manufacturing and distribution industries is now underway.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) recently invited members of Manufacturing CPAs (Katz, Sapper & Miller included) to its Washington, D.C., office for an exclusive conversation about issues NAM is currently researching and advocating.

Ryan Miller, senior tax partner at Katz, Sapper & Miller, along with Bob Bracale, management consultant with KSM Consulting, will present at the KSM and Institute of Management Accountants – Indianapolis Chapter’s “2017 Tax Strategies and Lean Six Sigma in High-Performance Organizations."

Hoosier manufacturers, which represent the largest industry in the state, are bullish on the future even as financial performance markers are diminishing from the impressive rates seen early in the decade, according to the 2016 Indiana Manufacturing Survey: Roadblocks to Prosperity.

In the 2015 Indiana Manufacturing Survey: Back to Uncertainty, it was clear that the post-recession bounce had cooled … and so had manufacturing sentiment. The 2016 Indiana Manufacturing Survey results appear to show that regulatory burdens and the shortage of skilled workers continue to be top concerns for Hoosier manufacturers.

As economists and politicians continue to debate the latest GDP numbers, one conclusion can definitively be determined—manufacturing continues to dominate Indiana’s economy.

Employment reports published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in June confirmed the workforce issues facing manufacturers across the country: despite the high number of job openings, manufacturing employment continues to decline. With product demand continuing to grow, manufacturers must consider ways to combat the shortage of qualified workers.

Reshoring manufacturing jobs back to the United States has been a hot topic in the industry for the past few years. The question is, why should your company consider it? Some might argue that it’s a matter of patriotism; others argue it’s a simple matter of economics – manufacturers want to bring production closer to the actual consumers of their products.

More than 250,000 Hoosiers make their living working in advanced manufacturing. Nationally, Indiana has the third highest employment numbers in the sector, and recent data indicates Indiana has a healthy economic outlook going forward compared to other states in the region.