Role of Plastics Manufacturing in the Economy of Carbon, Monroe, Pike, & Wayne Counties

Abstract

The Penn State Workforce Education and Development Initiative conducted an analysis of the economic impact of plastics products manufacturing in Carbon, Monroe, Pike, and Wayne counties in Pennsylvania.

The Economic and Workforce Brief produced from this analysis provides a benchmark for measuring the total employment, employee compensation, and property taxes associated with every 100 workers employed in the plastics manufacturing industry in Carbon, Monroe, Pike, and Wayne counties.

Products provided by plastics manufacturing are classified in the North American Industrial Classification System code 326199. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, establishments in this industry “are primarily engaged in manufacturing plastics products (except film, sheet, bags, profile shapes, pipes, pipe fittings, laminates, foam products, bottles, plumbing fixtures, and resilient floor coverings.”

An Economic and Workforce Brief quantifies the role of every 100 workers employed in an industry in generating jobs, compensation, and property taxes. A Brief explains the potential impact of an industry by analyzing patterns of transactions among industries and purchases of consumers to document the contribution of a regional industry.

An analysis behind a Brief targets an industry (a group of establishments providing similar products or services), not an individual firm or single establishment. As a result, the economic and workforce impacts calculated represent an average, and the Brief does not forecast the specific impact of a particular establishment.

Keywords: economic impact, Pennsylvania, plastics manufacturing