California manufacturing has long been ahead of the curve. From autonomous transportation to sustainable solutions, California is continuing to evolve and elevate advanced manufacturing. With cities like Long Beach and San Francisco thriving, West coast manufacturers are leading the way for California’s economy and housing top industries and innovations.
Aerospace & Defense
California manufacturing is responsible for a large amount of all aerospace and defense exports. With leading companies incorporating 3D-printing and the extensive use of composites into their every day, experts believe the aerospace industry will grow an average of 5% through 2031.
California accounts for 9% of the global market for aerospace and the state saw a 48% growth from 2018 to 2020. Long Beach, affectionately called “Space Beach”, is at the center of the space and launch sector and generated more than 6,500 new jobs in the area. With some of the top manufacturing companies in California in the aerospace and defense sector, we can only expect to see more growth from the region.
Sustainability
Green technology and sustainability has long been a trend for California manufacturing. While California works towards 100% clean energy, some of their top manufactured goods follow suit. While the East coast focuses on wind energy, California manufacturing focuses on solar energy and electric vehicles. California currently produces 30% of the United States solar generation. Solar energy is one of the fastest-growing sources of energy. Jobs created in this field not only could replace jobs in traditional energy sources (oilfields and coal mines) but is often safer and more stable while creating a higher total output in the state.
Another major field of sustainability in California manufacturing is electric vehicles. A recent study stated that the Nation’s transition to electric vehicles will create roughly 2 million more jobs. A huge focus in the EV world right now is the creation of longer lasting batteries and larger fleets of vehicles. Because of the electric vehicle boom, California officials are even planning ways to incorporate battery-powered vehicles into their state’s infrastructure like adding more public battery chargers and electric vehicle public transportation.
Advanced manufacturing is consistently a top industry in California. To learn more about the featured technologies and growing industries on the West coast – attend WESTEC, California’s premier manufacturing trade show.