America’s recent effort to revitalize domestic manufacturing has focused on encouraging major manufacturers to locate their facilities in the United States.

However, that revitalization depends not simply on the location of large facilities but on mapping and connecting statewide and regional networks of suppliers: small-scale manufacturers that can support those large facilities.

Fortunately, models already exist, and new technology is revolutionizing the process—with great promise for the nation.

That promise can benefit every part of the nation. While large factories can only locate in so many places, small-scale manufacturers can grow everywhere. They can support their own communities and generate new local revenue, while serving the needs of larger manufacturers at a distance.

In doing so, they can provide a vibrant and varied pipeline of skills, products and innovation. That’s because small-scale manufacturers train their employees with skills that are relevant to other manufacturing settings; they provide services and products needed by larger manufacturers; and their creativity and inventions generate new products that larger manufacturers increasingly require to maintain their competitive edge in pursuing new markets. 

Yet that pipeline is at present largely invisible, even though it stretches from one end of the nation to the other. Most states don’t even track how many small-scale manufacturers they have, as I’ve learned in my work advancing small-scale manufacturing across the country over the last decade. 

If we don’t know where the small-scale manufacturers are, how can the nation benefit sufficiently from the pipeline? How can large manufacturers draw on it to support economic growth broadly?

Fortunately, several key models demonstrate the opportunity, the progress and the innovation. And AI tools will continue to change these dynamics rapidly. 

A Template in the Carolinas

One fully formed model is the Carolina Textile District, which draws on the textile expertise of North and South Carolina to promote and provide access to an extensive varied network of businesses with skills relevant both to entrepreneurs and to large companies. It offers access, for instance, to business development; testing and certification; design, cut and sew; material sourcing; printing and dyeing; labels and packaging; and production and samples.

While directories and partnerships like this don’t need to focus on a particular industry, it does help establish their expertise and preeminence. Not only can states collaborate, but nearby cities and counties can pool their resources as well.

The beauty of small-scale manufacturers is that they have multiple revenue streams, which make them especially resilient and adaptable. They sell to both consumers and larger businesses. They can sell in person and online; retail and wholesale. 

To take full advantage of the economic power of small-scale manufacturers, states should prioritize mapping their presence and expertise, create directories and actively connect and promote them. These actions would benefit both the smaller product businesses and the larger ones, as the available expertise would be clear and the larger manufacturers would know what capacities are available to them.

New Tools for Mapping

New tools are advancing this opportunity: The Manufacturing Intelligence Platform, for instance, provides data on manufacturing in every state: the extent of the presence, the key industries and the supply chain. Its AI-driven mapping shows the connectivity of the supply chain at the county or regional scale, revealing the potential of any network in any geography.

In addition, the American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative is creating and strengthening an alliance of communities with regional economic development initiatives underway. The alliance includes such initiatives as Pacific Northwest Advanced Materials; Central Valley (California) AgPlus Food and Beverage; Louisiana Chemical Manufacturing Corridor; Southwest Alabama Ship Building/Aerospace; Ohio Defense Manufacturing Community; and Tennessee Valley Auto Manufacturing.  

While neither of those two tools provides the names of individual businesses, they both offer vital insights into the economic strengths, competitive edge, and expertise in various areas of the country. Part of the challenge of identifying all small-scale manufacturing businesses and their skills stems from the fact that current North American Industry Classification System manufacturing codes are limited to a subset of narrowly defined manufacturing and fabrication codes (NAICS 31-33). Business owners select their NAICS code from those three when they launch, but as many as 50 different codes actually encompass the full pipeline of the small-scale manufacturing sector. Many databases also exclude solo entrepreneurs, an oversight all the more pronounced given the evolving power of AI to strengthen those entrepreneurs’ capacities both in revenue and in local impact.

Another evolving initiative – a company called Nterprisers – has taken the next step to create a search, discovery and connection platform that does identify individual companies and provides a hub for industry collaboration. It has mapped out the manufacturing supply chain and sector resources of Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York, and will include all of New England soon. In Rhode Island, it highlights all privately-owned manufacturers, searchable by such topics as industry sector, capabilities, geography, certifications and keywords.

Still another evolution is represented by FORGE, a nonprofit organization that helps innovators with physical products move from prototype to commercialization and growth at scale. With locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut, FORGE has supported more than 1,100 innovative hardtech companies during its 10 years of operations. Twenty-four percent of FORGE-assisted companies have moved from pilot to full commercial production, a much higher rate of success than the average startup.

The beauty of these models is that they are applicable everywhere, because every state—and every city, county and town—has the culture and legacy on which new small-scale manufacturing businesses can be built. Every state and region has resources that can be effectively networked to create directories of those strengths. 

 The collection and promotion of those strengths add up to a major economic impact. That impact can then address and attract the needs of larger businesses, while contributing to a more fertile and catalytic environment for advancing small-scale manufacturing throughout the nation in big cities and rural towns. If that dynamic is harnessed effectively, a robust future for domestic manufacturing awaits.