Crate this

Three years ago, Gary McKinley helped move a manufacturing plant from Sarasota to Malaysia, where the cost of doing business was lower.

Now, McKinley's company, Craters & Freighters of Southwest Florida, isn't shipping as much equipment out of the area. “It's slowed down and we're seeing more and more new business come in,” he says.

McKinley's shipping company in Cape Coral helps specialty manufacturers from Bradenton to Marco Island crate and ship their products globally, so his business is a good gauge of the manufacturing economy in Southwest Florida.

Over the last three years, McKinley says the volume of business has increased 30% as manufacturers ship more goods. “Many of us cut everything to the bone to get the overhead down,” McKinley says.
“Now it's catch-up time.”

Manufacturing got a boost last year when Florida eliminated the sales tax on manufacturing equipment. McKinley waited until the sales tax was eliminated in April 2014 to buy about $200,000 worth of equipment for his own crating business. He estimates he saved about $12,000. “We've continued to invest in new equipment,” McKinley says.

McKinley says his customers also have the wherewithal to invest in new equipment. “They can afford to do new things now,” he says.

Besides being the president and CEO of Craters & Freighters of Southwest Florida, McKinley is also president of the Southwest Regional Manufacturers Association. His goal is to triple the group's current membership to 150 this year.

The organization recently hired Cape Coral Mayor Marni Sawicki as its executive director. “She's done a phenomenal job getting us organized,” says McKinley.

“There's so much specialty manufacturing here,” says McKinley. Many manufacturing entrepreneurs have moved their companies to Southwest Florida from manufacturing hubs in the Midwest, lured by lower costs and better quality of life. A recent count of manufacturers in the 941 and 239 area codes revealed 1,200 companies, up from 1,000 during the downturn but still below the 1,800 in 2008.

The organization's challenge is to bring manufacturers together because many have customers outside Southwest Florida and don't network with their peers locally. Raising awareness of manufacturing will also help companies recruit, McKinley says. “We need students to realize that there are jobs in Southwest Florida,” he says.

McKinley doesn't disclose his own customers' names for competitive reasons, but he says there's a wide diversity of specialty manufacturers who pay from $150 to $2,000 for a specialty crate. The most unusual shipment he's made was a 25-foot human air cannon to Osaka, Japan, last year.

“All of us are doing better and reinvesting with the stronger dollar and lower gasoline prices,” McKinley says. He's not worried about the growing strength of the dollar for exporters: “Our businesses are going to get better and more efficient.”

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