ALPENA — Manufacturing has been an integral part of Northeast Michigan’s economy for a long time.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, manufacturing made up 13% of all industry in the region in 2022, making it the second-largest sector behind education, health care, and social services.

Those in the industry believe that manufacturing will continue to rise.

Adam Poll, president and CEO of the Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce, said Northeast Michigan is unique with its large number of manufacturing facilities.

“When you look at many other areas in northern Michigan, they rely principally on tourism and things of that nature,” said Poll. “We have a very important, very significant manufacturing and industrial base.”

Poll said Northeast Michigan’s thriving manufacturing sector exists primarily because of the vast amount of natural resources found in the region, but Poll said the sector has also seen a rise in manufacturers who expanded beyond that, making manufacturing in Northeast Michigan extremely diverse.

“Many of our manufacturing industrial facilities were often generated on natural resources, such as limestone or wood products,” said Poll. “Fortunately, there have been a number of other manufacturers that don’t necessarily rely on natural resources. We used to rely principally on natural resources, but, now, we have a very, very diverse set of manufacturers that play a significant role in employment in our community.”

Alpena County boasts a number of noteworthy manufacturers such as Besser Co., Omni Metalcraft, and Holcim Alpena, but several other manufacturers dot the region.

National Energy in Lincoln produces electricity by burning waste material it receives from suppliers. According to the plant’s manager, Robert Travis, the waste used consists mostly of discarded wood from sawmills, but other items like discarded railroad ties, used tires, and other forms of garbage are also used.

“Anything that’s garbage, we grind up and we burn and we make electricity out of it,” said Travis. “We have a contract with Consumers for energy, so they buy our electricity. It goes out into a grid and is sent to substations. There’s one in Alpena, and there’s one in Iosco County. They distribute the power to consumers.”

According to Travis, National Energy has had a good 2023 and is hoping to continue that trajectory for 2024.

“It’s been a really good year,” said Travis. “Things have been running good and we are one of the highest-producing power plants in terms of production, reliability, and capacity. Our main goal is to just keep doing what we’re doing.”

Another Northeast Michigan manufacturer is Moran Iron Works in Onaway.

Moran Iron Works is a commercial fabricator that provides steel parts to other industries for various uses.

“Primarily, we service the steel mill industries, critical infrastructure projects, or hydro dams, or other hydro needs,” said Moran Sales and Marketing Manager Lee Sayssaux. “We also service the mining industry by building all kinds of large steel products for them and the marine industry in northern Michigan by building vessels for some of the ferry lines and also for some commercial operators from the Great Lakes.”

Moran had a good but slow 2023 and is looking to maintain that energy in 2024.

“Been a little on the slower side, but there’s still been some larger projects available,” said Sayssaux. “We had one of our largest projects awarded in quite some time as a critical infrastructure job that we’re doing with American Bridge. We have a backlog already out in the middle of next year, meaning we couldn’t take on any more work in the first two quarters of the year, and we’re already looking to secure and lock up the rest of next year, probably as early as January ’24.”