All of which led Martell to ask himself, if Magnetech was going to sink resources into recruiting workers, wouldn’t it make at least as much sense to invest in an in-house education program of its own? If the unions were no longer training apprentices, perhaps Magnetech would have to do it itself.

What should he do?

Don’t tell John Martell that manufacturing is dying in the United States. His company, Magnetech Industrial Services, is thriving, with eight locations and revenue of $25 million. Founded in 2000, the company, based in South Bend, Indiana, specializes in making, servicing, and repairing industrial magnets and electric motors of all sizes. It’s precisely the sort of old-school industrial production that has been headed overseas for years, and Martell is proud that he’s been able to keep 170 skilled laborers gainfully employed and his company on the upswing in the face of tough economic conditions.
Martell, 49, frequently walks the 25,000-
square-foot factory floor of his South Bend headquarters, where 22 of his workers, all of them members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, strip, test, and remanufacture engines for clients ranging from steel producers to city governments. But Martell began to recognize something worrisome—Magnetech, it was increasingly clear, had a labor problem. No, the workers were not restive, nor were pickets lining up outside. Instead, too many of his employees were gray-haired veterans of the industry.
Eventually they’d be retiring.