There’s been no shortage of articles that claim U.S. manufacturing is poised for a comeback. But earlier this month, the Washington Post investigated the issue in more detail to ascertain whether there has been too much hype around manufacturing or whether we should truly expect to see the industry rebound.

The good news: there are 520,000 new manufacturing jobs in the U.S. since January 2010.

Yet in digging deeper, the Washington Post uncovered that only 50,000 of these jobs have been a result of companies reshoring their operations in the U.S. What’s more, all of the new manufacturing jobs represent only a fraction of the 6 million manufacturing jobs that were lost from 2000 to 2009. The 500k+ new jobs that have been added to the U.S. economy might simply be a result of the economy, more broadly, improving.

Jan Hatzius, Goldman Sachs’ Chief Economist, puts it bluntly: “Evidence for a structural renaissance is scant so far.”

And while there may be little evidence thus far, there are certainly reasons to think that industrial activity will be coming back to the U.S., at some point, likely in the next 5-10 years. ICIC research and others give a few reasons why:

Earlier this week, policymakers and private sector leaders gathered at the Treasury Department for a summit on capital formation. Not surprisingly, business owners, bankers and federal officials had very different opinions on the availability of capital for small businesses—the very same businesses that we have been relying on to jumpstart the nation’s economy.

“I’ll be honest, this is not an area where, when you go out and talk to the world, you hear the same thing,” said Gene Sperling, director of the White House’s National Economic Council.

And sure enough, the banking industry jumped to defend its lending practices. “I think it’s a bit of a myth that banks aren’t lending,” said Beth Mooney, chairperson of Key Bank in Cleveland.

While capital availability may vary depending on the business, its owners and the location, one thing holds true: urban small business owners struggle to obtain the financing needed to grow and scale their companies.

To spur continued growth, the City of New Orleans has just announced ProsperityNOLA, a five-year economic development strategy formulated with resident input and in partnership with the local business community.

The New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA) calls the initiative a “living, actionable plan, created through months of data-driven planning, that will foster Mayor Landrieu’s vision for a diverse, sustainable and prosperous economy for all citizens.” Moreover, the plan identifies ways for businesses to stay local, invest locally, and grow locally. From October 2012 until May of this year, NOLABA, with the aid of ICIC, helped convene an advisory board comprising 75 business leaders across a range of industries to meet and outline a strategic focus for the project. The growth strategy started with 13 target industries before that was cut to five and culminated in the creation of ProsperityNOLA. 

With this trend in mind, the City of Philadelphia has reached out to local tech entrepreneurs to see if they can collaborate to procure services for less.

In a webinar hosted by the Kauffman Foundation, Jeff Friedman, the Co-Founder of the Philadelphia Office of New Urban Mechanics, explains how the synergy came about.

The idea sprouted after the Google Fiber competition, where Google was pitching to cities the concept of installing high-speed fiber-optic broadband throughout an entire city. As Philadelphia was putting together its application, the enthusiasm from the tech and innovation crowd in the city was overwhelming. It highlighted the power of convening these groups.

Emphasizing the “Why” Simon Sinek, in this widely viewed TED talk on marketing and the “golden circle”, had the memorable insight that “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Happy Family, as a double-bottom line company, truly seems to embed this insight into every aspect of its business operations. When asked why she started her business, CEO Shazi Visram goes through a litany of health statistics and problem solving before even bringing up a market opportunity or profits: “Happy Family was borne out of the health problems in the U.S. 1 in 3 babies will get Type 2 diabetes before the age of 12 and taste buds get trained from a very young age. My dream was not just to create a company for profit but also to build a model for giving back.” With a network of organic family farmers worldwide to help source the raw materials for their products, joint product development with nutritionists and pediatricians, and an emphasis on sustainability in packaging and production, this company not only creates its products, it lives their ideals.

Mommy Marketing and the Product Ecosystem Happy Family, launched in Mother’s Day in 2006, is now in over 17,000 stores and 30 countries worldwide. How did they get as ubiquitous as Tupperware? In fact, the comparison is apt; just as Tupperware parties leveraged women across the country to directly sell and familiarize their communities with the containers, Happy Family boasts the modern day equivalent. Input from and interaction with “mommy bloggers” and the recruitment of over 25 “Happy Momma” brand ambassadors coordinating states across the country have no doubt played vital roles in the company’s growth. And just as Nike famously created the market for their products by bringing professionalism to athletic shoes, Happy Family publishes targeted nutrition guides and pieces on its blog that have encouraged the ecosystem for their products. Time-tested marketing strategies and product sincerity aside, this company started like many others: with a lot of hard work and a bit of luck. 

Today, applicants and their teams will reconvene at the Boston Fed for an all-day workshop to really hone in on the “systems change” aspect of the competition. Teams will analyze the systematic barriers to change in their cities and identify what actions are necessary to achieve systems change. Leaders from the private sector, including the CEOs of Partners HealthCare and CityFresh Foods, will provide insight to applicants on the most effective way to engage the private sector in these collaborative efforts.

This Working Cities Challenge, supported by Living Cities, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED), and the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MCP), pits 20 Massachusetts cities against one another for the chance to receive up to $700,000. Applicants from smaller cities (population between 50,000 and 250,000) are pitching their ideas for how to best improve the lives of low-income residents in their urban core. The eligible cities were selected because they each have a median income below the national average, and poverty rate that exceeds the national average.

For its first 40 years, Marlin Steel Wire Products made exactly what its name implied--steel wire baskets. A few years after I bought the company in 1999, we made a major transition from building steel wire baskets used primarily by bagel bakeries to making steel wire baskets for much more specialized, high-tech clients in fields like aerospace, automotive and pharmaceuticals.

That proved much more fruitful, but we kept exploring. We always canvass our customers for feedback and a few years ago noticed that some seemed frustrated because they sometimes had to wait for a second vendor to produce the sheet metal portion of our wire containers. Often, we were just as frustrated ourselves. We’d move like lightning to produce a basket order but then have to wait weeks for someone else to do the sheet-metal finishing touch. All that hurry-up-and-wait was painful.

I’m a big believer in feeding the niches that appreciate you. We pour resources into our strengths and take them from our weaknesses. Discern a pattern where you’re successful and focus on that. Concentrate on how you can be more appealing to those promising niches. Make massive investments in a certain area. Be No. 1 in that zone.

Two years ago we decided we’d had enough. We invested $2 million in machines to laser-slice, punch and fabricate sheet metal. We also bought out own Haas milling machine so we could do our own tooling to speed jobs and wouldn’t have to wait for someone else to make tooling for us. The investment paid off, proving a major contributor to our rapid growth.

Boston’s Downtown Crossing, once a vibrant retail and office destination, experienced a tumultuous period after many big-name shops, including Filene’s Basement and Barnes and Noble, went out of business during the economic downturn. But businesses are coming back—bigger and better than ever.

At the forefront is Walgreens. Walgreens? A pharmacy leading the way? Yes, Walgreens.

Recently, Walgreens opened a new 24,000 square foot location in the Boston Five Cents Savings Bank Building—otherwise known as the former home of Border’s bookstore. This flagship store isn’t just massive. It is serving as a one-stop shopping destination for area residents and mid-week shoppers.

While picking up their toiletries and medications, people can now swing by the juice bar to enjoy a fresh made-to-order smoothie. Those hoping to get a quick manicure or trim before going out at night can stop into the nail and hair salons at the new Walgreens. Hungry? The prepared foods section is huge, and includes a hand-rolled sushi bar.

In a recent interview Gary Hobbs, the CEO of BWI, LLC, explained that he intentionally hires local residents for positions at his development and construction firm. BWI works in conjunction with Indianapolis community organizations to create linkages with underserved workers and employment opportunities in his firm. Indeed, Hobbs has even made it a point to engage the local high school. BWI visits the local high schools to generate interest in the firms for adolescents—serving as an entry point for many otherwise unskilled workers.

Opportunities such as these are critical for inner city residents. ICIC research shows that historically, certain industries, such as construction, have “served as gateways for individual of modest backgrounds to gain traction in the broader economy.” Well-paying jobs in these industries provide pathways out of poverty, all the more important for inner city residents: despite comprising only 0.1% of U.S. land area, inner cities are home to 31% of the nation’s minority poverty.

The hiring of local residents has fared well for BWI. In addition to recruiting underserved residents, BWI provides continuing education to its employees to ensure team members’ growth. As a result, BWI has very low employee turnover and high customer retention because the contractors foster strong, ongoing relationships with their clients.

What explains this proliferation of green jobs? According to Sara Sutton Fells, CEO of FlexJobs, there are two reasons for the increase: “One, because emphasis on environmental responsibility is growing. Startups, nonprofit organizations and small businesses are cropping up every day with environmentally-focused missions, products and services.” And two, our understanding of green jobs is evolving and encompassing more jobs; traditional companies have been pressured into becoming greener.

Let’s be clear: defining a green job isn’t easy. To some, a “green job” is one associated with employment at “green” companies—or those businesses that are focused on developing alternative energy sources or creating products with low environmental impact. To others, a “green job” can be more traditional employment, such as an HVAC professional, wherein the person is engaged in “greening” activities, such as the installation of solar panels.