In The Cradle of Industry and Liberty

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Amuneal welder fabricating a piece, 2011.
Located in Frankford since its founding in
1965, Amuneal began as a metal shielding
fabricator but in recent years has moved
into design and fabrication of custom
furniture, store fixtures, architectural
elements, and public art.
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMUNEAL..
not the main driver of the city economy it
had once been, they charged the Task Force
with studying the state of manufacturing in
the Philadelphia area and recommending
ways to better support and enhance the
sector. In December 2013 the Task Force
issued Manufacturing Growth Strategy for
Philadelphia, a comprehensive report that
analyzed regional manufacturing in great
detail and outlined a number of strategies to
foster its growth.
Looking at both the City of Philadelphia
specifically and the broader eleven-county
metropolitan region (including the surrounding
suburban counties in Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, and Delaware), the report noted
that the region’s manufacturers produced
$105.6 billion in annual output and
employed 163,000 workers. In Philadelphia
specifically there were some 750 manufacturing
firms employing 23,000 workers who
made a total of $1.3 billion in wages. The
average annual salary for a Philadelphia
manufacturing worker was $58,977 and
manufacturing was the fifth largest sector of
the city economy in terms of wages, behind
health and social services, government,
professional services, and education.
To coordinate implementation of the
recommendations in the report a new
Philadelphia Office of Manufacturing and
Industry was created in early 2014.
Philadelphia Deputy Mayor for Economic
Development and Director of Commerce
Alan Greenberger, one of the co-chairs of
the Manufacturing Task Force, notes that
“manufacturing was an important part of
Philadelphia’s history and will be an integral
part of its future. A robust, diverse manufacturing
sector provides living wage jobs
and financial mobility for all Philadelphians,
while inducing indirect economic activity
from suppliers, wholesalers, service providers,
and utilities. With the city’s strategic location,
advanced infrastructure, clustering of international
leaders in energy/chemicals, transportation
equipment, life sciences, and food
processing, and the emergence of a growing
local Makers Movement, the prospects for
building Philadelphia’s manufacturing economy
are exciting.”
NEW FACE OF
PHILADELPHIA
MANUFACTURING
While the city works at the macro level
to improve conditions for manufacturing,
Philadelphia’s many small specialty manufacturers
continue to be the real strength of its
industrial economy. Some sixty percent of
the approximately 1,100 manufacturers in the
greater Philadelphia area in 2014 employed
twenty or fewer workers. This is the new face
of Philadelphia manufacturing in the early
twenty-first century: small, flexible, technology-driven
companies creating specialized
products for niche markets, employing anywhere
from a few to a few hundred workers.
Amuneal, a magnetic shielding and custom
design firm located in Frankford, was founded
in 1965 by husband and wife Seymour and
Harriet Kamens. The company fabricated metal
shielding products for high tech industries
such as electronics, healthcare, and aerospace.
Under the Kamens’ son Adam, who became
CEO in 2003, Amuneal began moving into
custom design and fabrication of furniture,
store fixtures, architectural elements, and
public art. Amuneal is still one of the nation’s
largest magnetic shield manufacturers, but more
than half of the company’s business is now in
design and fabrication projects for corporate
clients and high-end retailers. A family-run
firm, Amuneal’s more than 120 employees
include artists, designers, and engineers, in
addition to welders and metal workers.
Several local companies have grown
through adapting their products in response
to environmental concerns. PTR Baler and
Compactor Company, founded in 1907 as
Philadelphia Tram Rail and located in Port
Richmond, originally made overhead cranes
and heavy equipment for moving materials in
industrial settings. Later, it went into making
compacting and recycling machinery. PTR
is now the nation’s largest manufacturer of
vertical balers and waste compactors for the
retail industry, employing about 200 workers
and offering a range of sophisticated compacting
and recycling equipment that it sells
worldwide. Northeast Building Products, one
of Philadelphia’s fastest growing companies,
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