ceo of fernweh group chairman of avail infrastructure solutions and chairman of aynaai the american industrial economy has long been “underappreciated undervalued and misunderstood” despite being the backbone of our country’s economic growth and prosperity this sector is often overshadowed by the more glamorous service and tech sectors but as the world looks toward the future a resurgence seems to be underway at the forefront are companies with an unwavering passion for innovation dubbed the “titanium economy these hightech manufacturing firms are forging ahead with cuttingedge solutions and technologies—much like the durable and corrosionresistant properties of titanium the opportunities that this sector provides are plentiful and hopefully by the end of this article i’ll have inspired you to pay attention to this quiet but vital sector one of the main reasons for a historic underappreciation of this industry is the negative perception of manufacturing and industry as dirty polluting and lowskilled this couldn’t be further from the truth not only has the industrial sector made great strides in becoming more sustainable and environmentally friendly with many companies investing in renewable energy sources energy efficiency measures and cleaner production processes but many of the companies in this sector can serve as crucial leaders in the transition to a green economy this underappreciation also leads to the titanium economy being historically undervalued a focus on volatile sectors over longterm value accretion and stability has swayed many pundits and investors away from industrial companies with solid and recurring revenues while the stocks in the more glamorous sectors may fluctuate in the short term the industrial sector is a key driver of longterm economic growth and stability the industrial sector provides a solid foundation for the economy by creating highquality jobs generating wealth and supporting other sectors of the economy it is true that the last 20 years have seen a tremendous amount of value created in the digital sector software companies were able to scale incredibly quickly without requiring massive footprints however it looks likely that secular trends will refocus on manufacturing advances this refocused importance on the industrial sector is best illustrated with an example take the example of electrical infrastructure to achieve a carbonneutral economy massive investments in new transmission lines and substations along with the deployment of energy storage systems will be required to ensure that renewable energy sources can reliably replace fossil fuels another microvertical aviation requires massive financing to upgrade ground service equipment gse infrastructure that can meet the rising sustainability demands from netzero aviation these new technologies that need to be deployed are incredibly advanced projects that require decades of manufacturing knowhow and cannot be easily learned or replicated by a line of code while climate change is just one of the tailwinds that will likely refocus the primacy of the titanium economy there are many other sectors like quantum computing and 5g that have the potential to drastically improve efficiency and drive down costs allowing for even further disruption by the titanium economy despite strong foundations the domestic industrial base has faced numerous challenges in recent years from offshore competition including globalization physical restructuring and a lack of investment in domestic industrial technology business as usual risks the united states losing its industrial base to competition abroad action is needed for the us to maintain its preeminence as a world manufacturing superpower as investors we can support the titanium economy by helping companies identify what good looks like sometimes leaders of industrial companies have trouble understanding what success looks like many of these companies operate in a few micro verticals or are family businesses where they don’t have a clear definition of being successful as investors we can help leaders stay accountable by creating targets and measuring results continuously and automatically on the public policy level change is also needed consider making education including full apprenticeships part of career and technical education cte programs many of the companies that i talk to are strapped for students who are interested in roles in manufacturing providing technical education and apprenticeships can help attract students while getting them the experience and training they need for solid employment on this i would recommend that companies go past internships that engage students on a parttime or limited basis and create full apprenticeships programs where we’re able to incentive skill building and longterm skills development allowing for students to feel like they have skin in the game one other area that i think could be incredibly important is for the industry to petition the government to lead the way by following models like germany’s meisterschules which are partnerships between education and industry in critical areas such as robotics and advanced manufacturing federal governments can also develop government bonds or create national development banks that can help many small and mediumsized industrial companies finance their capital expenditure during this critical juncture historically research and development rd spending allowed the us to have a worldclass industrial sector but rd investments in countries like germany and south korea threaten the uss competitive edge by investing in leading companies within such microverticals the industrial sector can become more efficient productive and innovative leading to broader economic growth and increased national competitiveness many of the companies i’ve worked with in this space are trailblazing enterprises that struggle to access affordable capital and often lack the most uptodate operating systems if these companies invest in areas like innovation education and technological transformation they can create value through increased efficiencies—becoming more environmentally friendly in the process as stated earlier the titanium economy has historically been undervalued but this need not be the case through investing in this sector we can create a cleaner more prosperous and secure america past performance is not indicative of future results this information is not independently verified and should not be relied upon in making investment decisions or interpreted as investment advice forbes business council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders do i qualify