Governor Stein Proclaims North Carolina Manufacturing Week

North Carolina Manufacturing Week

2026

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, North Carolina is home to the largest manufacturing workforce in the Southeast and the ninth largest in the United States, employing more than 450,000 workers who represent approximately 9 percent of the state’s total workforce; and

Whereas, North Carolina’s manufacturers make significant contributions to our economy, comprising approximately 13.1 percent of our state’s gross state product – the fourteenth highest ranking; and

Whereas, manufacturing is a major driver of exports for North Carolina; and in 2025, North Carolina exported more than $41 billion in manufactured goods, including pharmaceutical products, aerospace products, basic chemicals, engines, turbines and power transmission equipment, other general-purpose machinery, nonferrous metals, and meat products; and

Whereas, we recognize the immense skills and training required to work in manufacturing today; and the North Carolina Community Technical College System offers more than 800 courses covering manufacturing skills in biotechnology, aviation and defense, pharmaceuticals, and other advanced manufacturing fields; and

Whereas, North Carolina’s Community College System is partnering with local manufacturers to continuously develop and improve high-quality customized training programs that draw on the latest advancements; and

Whereas, during North Carolina Manufacturing Week, we acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of manufacturers in our state, as well as our manufacturing sector research initiatives and workforce development programs;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim September 28 – October 2, 2026, as “North Carolina Manufacturing Week” in North Carolina and commend its observance.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this fourteenth day of September in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-sixth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.