Thermoforming Report

September Thermoforming Report. The Manufacturing Comeback: Which One?

by Keith Brown, President & Owner, Siena Group

September 2026.

Happy Friday! America is investing heavily in manufacturing again – new factories, new technology, reshoring, and billions of dollars in capital. But building factories is only part of the equation. This month’s feature article in our September Thermoforming Report takes a closer look at the manufacturing comeback – and the very different paths it could take.

As usual, we have several great articles relevant to our industry and quite a few amazing All Stars to highlight! Check them out down below in the links on the right. We have extraordinary talent that we feature and that also now includes Executive Leaders.

America is Building Again. But What Are We Building?

A Forbes article published in July caught my attention, and I think the subject deserves a closer look. It looks beyond the headlines about reshoring, tariffs, new factories, and manufacturing investment to ask a much bigger question: What kind of manufacturing economy are we actually building?

The author challenges the common belief that “a manufacturing comeback [is] one thing. It’s not.”  There was a major shift that occurred during my era: offshoring. “America would design, finance, brand, and sell. Someone else would make.”  But, as the article states, “the bill came due.” 

Instead of investing in American manufacturing, we shipped a tremendous amount of that knowledge, experience, and skill out of the country. “When the work moved offshore, learning did too.”

That last point really resonates with me. Manufacturing isn’t just about moving equipment into a building and turning it on. The knowledge of how to make things, how to improve processes, how to troubleshoot problems, how to maintain equipment, and how to develop the next generation of talent gets built through experience. When the work moves away, some of that knowledge moves with it.

COVID exposed just how vulnerable some of those global supply chains had become. The natural reaction was to bring more manufacturing back to the U.S. and reduce some of those dependencies. And it is happening.

“The money is certainly flowing.” Forbes points out that America invested roughly $458 billion in manufacturing construction in 2024 and 2025 – and more than three times the typical two-year stretch in the 2010s. The building boom is real. But, as the article puts it, “Buildings alone do not make a manufacturing base.”

Sitting in my chair, I can certainly sing that song! 

Check out any company website and see how many openings exist for hourly workers – from entry-level Operators to higher-level Process Technicians to Maintenance Technicians and more. The need is massive and widespread. 

People are one critical aspect of this comeback. The technology matters. The equipment matters. The capital matters. But someone has to know how to run it, improve it, troubleshoot it, maintain it, and lead the people doing the work.

Then the harder work begins: finding skilled workers, upgrading technology, strengthening cybersecurity, and making sure smaller manufacturers are prepared to compete for the work. The real concern is that America could build more factories without actually building a stronger manufacturing base.

And that is what makes this conversation so interesting. There isn’t just one possible version of a manufacturing comeback. There are several different paths this could take — and the Forbes article takes a closer look at those possibilities.

Five Versions of the Future

The article lays out five very different ways this manufacturing comeback could take shape. Each one presents its own opportunities, challenges, and implications for American manufacturers.

  1. The Roll-Up Future: “Small manufacturers are the backbone of the industry. They are also the most exposed. Small firms that modernize will stay independent and win more advanced work. Small firms that can’t, or won’t, will get swallowed by larger companies that can.”

    I see this in a variety of ways with client companies.  Though I’m not sitting in conference rooms with senior leaders and owners trying to navigate all the many inputs and cost pressures, it isn’t hard to connect the dots based on where the talent needs and gaps exist. It’s a massive challenge.

  2. The Fortress Future: “The fortress future takes shape if the U.S. becomes increasingly difficult to trade with. [It] gives America more control. It also risks leaving American manufacturing trapped inside its own walls.”

    We can all agree that this is happening to an extent. We also all know that the world is pretty small these days, and this kind of mentality just isn’t wise. We’ll see how this plays out over time.

  3. The Subsidized Future: “The subsidized future is what happens when America decides it wants to make things here that the market would otherwise buy cheaper abroad.” 

    This is difficult to sustain if it relies solely on that subsidy staying in place and propping up inefficient and expensive production. It sets us up for failure or a painful transition at a minimum.

  4. The Hard-Tech Future: “The hard-tech future is the one America should want most. It’s also the hardest to pull off.”

    A few companies came to mind immediately on this one: Tesla, Rivian, and SpaceX. All politics and opinions aside, you have to admit that these companies faced significant headwinds in many different ways and yet have established a pretty astounding manufacturing platform. 

    They seem to really fit this ‘hard-tech future’ that the article describes: significant capital investment, real innovation, and lasting production facilities. The number of direct employees? Approximately 135K at Tesla, 22K at SpaceX, and 15K at Rivian. And that doesn’t include all the variety of manufacturing that supports those companies. 

    Some of the innovations and achievements are truly remarkable and bring tremendous “American-made” value. This is more than simply bringing manufacturing back. It is building new capabilities and new industries around products and technologies that didn’t exist in quite the same way before.

  5. The Automated Future: “The automated future is the comeback with fewer people doing the same old factory work.”

    This is what everyone is freaking out about relative to AI. Driving efficiency is a good thing. But without growth, it becomes a net negative if viewed from 30,000 feet.
The Real Comeback

The article wraps up with some solid wisdom:

“These futures won’t arrive one at a time. They’ll mix. A manufacturer could face consolidation pressure, new defense demand, subsidized competitors, more automation, and hard-tech opportunities in the same few years. That’s why the point isn’t to predict the future perfectly. It’s to build a company that can handle more than one version of it.

America may get the factories back. But the real comeback is whether it can rebuild the capability to make them matter, and the growth to make automation a ladder instead of a layoff.”

Building a resilient company that can handle all of this starts with one thing: amazing people up and down the organization! 

Great leaders who anticipate and team members who can execute. 

Day in and day out. 

At Siena Group, we are your Thermoforming Talent Partner. With more than 30 years of experience in manufacturing, hiring & recruiting talent, we bring a greater understanding of the companies we partner with and the candidates we pursue.
Let’s Strengthen Your Search!

“Building a resilient company that can handle all of this starts with one thing: amazing people up and down the organization!”
Keith Brown, Owner/President, Siena Group

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Executive Showcase: Senior VP of Sales: This dynamic Sales Executive brings 30+ years of experience driving growth across plastics, thermoforming, extrusion, medical device packaging, and food packaging markets. He combines technical sales expertise with deep industry relationships, having generated nearly $10M in new thermoforming and extrusion sales while managing a $15M customer portfolio and previously building a $10M+ annual new-sales business from the ground up. He is seeking a senior commercial leadership role focused on new business development, strategic accounts, revenue growth, and customer partnership.

Packaging & Design Engineering Manager: This Packaging Engineering Leader brings 10+ years of experience developing medical device packaging solutions, with expertise in thermoformed packaging, sterile and non-sterile products, ISO 11607 compliance, validation, design verification, and manufacturing transfers. He has supported programs from concept through commercialization while leading, coaching, and mentoring engineering teams. He is seeking a leadership role in medical device packaging where he can combine hands-on technical expertise with team leadership and new product innovation.

Plant Manager: This proven Operations Leader brings 30+ years of manufacturing leadership across thin-gauge & heavy-gauge thermoforming, extrusion, and injection molding, including multi-site operations with budgets exceeding $68M and teams of 300+ employees. He has driven significant gains in OEE, safety, quality, productivity, and cost — including increasing thermoforming and extrusion OEE from 50% to 75% and delivering $3.5M in annual cost reductions through Lean and continuous improvement. Immediately available for Plant Manager, Site Director, or Manufacturing Director opportunities.

Senior Account Manager: This Strategic Account Leader brings 25+ years of healthcare packaging experience, with deep expertise in thin-gauge thermoforming, medical device and pharmaceutical packaging, and strategic account development. He has a proven record of growing complex healthcare accounts — including expanding one territory from $3M to $20M, delivering 60% growth in a single year, and doubling another from $2.5M to $5M. He is seeking a senior commercial opportunity where he can leverage his technical expertise and strong medical device and pharmaceutical relationships to drive growth.

Even More Thermoforming Talent! We work with so many talented people in many different functions – all in thermoforming. Whether it’s an Operations Leader, Plant Manager, Supply Chain Leader, HR Leader, specialized Engineer, Quality Leader, Sales Leader, or pretty much any thermoforming role, we are here to help. Check out our Executive Showcase, our custom listing of high-level senior leaders who are fully vetted and confidentially seeking a new opportunity. If you have a need, please do not hesitate to reach out! 

Click for more All-Stars + our new Executive Showcase.

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