You'll begin to notice a big push to position Milwaukee and the greater Milwaukee area as an innovative leader in manufacturing. And, that it is.

A report from last week, cited today by Biz Times, says the Milwaukee area is the No. 2 ranked "best city for industrial manufacturing." A post on newgeography.com says, "Particularly well positioned is No. 2 ranked Milwaukee, which is home to a wide array of specialized manufacturing firms ranging from machine tools to energy. Over the past year alone the region added almost 3900 heavy metal jobs and has consistently led other Great Lakes communities in job creation."

This is good news. Yet there's a talent shortage that goes deeper than a population and skilled worker issue. Fact is kids today don't see manufacturing as "cool" or even career based. Of course many manufacturing jobs are high paying, incredibly resilient and growing.

So, as I stated, watch for area leaders to begin to better trumpet the benefits of our area's strong manufacturing backbone. It's promotion that's over due.

Houston, by the way, ranked No. 1 in the survey.