Manufacturing As already noted, the manufacturing sector is extremely varied, meaning its declines and recovery will vary as well. Sectors enjoying sudden surges in demand are likely to moderate to more typical levels as the pandemic and associated mitigation efforts recede. However, some products, such as PPE, are likely to retain a higher level of demand on an ongoing basis. Products manufactured for the foodservice industry will rebound automatically as the industry reopens, although lingering softness in demand due to permanent restaurant closures and permanent capacity changes will slow the recovery. Products manufactured for the construction sector and for the mining and extraction sector will take longer to see demand recover as their customers will still be awaiting a return of their own demand. The same will be true for products manufactured for the retail sector. The main potential opportunity that we see for tribal manufacturing is the combination of supply chain diversification and manufacturing repatriation that we expect to occur during the recovery and in the post-pandemic economy. This should more than counterbalance any loss of export business, except perhaps for individual tribal manufacturing ventures that focus more heavily on export markets. Through active lobbying efforts, creation of tribal consortiums and creative initiatives by individual tribes, we believe the manufacturing sector in tribal economies has the opportunity to grow beyond prior levels as recovery moves into the next economic growth cycle. Tribes have the land base, employment base (with necessary training), legal and regulatory structure, strategic locations and even free capital to become a major player in new manufacturing initiatives designed to protect the economy from the kinds of disruptions currently occurring whenever the next crisis occurs, not to mention a return to U.S. based production. Tribes will not be the only players or even the largest and not all tribes will participate evenly. However, many tribes, by working together, can generate significant new economic opportunities by leveraging their assets and the compelling need for economic opportunity to attract government programs and industry initiatives designed to reconfigure American manufacturing in a post-pandemic world. The degree of success will depend upon the amount of effort, creativity and cooperation tribes and tribal associations bring to the issue. Aside from the new manufacturing opportunities referenced in the preceding paragraph, the vertical integration and value-added concepts for agriculture already discussed and the need for more durable and purpose-built sanitation and separation equipment for casinos provide tribal manufacturing with other markets to target for additional manufacturing development. In both cases, tribes have direct control over end-user demand to some degree and can leverage that control into pre-qualified production targets for new or refocused production lines. Where the expertise and equipment are not already present, partnerships with existing private businesses can fill the gap. This is not unlike the development of Indian gaming itself in tis early days. Like that model, tribes can transition over time from greater outside support to full independence as their capabilities and expertise grow.
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