By the time you read this, President Donald Trump might finally have accepted reality and conceded the election. Or, there might be a coup or a zombie apocalypse; it's been that kind of year.

QUAKERTOWN, PA—Systems integrator Demco Automation has received a second consecutive Gold Medallion Award from the U.S. Department of Labor for recruiting, hiring and retaining veterans.

WASHINGTON—New orders for U.S.-made goods increased solidly in September, but further gains could be limited amid an anticipated slowdown in consumer spending as government money for businesses and workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic runs out.

MESQUITE, TX—The FNA Group, a manufacturer of gas and electric powered generators, pressure washers and accessories, has opened a new 400,000 square-foot manufacturing and distribution center here.

Since the end of the Great Recession, U.S. manufacturing jobs increased steadily, from 11.5 million in December 2009 to 12.9 million in November 2019.

WAYNESBORO, VA—Virtex, an electronics manufacturing service provider to military, aerospace, and medical customers, is adding a new product line to its manufacturing facility here.

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN—A manufacturing program at Purdue University recently announced nearly $18 million in federal funding to expand its work with Indiana businesses.

The impact of COVID-19 on this country didn’t need to be this bad. It shouldn’t have been this bad. But this is what happens when a country turns its back on manufacturing. America traded its independence for short-term corporate profits, and recovery is going to take much more than a few trillion dollars in federal emergency loans. A euthanized industrial base can’t magically be brought back to life.