Manufacturing Mornings is a quarterly program of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce offering opportunities for business leaders to make connections and learn about the different work environments and processes of local manufacturing companies. This program also helps to spread the word about driving the advanced manufacturing industry in the region.

Representing 12% of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area’s economy, the manufacturing industry contributes about $22 billion to the area annually, according to Senior Vice President of Economic Development Clark Duncan. A wide variety of items are manufactured in the area including satellites, food, automotive and aerospace parts, beer, and power generation equipment.

Last week, Manufacturing Mornings was held at Eaton Corporation, a business that has been part of the Asheville community since 1977 when the facility originally launched as Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Over the years, Eaton has continued to be a major employer and contributor to the Asheville area. 

Eaton is an intelligent power management company manufacturing electrical and industrial equipment including circuit boxes, aerospace filtration systems, and electric vehicle chargers. They conduct business in more than 170 countries and produce annual sales in excess of $20.8 billion.

Eaton Site Leader Jody Grabowski said with so many companies working to reach Net Zero goals, there is no better time to be in the intelligent power management business. Manufacturing products that help with electrification, digitization, grid resilience, and renewable resources like solar and wind, Grabowski said Eaton is an important part of the supply chain for many other companies across the US and around the world to reach their goals of carbon neutrality.

The Asheville facility employs 992 individuals (September 2023) who have an average length of service of nearly 10 years. The Haywood Road facility has 375,000 square feet of space in which to produce items like low voltage assemblies, unit substation transformers, automatic transfer switches, and more.

In addition to its products, Eaton also supports its billions of dollars of annual sales with millions of annual customer interactions through its EatonCare program providing customer and technical support from its central location in Asheville. The centralized location allows Eaton to provide consistency in training and knowledge all while supporting a variety of different markets. By creating physical products and offering professional customer service in one location, Eaton has been able to expand pathways of career development for its employees.