Syracuse manufacturer Morse Manufacturing named Exporter of the Year

A Syracuse manufacturer best known for moving industrial drums safely and efficiently is getting new attention for how far its products travel. Morse Manufacturing was named Exporter of the Year, a recognition that puts a long-running Central New York factory in the middle of a global trade story that reaches from Syracuse to customers in more than 55 countries.

The award landed during National Small Business Week, giving the honor added weight for a region that still leans on manufacturers to anchor jobs, supplier contracts and industrial know-how. Morse Manufacturing, founded in 1923 and still family-owned, says it has grown into a global leader in industrial drum-handling equipment while continuing to make its products in the United States. International sales accounted for nearly 19 percent of its revenue in 2024, a share that shows how much of the company’s business now depends on demand beyond the local market.

That matters in Onondaga County because export performance is not just a trophy case metric. A company that sells abroad is more likely to support steady production schedules, specialized labor and a network of vendors that supply metal, parts, shipping and maintenance services. When a Syracuse manufacturer expands its reach overseas, the payoff can ripple through the local industrial base, from workers on the floor to the smaller firms that help keep a plant running.

For a region that often measures its economic future through big projects and public investment, Morse offers a different model: a legacy manufacturer that has stayed rooted here for more than a century while competing in world markets. The company’s continued U.S. manufacturing gives the award a local jobs angle as well as a trade angle, especially as Central New York leaders look for ways to preserve industrial employment and attract the next generation of skilled workers.

The question now is whether export growth at a company like Morse turns into more than recognition. Sustained foreign sales can point to broader demand, which can eventually mean more hiring, more apprenticeship interest and more work for the region’s industrial supply chain. In a county where economic identity still matters, a Syracuse firm shipping equipment around the globe is a reminder that the local economy is built not only on what arrives in Central New York, but on what leaves it.