Crate this

Three years ago, Gary McKinley helped move a manufacturing plant from Sarasota to Malaysia, where the cost of doing business was lower.

Now, McKinley's company, Craters & Freighters of Southwest Florida, isn't shipping as much equipment out of the area. “It's slowed down and we're seeing more and more new business come in,” he says.

McKinley's shipping company in Cape Coral helps specialty manufacturers from Bradenton to Marco Island crate and ship their products globally, so his business is a good gauge of the manufacturing economy in Southwest Florida.