It amounted to $50,864 worth of work - and affirmation of a summer's worth of effort by Elliott Gold.
A policy fellow at the Greater Philadelphia Sustainable Business Network, Gold has spent the last three months assessing manufacturing's role in the city's economy.
His conclusion: "Manufacturing isn't dead, and there's a lot of potential."
But in all likelihood, that potential is not for the massive factories of old that employed hundreds, if not thousands, for round-the-clock shifts that turned out product in bulk.
Philadelphia's manufacturing future, Gold said, will be shaped by small, low-volume, and high-margin niche shops like Windle.
Whether that model will truly flourish, however, will depend on a concerted effort by the region's government, economic, labor, and educational leaders. They need to ensure there is an adequately trained workforce and public-private funding to help manufacturing companies to set up here - or, if they are already here, to expand or retrofit to capitalize on the momentum for alternative-energy sources and the equipment needed for them.
Wind turbines, batteries, solar cells, and energy meters have lots of parts.
"If we do this right, if we catch this wave at the forefront," Gold said, "we can really develop it in Philadelphia to build an entire supply chain, to make sure that it is sustainable."
His manufacturing study is intended to stimulate public policy and funding discussions among numerous groups on the topic of reenergizing and growing Philadelphia's manufacturing sector.
"We see this as painting the picture for the next year of work," said Kate Houstoun, green-jobs coordinator at the Sustainable Business Network.
