Shipbuilding was accompanied by a wide range of ancillary business including machine shops, foundries, cabinet and furniture factories, and silversmith shops.

He rather started ancillary businesses that supported the mining industry, such as banks and railroads.

Small machine shops and other ancillary businesses also sprang up to service the aerospace industry.

The most important economic asset was the enormous coal-mining industry and its ancillary businesses, but the area yielded iron, zinc, and lead as well.