The work is devoted to the analysis of the development of machine-building complex in the Orenburg region. The main problems of regional engineering are associated with a constant investment deficit and the scarcity of financing programs aimed at modernization and innovative technical and technological updating of the engineering complex. The potential of small enterprises in high-tech industries is very high. These industries require the use of highly skilled labor, including researchers and scientists, which is very important for the preservation and development of the intellectual capital of the region. Small business in mechanical engineering is able to make a powerful leap forward in improving the business sector as a whole. A significant problem of regional engineering is the marked predominance of industrial engineering products and the extremely weak availability of engineering products for the population. In order to correct this imbalance, it is necessary to place engineering industries in small and medium-sized cities: Buzuluk, Buguruslan, Sorochinsk, Kuvandyk, Sol-Iletsk, Abdulino, which have a favorable transport position and favorable conditions for specialization and cooperation. In these centers at small enterprises, it is possible to organize the production of consumer engineering products, as well as components based on cooperation with larger engineering enterprises.