UMA MEMBER COMPANIES IN THE NEWS:
ATK AWARDED $49.9 MILLION CONTRACT UB Daily ATK has been awarded a $49.9 million contract option from the U.S. View Full Article ZIONS BANCORPORATION ANNOUNCES ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS PR Newswire – UB Daily SALT LAKE CITY, April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zions Bancorporation will hold the company's meeting of shareholders on Friday, May 27, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. MDT. The meeting will be held at Zions Bancorporation headquarters, One South Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah. {read more} MANUFACTURERS TO HOST REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FORUM IN IOWA
Candidates Invited to Discuss Issues Critical to Job Creation and Competitiveness Nam Press Release The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and its Board Chair Mary Andringa will host a forum for the 2012 Republican presidential candidates in Pella, Iowa, on Nov. 1, 2011. The forum will be moderated by Iowa Gov. Terry E. Branstad. Vermeer Corporation’s headquarters will be the site for this important discussion. Vermeer is a family-owned manufacturing company that produces construction, agricultural and environmental equipment. Its products are used on job sites in more than 60 nations around the globe. Vermeer Corporation also operates sales manufacturing facilities in several countries and employs more than 2,400 people worldwide. Mary Andringa is Vermeer’s president and CEO and also serves as chair of the NAM Board of Directors. “Manufacturing is vital to the American economy, and we expect issues that affect manufacturers – from tax reform to energy security to job growth – to play a central role in the presidential election,” said Vermeer Corporation President Mary Andringa. “We look forward to welcoming the candidates to Vermeer and learning about their visions for keeping manufacturing in America strong.” "I am pleased to have been asked to participate in Vermeer Corporation and the National Association of Manufacturers' Republican presidential candidate forum," said Iowa Gov. Terry E. Branstad. "This is an excellent opportunity for all of the candidates to discuss manufacturing, trade, tax reform and other issues that are critically important to the state of Iowa and the United States' economic prosperity." The forum will provide an opportunity for the candidates to talk with manufacturers about their positions on critical issues. The NAM’s comprehensive “Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and a Competitive America” outlines three goals to keep manufacturing in America competitive which include making the United States: the best country in the world to headquarter a company and attract foreign direct investment; the best country in the world to innovate, performing the bulk of a company’s research and development; and a great place to manufacture, both to meet the needs of the American market and serve as an export platform for the world. “In today’s global economy, manufacturers are facing unprecedented challenges and costs imposed from Washington that hurt their ability to compete,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “We are excited to have the opportunity to discuss our goals for policies on taxes, trade and regulations that will promote sustained economic growth and job creation here in the United States.” The major Republican candidates running for President in 2012 will be invited to participate in the forum. The NAM will also extend an invitation to President Obama to meet with manufacturers to discuss issues critical to manufacturing competitiveness. The United States is the world’s largest manufacturing economy, producing 21 percent of global manufactured products. Nearly 12 million Americans are employed directly in manufacturing. Manufacturing in Iowa employs more than 200,000 people and accounts for more than 20 percent of Iowa’s economy. Today in Manufacturing The economy improved in every region of the country this spring, but higher oil prices remain a concern, according to a survey released by the Federal Reserve ... continue
Today in Manufacturing More people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the first increase in three weeks, but the broader trend points to a slowly healing jobs market ... continue
Today in Manufacturing Labor Department said Thursday the Producer Price Index, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer, rose 0.7 percent in March ... continue
Quick Manufacturing News However MAPI sees a 'clear and consistent picture of continued growth' Click to continue
Quick Manufacturing News Material handling equipment manufacturers are enjoying an uptick in demand for their products while the purchasing power of the consumers of the goods handled by that equipment is destined for a downswing, according to two new reports. Click to continue
Today in Manufacturing India is increasing safety features at all of its nuclear power plants to try to prevent a crisis like Japan's caused by seismic activity or an extended power loss ... continue
SENATORS SPONSOR BILL MANDATING NATIONAL 25% RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARD BY 2025
Kathleen Hart U.S. Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Mark Udall, D-Colo., introduced legislation to establish a federal renewable energy standard requiring utilities to generate 25% of their electricity from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources by 2025.
The bill, S. 741, would set the first national renewable energy threshold for utilities, with a 6% requirement by 2013, followed by gradual increases to meet the 25%-by-2025 goal. The Udall cousins introduced a similar measure in the House of Representatives in 2002, when both were members of the House. They noted that the House passed a renewable energy standard, or RES, amendment in 2007. They first introduced the legislation in the Senate after being elected to that body in 2008.
"Americans want to put our nation on a path towards energy independence, and this bill is our best chance to get America running on homegrown energy while creating good jobs for hardworking Americans," Tom Udall said in a news release. "Studies show that a federal RES would reduce energy bills, revitalize rural America, slow global warming and strengthen our energy security."
Under the legislation, suppliers can meet the federal requirements by purchasing credits from other entities that have obtained credits by producing renewable energy. It also allows utilities to bank credits for four years and to borrow credits up to three years in the future. Municipal and other publicly owned power plants and rural electric cooperatives would be exempted from the requirements.
In addition to Tom and Mark Udall, the bill had eight co-sponsors: Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Benjamin Cardin, D-Md.; John Kerry, D-Mass.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Bernard Sanders, I-Vt.; and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
"I was proud to lead the effort in Colorado to pass one of the country's first renewable electricity standards — and it has helped the state create over 30,000 new good-paying jobs and spurred the growth of one of the strongest renewable energy sectors in the country," Mark Udall said. "We can do the same thing across the country with a robust national RES. A national RES would unleash innovation, helping America compete for renewable energy manufacturing jobs and lead in the global economic race."
In his State of the Union address in January, President Barack Obama called for an 80% clean energy standard by 2035, which would include renewables, nuclear power and natural gas. Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman and ranking Republican, respectively, on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, recently released a white paper on a clean energy standard and are soliciting responses on how to design such a program.
"We believe our legislation will help inform their process by showing the support and potential for a renewable energy standard to play a major part in any energy legislation," Tom Udall said.
ECONOMY SLOWLY STARTING TO IMPROVE
DWS Trendlines-March/April It has taken awhile, but the initial steps of a self-sustaining economic recovery may be taking hold. This is a national economic view, and since Utah’s economy seems to be currently tied to the national economic performance, this finding should also apply to Utah. A self-sustaining economic recovery is one characterized with both rising employment and consumer spending. Even with this improvement in the economy, the unemployment rate may not show much improvement as we move through 2011. Utah’s year-overyear employment growth rate is currently around 1.0 percent, and is expected to rise throughout 2011 to around 2.0 percent by year’s end. Unfortunately, that is not enough growth to make much, if any, dent on the state’s unemployment rate. Utah has lost around 85,000 jobs during this recession. Unemployed have risen from roughly 45,000 to 102,000, producing an unemployment rate around 7.4 percent. If marginally attached (occasionally looking) and discouraged unemployed were also included, the unemployed would rise to around 130,000, and the rate to roughly 9.2 percent. A 2.0 employment growth rate by year’s end would mean a gain of around 22,000 of the 85,000 lost jobs. Job growth will lower the ranks of the currently unemployed, but it will also encourage some of the discouraged workers who left the labor market to start looking for work again, thus possibly keeping the volume of those unemployed in the official unemployment rate calculation unchanged. In other words, the projected job growth will move people off unemployment, but discouraged workers starting to look for work again may keep the unemployment rate from falling very much. Nearly all industries are expected to experience job growth in 2011, even construction and manufacturing. The only industry not expected to see growth is financial activities.
NAM SUPPORTS BUSINESS ACTIVITY TAX LEGISLATION
NAM Capital Briefing NAM-member Bobrick Washroom Equipment, Inc., from North Hollywood, CA, submitted a statement on behalf of the NAM for the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law hearing held April 13. The hearing focused on H.R. 1439, the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act (BATSA) of 2011. This bill was recently introduced by Reps. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) and is similar to legislation introduced in the last Congress, which was also supported by NAM. It would establish a bright line physical presence test for when states can tax out-of-state companies. The NAM urges representatives to cosponsor H.R. 1439. Details: Monica McGuire, (202) 637-3076.
1099 REPEAL LEGISLATION SIGNED INTO LAW!
NAM Today, April 14, the President signed into law H.R. 4, “Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act.”
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