Posts for May 19, 2011

UMA MEMBER COMPANIES IN THE NEWS:

USANA HEALTH SCIENCES ANNOUNCES PLANS TO EXPAND OPERATIONS
UB Daily

USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (NYSE: USNA) announced plans to expand into Thailand in the fourth quarter of 2011. This will be USANA’s 16th market in which independent distributors sell USANA’s high quality, science-based products.
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UTAH RANKS HIGH IN ADAPTING TO AN EVOLVING WORLD TRADE MARKET

UB Daily

Goods and materials produced by firms in several states are in high demand as world trade markets continually evolve, says a new ranking of international exporting by Ball State University. "U.S.
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NOVELL ANNOUNCES RETURN TO UTAH HEADQUARTERS

UB Daily

Novell, Inc., a business unit of The Attachmate Group, announced a new executive leadership team with a mission to rededicate and refocus on the end- user computing solutions used by many of Novell’s long-standing and loyal customers and partners. Under the leadership of Bob Flynn, president and general manager of Novell, the Novell management team will continue innovating next-generation products while also nurturing the mature and widely adopted Novell® solutions.
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FEWER PEOPLE APPLIED FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

Today in Manufacturing
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply for the second straight week, suggesting the job market is slowly recovering ... continue

NEW LEADER SELECTED FOR STATE AIR-QUALITY PROGRAMS

By Judy Fahys - The Salt Lake Tribune

Bryce Bird is the new leader of Utah’s Division of Air Quality.
Bird, who has been manager of the division’s planning branch for four years, took over the position Wednesday, replacing Cheryl Heying.

“Bryce has the proven experience and leadership abilities to move us forward to meeting our extensive air-quality challenges,” said Amanda Smith, director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

“Those challenges include a proactive approach to curbing air pollution in rural areas like the Uinta Basin under an individual devoted to that task.”

Also on Wednesday, Smith announced the creation of a new position, deputy director for air. The person who fills the position will coordinate with federal, tribal and local governments to help maintain rural Utah’s air so that it remains clean enough to continue complying with Clean Air Act standards.

Bird, meanwhile, has worked extensively with groups focused on pollution control plans required under federal law.

One is a plan to reduce the fine-soot pollution that spikes in northern Utah during wintertime inversions. The plan is to be completed by the end of next year.

Another is to deal with anticipated controls on ozone pollution expected from the Environmental Protection Agency this summer.

Bird said the groups are working with the EPA on a control plan that meets federal standards and considers economic vitality while considering solutions suitable for Utah.

After completing a degree in biology at the University of Utah, Bird, 44, began his career at DEQ in 1991. He has served in the compliance branch and as manager of the hazardous air pollutants section in addition to leading the planning branch since 2007.

Bird also serves in the Utah National Guard, where he has been a member of the 23rd Army Band for 24 years. He and his wife, Tanya, have four children. They live in Kaysville.

POSITIVE OUTLOOK FOR MANUFACTURING MERGERS

Quick Manufacturing News
A significant increase in M&A volume and value in the first quarter of 2011 signals a positive outlook for global industrial manufacturing deal activity, according to PwC US. Click to continue

MANUFACTURING GROWTH TO OUTPACE OVERALL ECONOMIC GROWTH IN 2011

Quick Manufacturing News
MAPI says manufacturing to increase 6.2% but economy only 2.7% Click to continue

NAM OUTLINES CONCERNS ON REGULATION OF CONFLICT MINERALS

NAM Capital Briefing
On May 13, representatives from the NAM met with the Office of Advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to discuss industry concerns with aspects of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that require reporting the source of various minerals used in manufacturing. The NAM has concerns about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed reporting requirements regulation, which is expected to cost U.S. industry $9 billion to $16 billion to implement. The new reporting mandate applies only to companies required to report to the SEC, but it will likely be passed through the entire supply chain, including thousands of small businesses. The requirements will effectively force suppliers not subject to SEC reporting to maintain extensive records of their source materials, costing each business thousands of dollars. The NAM supports the underlying goal to end the violence occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighboring countries and will continue to work with stakeholders to find an effective solution to the problem. For a fact sheet on conflict minerals proposed regulation, click here.

HELPING SMALL BUSINESSES SUCCEED

Zions Bank Business zMail Newsletter
The Small Business Jobs Creation Act signed in 2010 is a tool that can help small business owners. It increases the maximum deduction for start-up expenditures from $5,000 to 10,000 in 2011.
More…

MANUFACTURING COMEBACKS, EXPANSIONS, RECOVERIES

Carter Wood NAM ShopFloor Blog
The story continues …
Chicago Tribune, “Manufacturing attempts a comeback in upstate New York“:
The effort in the Hudson Valley represents something new: an unusual partnership between government and private enterprise. And because it is no mere government bailout of a flagging industry and focuses on high-tech, future-oriented products, this initiative has potentially greater staying power.

If it succeeds, what’s happening in upstate New York could help the whole country meet one of its most difficult challenges: re-creating the kinds of secure, long-term middle-class jobs that have long been the foundation of American prosperity.

Good story, but honestly, that partnership doesn’t sound that new or unusual to us. How many “technology corridors” and sector “clusters” are there in the United States?Newnan (Ga.) Times-Herald, “Yamaha celebrates move of ‘sport’ ATV production here“:

Dignitaries, Yamaha officials, and media representatives from around the county were on hand at Coweta County’s Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation Wednesday for the official press conference announcing the transition of sport ATV production to the Coweta plant, and the unveiling of Yamaha’s new “Assembled in USA” logo.

Yamaha’s “utility” ATVs and the Rhino “side by side” vehicles have been built at the Coweta plant for several years. However, the “sport” ATVs had been manufactured in Japan. Over the next few years, the vast majority of Yamaha ATVs will assembled in Coweta. The Coweta plant is already the only location in the world where the Yamaha Waverunner personal watercraft is built.

Yamaha’s news release has more details, “Yamaha Moving Majority of Worldwide ATV Manufacturing to U.S.A.”

And more …
Conference Board of Canada news release, “Manufacturing Industries Poised for Continuing Recovery in Production and Profitability in 2011.”

Crain’s Detroit Business, “Border grossing: Michigan companies going global find benefits can top barriers“

Professor Mark Perry, Carpe Diem blog, “Real Profits of U.S. Manufacturing Corporations Have Recovered To All-Time Record-High Levels .” Currently a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Perry is a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan.

EAKINOMICS: RAISING THE DEBT LIMIT

Dorothy Coleman NAM ShopFloor Blog

A good presentation on the imperative of raising the debt limit from Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office.
Holtz-Eakin elucidates the arguments in his column, “The Debt Ceiling Dance.”