August 23, 2011

UMA MEMBERS IN THE NEWS:

XLEAR BREAKS GROUND FOR NEW LOCATION IN AMERICAN FORK
Jeff Edwards, President and CEO, EDCUtah
This week I visited Xlear, Inc., an industry leader in the manufacturing and distribution of high-quality, all natural xylitol products.
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6,763 NEW JOBS! 20 COMPANIES FIND FERTILE ECONOMIC GROUND FOR EXPANSION OR RELOCATION IN UTAH
EDCUtah
6,763 New Jobs! 20 Companies Find Fertile Economic Ground for Expansion or Relocation in Utah During the 2010-2011 fiscal year, 20 companies announced their decisions to either relocate or expand in Utah. These companies will add 6,763 jobs to the state':s economy, retain another 1,346 jobs, and will make capital investments in Utah totaling $795.7 million!
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EMAIL FRAUD WITH A FRIENDLY FACE
The Employers Council
Authentic Nigerian princes do not send emails offering cash in exchange for your bank account number. Most people quickly identify that as a scam. But what if the email does appear to come from your boss, asking that you add personal information to the company database?

This is "spear phishing," a rapidly growing form of fraud that comes with a friendly face: messages that seem to be from co-workers, friends or family customized to trick you into letting your guard down. According to technology companies and computer experts, it has become a major problem. But it is a far cry from more standard phishing attempts, which involve spraying the Internet with millions of emails that appear to be from a business, such as a bank, in the hope of snaring the financial information of a few unfortunate victims.

Spear phishing entails sending highly targeted pitches that look authentic because they appear to come from a trusted source and contain plausible messages. "It's a really nasty tactic because it is so personalized," said Bruce Schneier, the Chief Security Technology Officer of BT Group. "It's an email from your mother, saying she needs your Social Security number for the will she's updating. This is hacking the person, not the computer." The most common targets are government agencies and senior executives. The phishing of such big game is commonly referred to as "whaling."

In one example, an email sent to the head of a company appeared to be from the IRS. The message raised questions about the tax implications of an acquisition, and the chief executive passed the message to others in the company. One employee opened the attachment, which ended up giving the hacker access to the company's internal network. "The way to stop such efforts is not clear – it's an open problem," said Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Conti, a computer security expert at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. "One reason the problem is getting harder to detect is that the people sending the messages use the Internet, specifically social networks like Facebook, to gather personal information about potential targets." Beware of spelling/grammar errors, suspicious alerts/threats, and links/graphics (don’t click on them – at most, use your mouse pointer to see if the address matches the link that was typed in the message and/or correlates to the company’s web address).


GOV'T UNVEILS PLAN TO AX HUNDREDS OF REGULATIONS
Today in Manufacturing
White House is revealing plans to save businesses $10 billion by scrapping hundreds of regulations found to be outdated, unfair or unnecessary ... continue

COLUMN: SHOULD I ADOPT SIX SIGMA?
Today in Manufacturing
What should a business leader believe if he is looking for ways of improving business performance and wants to know if Six Sigma is a viable answer? ... continue

EQUIPMENT FINANCE INDUSTRY CONFIDENCE DECLINES
Quick Manufacturing News
Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 50.0, down from the July index of 56.2, indicating apparent industry reaction to U.S. economic conditions and federal government fiscal management and policies. Click to continue

SECOND MONTH OF CONTRACTION FOR CHINA MANUFACTURING
Quick Manufacturing News
Cost of raw materials rose at a faster rate in August. Click to continue

LT. GOVERNOR CALLS ON UTAHNS TO PARTICIPATE IN DAY OF SERVICE FOR 911

State of Utah
GARY R. HERBERT
Governor

GREG BELL
Lieutenant Governor

Utah Commission on Volunteers
Office of the Lieutenant Governor

SHAR LEWIS
Executive Director


Dear Friends in Service,

September 11, 2011, marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on our country. I, along with the Utah Commission on Volunteers, would like to personally invite you to join us in honoring Utah’s heroes, our shining examples of service and sacrifice, by participating in Utah’s 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Who can forget the morning of September 11, 2001, when nineteen members of al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners? Shortly after taking control, the hijackers crashed two of the planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA and a fourth into a rural Pennsylvania field after passengers attempted to retake control of the plane. Over 3,000 people lost their lives that day along with many more fighting to protect our freedoms and keep us safe. Some of our Utah friends and family lost their lives in these attacks and many Utahns volunteered their services in the aftermath.

In commemoration of this event we are asking you to join us along with Utahns across the state and people throughout the country by serving and thanking our active soldiers, military families, veterans, and first responders in the week leading up to and culminating on September 11, 2011.

You can do this in three ways: 1) Sign On and Sign Up online to show your support, share your
story, and print a certificate of participation, 2) Volunteer and Serve by organizing a service project or volunteering with the organizations that serve these groups, 3) Say “Thank You” by writing a letter, making a visit, or doing a good deed.

Thank you in advance for your participation. For more information please contact the Utah
Commission on Volunteers or visit their website at www.volunteers.utah.gov.

Yours in Service,

Greg Bell
Lieutenant Governor

Shar Lewis Executive Director
State of Utah
Utah Commission on Volunteers

The mission of the Utah Commission on Volunteers, an office of the Lieutenant Governor, is to improve communities through service and volunteering.


PERRY GETS ATTENTION OF TRIAL LAWYERSFLAG
Weekly Communication – NAM
Texas Governor Rick Perry's entrance in the presidential race has energized trial lawyers, who are looking to pay back the Governor for his reform agenda. Perry has championed tort reform as Governor and signed “loser pays” legislation in the last legislative session.

Politico reported yesterday:

Among litigators, there is no presidential candidate who inspires the same level of hatred — and fear — as Perry, an avowed opponent of the plaintiffs' bar who has presided over several rounds of tort reform as governor.

And if Perry ends up as the Republican nominee for president, deep-pocketed trial lawyers intend to play a central role in the campaign to defeat him.

That's a potential financial boon to a president who has unsettled trial lawyers with his own rhetorical gestures in the direction of tort reform. A general election pitting Barack Obama and Perry could turn otherwise apathetic trial lawyers into a phalanx of pro-Obama bundlers and super PAC donors.

Politico finds a number of trial lawyers to weigh in on Perry and his record in the Lone Star state.

John Coale, a former trial lawyer who has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democrats over the years, agreed that Texas had once been the “golden goose” for plaintiffs' attorneys.
“Now, the pendulum has swung in the other direction, where it's a very bad place now,” Coale said.

There's more coverage of the Perry v. trial lawyers story at the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and PointofLaw.com.