October 20, 2011

CALIF. POISED TO FINALIZE 'CAP-AND-TRADE' PLAN

Today in Manufacturing
Starting in 2013, the plan places emissions allowances on power plants and other of the worst polluting facilities ... continue

UNEMPLOYMENT APPLICATIONS DIP, BUT STILL ELEVATED
Today in Manufacturing
Weekly applications dropped by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 403,000, but need to fall consistently below 375,000 to signal sustainable job growth ... continue

CHINA RARE EARTHS SUPPLIER SUSPENDS PRODUCTION
Today in Manufacturing
China's biggest producer of rare earths is suspending production for one month in hopes of boosting slumping prices of the exotic minerals ... continue

MANUFACTURING TAKES CENTER STAGE IN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN AS REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES GATHER AT NAM FORUM
Candidates Meet in Iowa to Discuss Issues Critical to Manufacturing and Job Creation

National Association of Manufacturers

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and its Board Chair Mary Andringa will host a forum for the Republican presidential candidates on November 1, 2011, at the Vermeer Corporation headquarters in Pella, Iowa. To date, the candidates participating in the forum, moderated by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and PBS Nightly Business Report Co-Anchor and Managing Editor Tom Hudson, are Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA). The forum will begin at 10:00 a.m. CDT and end at 11:30 a.m. CDT.

“Manufacturing will continue to play a critical role in our economic recovery, and every candidate for this office recognizes the importance of job creation, so they need to hear directly from manufacturers,” said Vermeer Corporation President and CEO Mary Andringa, who also serves as chair of the NAM Board. “The issues important to manufacturers and their employees in Iowa and throughout the nation will play a central role in the 2012 presidential election. We are thrilled that these candidates seeking our nation’s highest office are joining us for a discussion on the challenges manufacturers face each day.”

“The policies coming from Washington impact manufacturers on a daily basis and underscore our need for pro-growth policies to boost our economy and create jobs,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “We are very pleased that Rep. Bachmann, former Speaker Gingrich, Rep. Paul, Gov. Perry and former Sen. Santorum will be joining manufacturers at the forum to discuss the issues that impact their businesses and how to move forward to a stronger, more vibrant future.”

Iowa Public Television will broadcast the forum, making it available for national broadcast and online streaming.

The NAM has laid out a comprehensive blueprint to keep manufacturing in the United States competitive, entitled A Manufacturing Renaissance: Four Goals for Economic Growth. The policies laid out in this new roadmap will be the basis for the discussion at the forum.

WORLD'S LARGEST PRODUCER OF RARE EARTHS HALTS OUTPUT AS PRICES FALL
Quick Manufacturing News
The move marks the second time in as many months that Baotou has sought to boost rare earth prices. Click to continue

BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY: TECHNOLOGY OR STRATEGIC HIRING?
Quick Manufacturing News
Companies are finding that attracting and retaining the types of employees with the critical skills necessary to boost productivity remains a challenge. Click to continue

FOOD INDUSTRY REPORTS BENEFITS OF TRACK-AND-TRACE TECHNOLOGY
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On the two-year anniversary of the Initiative's launch, GS1 US says the industry has now passed the halfway mark on the way to a 75% voluntary adoption of GS1 standards by 2015. Click to continue

SURVIVAL STRATEGIES FOR THE 'NEXT GENERATION OF MANUFACTURING'
Quick Manufacturing News
Process improvement, talent management, customer-focused innovation and global engagement will be among the keys to competitiveness, study concludes. Click to continue

FED: REGIONAL BANKS SAW GROWTH IN MANUFACTURING
Today in Manufacturing
The Federal Reserve's 12 regional bank districts all grew in September and early October, helped by strength in car sales and manufacturing ... continue

FEATURE: BRINGING TABLET 'MAGIC' TO MANUFACTURING
Today in Manufacturing
Tablets are small enough to be mobile, powerful enough to chew through ever-increasing amounts of data, and are making big strides in manufacturing ... continue

FOCUS: NAM HOSTS INAUGURAL ECONOMIC FORUM ON THE OUTLOOK FOR MANUFACTURING
NAM Capital Briefing
Amid renewed reports of the fragile state of the economy and dismal job numbers, the NAM hosted the first-ever Economic Forum in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, October 19. The event brought together a diverse group of 40 economic leaders to discuss the outlook for the manufacturing industry and how companies can adapt to changing market conditions.

NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons introduced the day’s events. “Our mission is to build and sustain a strong manufacturing sector in this country,” said Timmons. “To achieve our goals, we push for policies that will allow manufacturers to invest in their businesses, reach new markets abroad and create jobs.”

NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray moderated a panel entitled, “Economic Outlook for Manufacturers in 2012.” Joining Moutray was Owens Corning Chief Economist Emil Berendt; National Electrical Manufacturers Association Director of Economics Timothy Gill; and Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Chief Economist Dan Meckstroth. The panelists’ concerns largely focused on the chance that a stagnant housing market, political gridlock in Washington and economic instability in Europe could push the United States back into a recession.

Economic weaknesses continue to hamper job creation, with the level of hiring nearly unchanged for the last two years.

Keynote speaker Mark Doms, chief economist at the U.S. Department of Commerce, discussed the Administration’s perspective on key economic issues and the manufacturing sector. He echoed the concerns of the earlier panelists and warned that our economic future is tied with that of Europe. “Europe…is the greatest risk we face,” said Doms.

But it wasn’t all negative. “Manufacturing became more productive and efficient during the recovery,” said Doms, who believes this trend and optimism will continue. One recurring theme throughout the discussions was that manufacturing has and will continue to lead the economic recovery.

Doms also addressed the housing issue. On Thursday, October 13, the Census Bureau reported that housing starts rose significantly, from 572,000 in August to 658,000 in September. The bulk of this gain came from multi-family unit starts, which rose from 154,000 to 233,000 for the month. Completions rose 2.1 percent for the month to 647,000 homes.

These numbers provide a welcome respite in a sector that has struggled mightily over the past few years. Housing starts have been unable to consistently break and maintain the psychological barrier of 600,000 homes, so this strong movement is positive for the homebuilding outlook and the overall economy.

Other panels focused on the manufacturing opportunities created by trade; adapting to economic challenges such as supply disruptions and debt downgrades; and managing the impacts of taxes and regulation.

With manufacturing playing such an important role in economic growth, the NAM Economic Forum provided a platform for senior-level economists at member companies and associations to discuss issues that are pertinent to manufacturers.

In his closing remarks, Moutray noted that the day’s events were “a good start” to an ongoing dialogue with the manufacturing economic community. He added, “These discussions allow us to learn more about each other’s forecasts, our sector’s ability to stay flexible and compete on the global stage.”

MANUFACTURERS LAUNCH FOUR-POINT PLAN FOR GROWTH
NAM Capital Briefing
At the NAM’s Fall Board of Directors Meeting last week, NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons unveiled A Manufacturing Renaissance: Four Goals for Economic Growth, a blueprint to help policymakers increase investment in our economy, boost trade, strengthen the workforce and drive innovation. A Manufacturing Renaissance is a competitiveness strategy to help our nation’s manufacturing sector remain strong. It focuses on four goals that our nation’s leaders can rally around: 1) the United States will be the best place in the world to manufacture and to attract foreign direct investment; 2) the United States will expand access to global markets to enable manufacturers to reach the 95 percent of consumers who live outside our borders; 3) manufacturers in the United States will have the workforce that the 21st-century economy requires; and 4) manufacturers in the United States will be the world’s leading innovators. To read A Manufacturing Renaissance, click here.

TELL YOUR SENATOR TO SUPPORT BOILER MACT RELIEF TO SAVE JOBS
NAM Capital Briefing
On Thursday, October 13, the House passed the EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 (H.R. 2250) by a vote of 275-142. The legislation delays the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) suite of Boiler MACT rules, which would put 230,000 jobs at risk, according to some estimates. Passage of H.R. 2250 is a victory for the manufacturing community and a step toward the development of achievable standards. The NAM key voted the measure on October 5. The Senate companion legislation (S. 1392) currently has 37 bipartisan cosponsors, and the NAM strongly supports passage. To contact your lawmakers in the Senate, click here.

MANUFACTURERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST COAL ASH RULE
NAM Capital Briefing
Last week, the House passed the NAM-supported Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (H.R. 2273) by a vote of 267-144. This bill addresses the regulatory uncertainty the EPA has created by proposing to regulate coal ash as a hazardous material under Subtitle C or as a non-hazardous material under Subtitle D of the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act. Regulating coal ash as a hazardous material will increase the cost of energy, negatively impact nearly 300,000 jobs and drive coal ash to landfills. There are now plans to introduce a companion bill in the Senate. The EPA published a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) in the Federal Register on Wednesday, October 12, requesting comments on the following issue areas related to its proposed coal ash rule: 1) chemical constituent data from coal combustion residuals; 2) facility and waste management unit data; 3) information on additional alleged damage cases; 4) adequacy of state programs; and 5) beneficial use. The NAM will file comments by the EPA’s November 14 deadline. The NODA can be found here.

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO SIGN BROAD TAX EXTENDERS GROUP LETTER TO CONGRESS
NAM Capital Briefing
Please join the NAM in signing a letter from the Broad Tax Extenders Group urging Congress to extend temporary tax provisions called “tax extenders,” which are set to expire at year-end. Three tax extenders of equal importance to many NAM members are the controlled foreign corporation (CFC) look-through rules, deferral for active financing and the research and development (R&D) tax credit. As it did last year, the NAM is collecting names for this broad group letter that will be sent to all members of Congress on plain stationery. The deadline to sign the letter is Friday, November 4.

PRESIDENT TO SIGN JOB-CREATING TRADE AGREEMENTS THIS WEEK
NAM Capital Briefing
President Obama will sign the free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea in a White House ceremony on Friday, October 21. Congress passed the agreements last week, along with Trade Adjustment Assistance. Additional work must be undertaken, however, before American exporters can begin to take advantage of the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers in these markets. The agreements must be fully implemented—which often requires our trading partners to make changes to their domestic legal framework and can require their legislatures to pass new laws. The U.S. Trade Representative and other U.S. trade-related agencies have pledged to work as quickly as possible on implementation of the trade agreements once they are signed so that manufacturers in America can begin to truly expand their exports to these newly opened markets. Now is the time for NAM member companies to begin setting the foundation for new export opportunities in these markets. The NAM will be working closely with the U.S. Commerce Department and other agencies to ensure that their resources are targeted to help American companies increase their exports.

NAM SMM BOARD MEMBERS CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE
NAM Capital Briefing
An informal survey of the NAM’s small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMM) identified the issues that are most important to their businesses and ability to create jobs. In a report to the NAM Fall Board of Directors Meeting last week, SMM Chair Kellie Johnson indicated that their top legislative concerns are: burdensome and unnecessary regulations; the National Labor Relations Board’s proposed rules; fundamental reform of the tax code; health care reform implementation; and health care costs. Many attendees also identified finding and hiring highly skilled and qualified workers as a serious issue. The polling indicated a cautious optimism about business activity: 54 percent reported that business has increased over the last year, 33 percent said business has been about the same and 13 percent said business has decreased in the previous 12 months. When asked to forecast for the next year, 56 percent expected business to increase, 41 percent expected business to remain about the same and only 3 percent felt that business would decrease in the coming year.

NAM CHAIR ADDRESSES IOWA MANUFACTURERS
NAM Capital Briefing
NAM Board Chair Mary Andringa addressed the Iowa Association of Business and Industry in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday, October 18. Andringa is president and CEO of Vermeer Corporation in Pella, Iowa. She discussed with approximately 125 business and association leaders the role of manufacturing in Iowa and the importance of the NAM in helping to advance manufacturing in the United States. Click here for highlights from Mary’s presentation.