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BRIEFLY:
New podcasts available detailing three significant trends in industrial networking and control
Several new market and technology trends are changing the world of industrial
networking and control. These trends are putting pressure on automation device suppliers for increased functionality, higher levels of control and advanced networking capabilities.
Detailing these trends and their impact on the automation industry is the subject of two new podcasts available on
http://www.rtaautomation.com. In the podcasts, John Rinaldi, president of Real Time Automation, describes the latest technologies that are making their way to the factory floor, the background on the rush to Ethernet and how open control technologies like IEC1131 are changing the face of industrial control.
Illinois CPA Society hosting Business Owners Exit Conference: path to a brighter and more secure future
Attend the 2007 Business Owners Exit Conference and learn how to prepare your business for sale (or transition), ensure financial security from the investment of the proceeds, and achieve your estate planning goals.
How you will benefit In three acts:
1. Learn the implications that small-to-mid sized businesses may encounter when selling or providing ownership transitions.
2. Discuss the planning considerations and processes involved in the transition of a business.
3. Examine investment tax and estate planning opportunities and the integrated planning necessary to achieve your objectives
Intended for business owners and their advisors, this May 23, 2007, event will be held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. For more information call 800-993-0393 or go to
http://www.icpas.org.
Baise to House committee: Increasing good jobs better than increasing taxes
The Illinois House of Representatives met in a Committee of the Whole for more than seven hours on May 9th to hear testimony on Governor Rod Blagojevich’s proposed gross receipts tax. The General Assembly convenes as a Committee of the Whole in only the most extraordinary circumstances.
Governor Blagojevich appeared for nearly two hours to defend his proposal telling legislators that he will veto any measure raising either the income or sales tax. He defended his $8 billion proposal saying that school funding and providing universal health care are "moral imperatives." The governor also continued to disparage Illinois employers referring to them as "fat cats" and "big wigs."
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan announced at the beginning of today’s hearing that he would introduce a resolution in the House on Thursday (May 10). That resolution would allow members of the chamber to vote on whether they support the imposition of a gross receipts tax. The Speaker said he would ask the House to vote the same day.
Among the first panels to give testimony was one comprised of key business leaders including Greg Baise, president and CEO of the IMA, who told legislators that other states were already reaching out to Illinois employers and urging them to consider relocating.
"Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle is sending letters to IMA members this week suggesting that they attend a two-day meeting in Chicago in June to see what benefits Wisconsin has over those states that are raising business taxes," said Baise. "Does anyone in this room believe that these letters are only a coincidence . . . or that every other Midwestern state is licking their chops to benefit from the short-sighted approach of attacking our employers — both with enormous taxes and through an onslaught of verbal abuse and disrespect?"
Illinois’ business community has been unified in opposition to the Blagojevich Tax Plan since it was first proposed over two months ago. Baise noted that more than 300 business owners converged on Springfield just last week to meet with lawmakers expressing opposition.
In concluding his remarks, Baise told elected officials there were two ways to get business to fund a greater share of education and health care costs.
"One is to tax them at a higher rate with the governor’s proposal which makes no economic sense whatsoever and which is a prescription for economic disaster," said Baise. "The other is to do it through prosperity. We can make Illinois an economic engine that attracts and keeps good jobs, which broadens the tax base and provides its workers with quality health care coverage through a private sector answer and not government programs. We need to create jobs with good wages and pension plans, and most important, jobs which promote a growing economy that’s sustainable."
Earlier this week the Senate Executive Committee adopted an amendment along strictly partisan lines that increased the proposed tax to one percent for goods and two percent on services. This latest version of the Blagojevich Tax Plan affecting manufacturers represents a 100 percent increase over his original proposal made on March 7th.
The Governor’s revised scheme includes an Illinois Job Tax Credit for businesses employing workers in Illinois. The tax credit allows companies to offset their gross receipts tax based on the number of employees in Illinois. Goods-producing companies in Illinois would get an annual tax credit of $2,000 for each full-time job (the equivalent of 1,500 work hours per year) up to $50,000, while service-based companies would get a tax credit of $2,000 for each full-time job up to $100,000. Nonetheless, the net result of this latest scheme still hikes the employer tax burden by more than $8 billion.
Senate President Emil Jones has not said when he plans to call SB 1 for a vote.
What is a Committee of the Whole?
A Committee of the Whole is a rare event that allows all members of a body to meet in a more informal setting to consider matters. It allows every member to participate in asking questions and eliciting information in a forum that acts like a smaller committee. In most instances, a Committee of the Whole is called in instances where the subject matter is critical to all members of the body.
Trade deficit with China costs over two million jobs nationwide
Illinois, Ohio, Michigan among hardest hit, numerically
The dramatic rise in the United States’ trade deficit with China from 1997 to 2006 has cost jobs in every state in the union, with Illinois, Ohio and Michigan ranking among the hardest hit states in numeric terms. In a new report issued recently by the Economic Policy Institute, economist Robert Scott reports the trade deficit with China, now about $235 billion — nearly half the total non-oil goods trade deficit — has displaced production that supported 2,166,000 U.S. jobs. Significantly, the vast bulk (1.8 million) of that job displacement has come since China’s 2001 entry into the World Trade Organization, a move that was supposed to improve the trade balance.
The real effect of trade on the U.S. economy creates and destroys jobs. Increases in U.S. exports tend to create jobs in the United States, but increases in imports tend to destroy jobs as imports displace goods that otherwise would have been made in the United States by domestic workers. Although U.S. exports to China have grown, U.S. imports from China have grown far more rapidly, with import growth outstripping export growth by over five to one.
As Scott details in his report, Costly Trade with China, the trade deficit with China has touched all 50 states and the District of Columbia. States in the Midwest region represent some of the hardest hit, as well as some of the least affected states. Numerically, Illinois (-79,900), Ohio (-66,100) and Michigan (-54,900) ranked among the 12 states that lost the most jobs, while Nebraska and North Dakota were among the least affected states, both numerically and as a share of total state employment.
"China’s entry into the WTO was supposed to require that it open its markets to imports from the United States and other nations. Instead, it has further tilted the international economic playing field against domestic workers and firms, and in favor of multinationals," said Scott. "This has accelerated the global race to the bottom in wages and environmental quality and caused the closing of thousands of U.S. factories, cutting employment in a wide range of communities, states and entire regions of the United States."
The manufacturing sector has been hit hard by plant closings and job losses due to the trade deficit with China. Workers displaced by trade from the manufacturing sector have difficulty securing comparable employment elsewhere in the economy. More than one-third of workers displaced from manufacturing drop out of the labor force. Average wages of those who secured re-employment fell by 11–13 percent.
- The 1.8 million jobs lost nationwide since 2001 are distributed among all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These are the hardest hit states in numeric terms: California (-269,300), Texas (-136,900), New York (-105,900), Illinois (-79,900), Pennsylvania (-78,200), North Carolina (-77,200), Florida (-71,900), Ohio (-66,100), Georgia (-60,400), Massachusetts (-59,300), Michigan (-54,900) and New Jersey (-49,500).
- The hardest-hit states, losing 1.5 percent or more of the share of total state employment, are: New Hampshire, -2.1 percent (-13,000 jobs); North Carolina, -2.0 percent (-77,200 jobs); California, -1.8 percent (-269,300 jobs); Massachusetts, -1.8 percent (-59,300 jobs); Rhode Island, -1.8 percent (-8,400 jobs); South Carolina, -1.6 percent (-29,200 jobs); Vermont, -1.6 percent (-4,900 jobs); Oregon, -1.6 percent (-25,700 jobs); Indiana, -1.5 percent (-45,200 jobs); Georgia, -1.5 percent (-60,400 jobs); Idaho, -1.5 percent (-8,500 jobs) and Alabama, -1.5 percent (-27,900 jobs).
- The Midwest, as a region, contains 20.6 percent of the 1.8 million jobs lost nationwide since 2001 due to the trade deficit with China. Indiana is the hardest hit state in the region, losing 1.5 percent of total state employment. Indiana is followed closely by Minnesota and Wisconsin, which both lost 1.4 percent of total state employment. All but three states in the Midwest (Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota) lost at least one percent of total state employment. (Midwestern states include IN, MN, WI, IL, IA, MI, OH, SD, KS, NE, ND)
A call for policy changes
Costly Trade with China calls for a fundamental change in China’s exchange rate policies and labor standards. Chinese monetary policy keeps the Yuan artificially low, making its exports cheap, and imports from the United States and other countries expensive. China also engages in extensive suppression of labor rights; it has been estimated that wages in China would be 47–85 percent higher in the absence of labor repression.
The Economic Policy Institute is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States and around the world.
New EPA site to help businesses, people become better environmental stewards
On May 2, EPA launched a Website to help business, government and private citizens make intelligent choices on sustainable environmental benefits.
Simple, everyday decisions by organizations and individuals on such issues as recycling, reuse or choice of fuel, support pollution prevention and environmental stewardship. The Website will enable users to find EPA partnership programs that best align with their needs and interests. Businesses can search for EPA programs based on their industrial category, environmental issue of interest and geographic area. One specific Website, for example, shows businesses how they can help employees reduce the environmental impacts of commuting.
The Website also provides information links individuals can use to protect the environment in different settings, such as home, work, school and shopping. One Website shows citizens how they can use pesticides safely.
This tool is the latest in a series of steps EPA has taken to support environmental stewardship. The agency is now promoting environmental stewardship in a variety of ways. For example, the agency has challenged individuals to become more energy efficient at home through the "Change a Light, Change the World" campaign, and challenged Fortune 500 companies to double their purchases of green power. Examples at the local level include EPA offering communities technical assistance in applying smart growth principles, as well as providing funding to retrofit older diesel school buses with pollution control equipment.
At colleges and universities, EPA is sponsoring research to help students develop and design innovative solutions to sustainability challenges in agriculture, water and energy use. EPA’s commitment to environmental stewardship also is evident at the agency’s facilities. In 2006, EPA’s new Potomac Yard office in Arlington, Va., earned a gold rating under the internationally recognized green building standard known as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
The environmental stewardship Website can be found at www.epa.gov/stewardship
NAM: Job report indicates slowdown spreading into new sectors
BLS data show "April showers" come from construction and manufacturing
The National Association of Manufacturers pointed to the resonating effects of a downturn in housing as well as a slowdown in demand for motor vehicles and industrial equipment as the root of the recent anemic report from the Labor Department that showed manufacturing shed 19,000 jobs in April. Overall, the economy added 88,000 jobs during the month while unemployment edged up to 4.5 percent.
"Slumps in specific manufacturing sectors and the housing slump are resonating into various industries," said David Huether, the NAM’s chief economist. "This is the impetus behind a lackluster month for hiring managers."
While the manufacturing sector’s losses remained relatively isolated, with half of the decline in manufacturing coming from motor vehicles and machinery, construction shed 11,000 jobs and its impact is reaching other industries. "The April showers that were felt last month came from influential sectors that are facing broad restructuring and timid growth," Huether said.
"You cannot overlook the drop in retail trade," he said. The sector lost 26,000 jobs in April; the largest monthly decline in 11 months. "This indicates that the ongoing downturn in housing is beginning to negatively affect consumer demand. It is a clear signal that the strong pace of consumer spending posted in the first quarter will likely not continue into the second."
Also significant in the report is that average hourly earnings rose by just 0.2 percent in April. "This is a deceleration from stronger gains in February and March and is a reassuring signal that inflationary pressures from wages are slowing a bit," Huether said. "While still solid, hourly earnings are up 3.7 percent over the past year. This is a marked slowdown from the 4.3 percent rise in 2006. With inflationary pressures beginning to moderate, the chances of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this year to prop up growth has just increased."
Small business continues to generate 50 percent of private nonfarm GDP
Small business is a big contributor to the nation’s economy, generating 50 percent of the private, nonfarm gross domestic product (GDP), according to a study released recently by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The study covers the period 1998–2004, and confirms the findings of earlier research.
"Small business plays a big role in our economy," said Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist for the Office of Advocacy. "This study confirms just how important small business is to our economic growth and prosperity. It makes clear that economic policy needs to take into account the needs of small businesses, because those businesses drive our economy."
The Small Business Share of GDP, 1998–2004, written by Katherine Kobe of Economic Consulting Services with funding from the Office of Advocacy, is the first study of its kind to use the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for analysis. Use of this system allows the small business share of total GDP to be categorized into 16 major industrial sectors. The small business share of the GDP in each major industrial sector in 2004 ranged from 18 percent of the information sector to 85 percent of other services.
Over the seven-year period studied, the small business share of GDP held steady at around 50 percent. However, there has been a long-term decline from the late 1950s when the small business share of GDP was approximately 58 percent.
For more information and a complete copy of the report, visit the Office of Advocacy Website at
www.sba.gov/advo.
Customized shipping discounts for IMA members . . .
Through a unique partnership, the IMA has made it easy for members to save on all types of shipping services. We’ve teamed up with the leading transportation providers in the industry, including Yellow Transportation, Roadway Express, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, DHL, USF and New Penn. Whether you ship envelopes, packages, or heavy freight, these carriers have a solution.
- Save at least 52% with Yellow and Roadway on North American LTL freight.
- Save 20% on International air freight and 45% on heavy North American air freight with UPS Supply Chain Solutions.
- Save up to 25% with DHL on express air, ground, and international services.
- Save at least 52% with USF and New Penn on regional, next day less than truckload freight services throughout the U.S. and parts of Canada regional next day less than truckload.
To take advantage of your IMA member benefits, or to find out how much you can save on your next shipment, call your shipping benefit consultants at 1-800-MEMBERS (636-2377) ext. 303. For more information about the IMA shipping program, visit
http://www.1800Members.com/ILMA.
Best manufacturing Website of 2007 to be named by Web Marketing Association in annual WebAward competition
The Web Marketing Association announces the call for entries for its 11th annual international WebAward Competition for Website development at http://www.07webaward.org. The WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets benchmarks for 96 industries, including manufacturing web sites, based on the seven criteria of a successful Website. The deadline for manufacturing web sites to enter to be judged is May 31, 2007.
"The manufacturing industry is very competitive when it comes to Web development and companies can benefit from the independent evaluation of their online efforts," said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. "Many manufacturing companies are B2B. Because of this, many use their web sites to concentrate on their distributor needs. According to past scores, manufacturing sites can go even further by integrating technology and innovation in their sites to actively engage their visitors through product demos or video descriptions."
Web sites are judged on seven criteria including design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copy writing and ease of use. Each WebAward entry is judged against other entries in its industry category and then against an overall standard of excellence.
All entrants benefit from receiving valuable feedback in terms of their specific scores compared against the average scores for their industry.
Winners of a WebAward in the manufacturing category will also receive:
- Image plaque or certificate of achievement;
- Increased visibility for their company;
- Marketing opportunity to promote the company website to the media; and
- Links to your site from the highly ranked WebAward site.
Each year the Web Marketing Association names the Best Manufacturing Website based on the scores submitted by the competition judges. Recent winners of the Best Manufacturing Website include:
2006—My1stop for My1stop Printing;
2005—Sub-Zero for Sub-Zero PRO 48 Refrigerator; and
2004—BRP and Nurun Inc. for BRP Corporate/Brand Web Ecosystem.
A complete list of past winners and the entry form for companies who wish to compete for 2007 honors can be found at the Best Manufacturing Website page,
http://manufacturing.webaward.org.
Using the quantifiable data collected from more than 15,000 Website evaluations over the past decade, the WebAwards has defined and recognized industry-specific benchmarks for successful Websites in each of the seven judging criteria and released an Internet Standards Assessment Report to detail the findings of the study. A copy of the 2008 Internet Standards Assessment Report, including details regarding the manufacturing industry, will be provided to all participants.
Judging for the 2007 WebAwards will take place in June through August, with winners announced in September. Judges will consist of a select group of Internet marketing professionals who have direct experience designing and managing Websites with an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in Website development and technology. Past judges have included top executives from leading organizations such as Organic, Inc., Ogilvy Interactive, Saatchi & Saatchi, Blattner Brunner, Comedy Central, Sun Microsystems, Refinery, Euro RSCG, EPB Interactive, New York Post Interactive, The Cincinnati Enquirer, J. Walter Thompson, Xerox, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Modem Media, and Answerthink, just to name a few.
The 2007 WebAwards are sponsored by the following leading organizations: Burst Media, PRWeb, Misukanis & Odden, Small Army, SimpleFeed, ExactTarget, ad:tech conferences, NewsUSA, eComXpo, MediaPost’s OMMA conference, TopRank Online Marketing, Creative Chocolate Printing Company, OTOlabs, Internet World UK, Search Engine Strategies, Webmaster Radio, Rovion’s InPerson and eMarketer.
Now in its 11th year, the annual international WebAwards competition sets the standard of excellence in 96 industry categories by evaluating Websites and defining benchmarks based on the seven essential criteria of successful Website development. The goal of the Web Marketing Association, sponsor of the WebAwards, is to provide a forum to recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective Websites on the Internet today. Entrants benefit from a Website assessment by a professional judging panel and the marketing opportunities presented to an award-winning Website. For more information, visit
http://www.07webaward.org.
ETIP grants reimburse companies for employee training
The Employer Training Investment Program (ETIP) supports Illinois companies’ efforts to upgrade workers’ skills in order to remain current in new technologies and business practices. The ETIP grant will reimburse Illinois companies for up to 50 percent of the cost of eligible employee training taken between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007.
Illinois companies that are retraining/upgrading the skills of their existing workforce may be eligible for ETIP grant money if they meet certain criteria.
Apply for training funds today! For details, contact Judy Parker, IMA Director of Training at 217-522-1240, ext. 3036, or email
jparker@ima-net.org.
NEW Website offers outstanding training opportunities:
http://www.ima-net.org/MIT/
Training is no longer a luxury, but a basic ingredient in the development of a business. In today’s economy, with companies struggling to prevent lay-offs and closure, it is vital to maintain a competitive high performance workforce.
In response to this growing need, the IMA has launched a new service — the Manufacturers’ Institute for Training (MIT). We have expert trainers in the fields of safety, quality, leadership/management, communications, lean manufacturing, project management, IT, and much more. Customized, on-site sessions can also be arranged to address your company’s specific needs or issues. Visit
http://www.ima-net.org/MIT/ on the Web or contact Judy Parker, IMA Director of Training, at 217-522-1240, ext. 3036, or email
jparker@ima-net.org.
DATES OF NOTE:
More events may be found at http://www.ima-net.org/calendar.cfm
May 31, 2007
IMA-MIT Event: Leadership Skills for Leaders of Latino Employees — DePaul University’s O’Hare Campus, 3166 River Road, Des Plaines
Feel more comfortable with your decisions as a leader of a multi-cultural team. This one-day workshop will help you adjust your leadership skills and management processes based on cultural considerations.
Registration deadline: May 15, 2007.
Contact Judy Parker, 800-875-4462, ext. 3036, email: jparker@ima-net.org, or visit
https://www.ima-net.org/MIT/lsl.cfm.
June 5, 2007
IMA EVENT: Discipline & Discharge in the Workplace: Practical Tips on Avoiding Employment-related Litigation — Holiday Inn, Champaign/ Urbana, IL, 8:30-11:00 a.m.
Valuable practical discussion and recommendations for discipline and discharge decisions that will provide a strong basis for avoiding, and if necessary defending against, resultant litigation are offered. Employers can best avoid litigation when they focus on the proper ways in which they manage employee expectations. Cost: $125 for IMA members; $100 for each additional attendee from the same company and $200 for non-members.
Contact Kimberly McNamara, 800-875-4462, ext. 2109, email kmcnamara@ima-net.org, or visit
https://www.ima-net.org/dnd_seminar.cfm.
June 14, 2007
IMA-MIT Event: Time Management and Personal Effectiveness — DePaul University’s O’Hare Campus, 3166 River Road, Des Plaines
This one-day workshop will identify the essential personal effectiveness skills needed in today’s fast paced environment, and focus on applying these skills utilizing the process you choose (paper-based, e-tools, or both).
Registration deadline: May 29, 2007.
Contact Judy Parker, 800-875-4462, ext. 3036, email: jparker@ima-net.org, or visit
https://www.ima-net.org/MIT/tms.cfm.
July 19, 2007
IMA-MIT Event: Project Management for Non-Project Managers — DePaul University’s O’Hare Campus, 3166 River Road, Des Plaines
Learn project management skills, tools and techniques to make the transition to a project leadership role and ensure optimum project execution. This one-day workshop provides increased competence to manage a project through all project stages: initiating, planning, delivering, monitoring, and completing.
Registration deadline: July 3, 2007.
Contact Judy Parker, 800-875-4462, ext. 3036, email: jparker@ima-net.org, or visit
https://www.ima-net.org/MIT/pmn.cfm.
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