Leadership

Lang Appointed to Ohio’s 52nd House District

Ohio House Republicans approved a resolution Wednesday to appoint George Lang to the seat vacated by Ohio Rep. Margy Conditt (R-Liberty Twp.) who resigned last week.

Lang was one of seven district Republicans to seek the appointment to Conditt’s term, which has 18 months remaining. 9/14/2017

Learn from National Workforce Experts on Nov. 1

If you were waiting until after Labor Day to register for the Ohio Manufacturers’ Workforce Summit 2017, the time is now!

We have landed the nation’s leading subject matter experts on manufacturing industry sector partnerships, the predominant strategy for solving regional workforce issues:

• Brian P. Benyo, CEO, Brilex Industries Inc. & President, Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition
• Kent Suiters, Manufacturing New Product Introduction Leader, GE Appliances, Kentucky
• Stephanie Veck, Director, Colorado Workforce Development Council

See the entire full-day program and register here. The registration fee is only $95; the registration deadline is October 17. The event will be held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Special room rates are available at the Hampton Inn & Suites across from the Convention Center for the night of October 31; reserve your room by October 1. 9/6/2017

Emerson’s CEO, David Farr, Outlines Tax Policy Requirements

This week, David Farr, chairman and CEO of Emerson and chair of the board of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) gave a speech at The Economic Club of New York about tax policy.

Among his remarks, Farr outlined these reform measures: “First, we must cut the federal corporate tax rate to 15 percent and lower the tax rate for the two-thirds of manufacturers that pay taxes at individual tax rates as pass-through entities. It is backward and unfair to saddle them with marginal tax rates of up to 44 percent on these small business owners! …

“Second, we have to stop punishing global U.S. companies when they reinvest overseas earnings back into the United States. … Since Emerson is headquartered in St. Louis, we pay taxes on overseas earnings brought back home while our foreign competitors do not—another negative competitive issue for global U.S. companies. …

“Third, we need a robust capital cost-recovery system. … Faster capital expensing lowers the after-tax cost and increases the number of profitable projects a firm can undertake—more U.S.A. investment normally translates into more jobs.

“Finally, manufacturers will be looking for strong research and development incentives in any tax package—both R&D deductions and a strengthened R&D credit.

“So, that is the straightforward and smart tax and pro-growth reform manufacturers want and that America deserves: a fair corporate tax rate, fair rates for small business, a territorial tax system, a robust capital cost-recovery system and consistent long-term-focused R&D incentives.”

Read Farr’s address here. 9/7/2017

NAM Rolls Out Creators Website to Support Manufacturing Career Recruitment

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is rolling out its “Creators Wanted” campaign to inspire and recruit the next-generation workforce in partnership with NAM member, Pfizer, and NAM affiliate, The Manufacturing Institute.

On the new CreatorsWanted website, the story of modern manufacturing come to life through the voices of workers—at manufacturers of all sizes, including these contributors: Anheuser-Busch, BTE Technologies, Dell, Edward Marc Chocolatier, Emerson, General Electric, HELM Boots, Honda, Jamison Door Company, Marlin Steel Wire Products, PPG and STIHL, as well as Pfizer.

Surveys and focus groups prove that when parents get to know modern manufacturing, kids see manufacturing as an attractive career path and manufacturers have access to a new talent pipeline. That’s why the CreatorsWanted tools and videos, along with helpful conversation guides for parents, open the doors to manufacturing workplaces and the opportunities that lie beyond them.

Visit CreatorsWanted and share these stories with your children and your networks. 9/5/2017

Ohio SOS Names Ballot Issues 1 and 2

This week Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced the official titles of the two statewide ballot initiatives that will be before Ohio voters this November: STATE ISSUE 1: “Rights for Crime Victims” and STATE ISSUE 2: “To require state agencies to not pay more for prescription drugs than the federal Department of Veterans Affairs and require state payment of attorney fees and expenses to specific individuals for defense of the law”

The OMA has joined Ohioans Against the Deceptive Rx Ballot Issue, a coalition comprised of diverse groups, including medical organizations, business groups and veterans’ organizations, to oppose Issue 2.

This week the Akron Beacon Journal editorialized against Issue 2, becoming the second major Ohio newspaper to oppose the prescription drug ballot initiative. The Columbus Dispatch editorialized against the measure last month.

The full texts of arguments and explanations concerning State Issues 1 and 2 are posted online. 8/31/2017

OMA Government Affairs Committee Held in Cleveland

Longtime OMA member (and 151 year old) Sherwin-Williams this week hosted the OMA Government Affairs Committee at its headquarters in downtown Cleveland.

Members enjoyed presentations from gubernatorial candidate Congressman Jim Renacci (R-16-Wadsworth), Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina), and Senators Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville) and Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls).

Several dozen manufacturing leaders participated in issue discussions that included gun rights that affect the workplace, legislation to protect electric markets, the Ohio drug-pricing issue campaign and workforce development opportunities for manufacturers.

“The OMA government affairs committee is a terrific one-stop resource to visit with peers about the real public policy threats and opportunities at play in our state,” said committee chairman, Christopher Hess, Director of Public Affairs, Eaton.

The committee will next meet on November 29 in Columbus. Interested members can register here. Contact OMA’s Ryan Augsburger for more information. 8/21/2017

LIFT Measures Ohio Advanced Manufacturing Job Postings for Q2

Lightweight Innovations For Tomorrow, LIFT, quarterly measures demand for lightweighting and advanced manufacturing jobs.

According to its most recent report, there were 19,525 related Ohio job postings during Q2 2017, up 1.6 percent over Q2 2016, and demand has increased nine percent in the four years since analysis began in Q1 2013.

Also, according to the report, 2017 is tracking to be the eighth consecutive year of employment growth with over 740,000 Ohio workers employed in lightweighting-related occupations – the greatest employment level since 2009.

See an infographic of the Q2 report findings here, including the most in-demand jobs posted.

The OMA is LIFT’s Ohio partner. 8/31/2017 

Already 80 Ohio MFG DAY Events Planned

Ohio hosted 187 MFG DAY events in 2016 and already in 2017 there are 80 events scheduled. (Michigan has 75.)

MFG DAY 2017 is Friday, October 6 but events can be held at anytime.

All registered Manufacturing Day event hosts will be automatically entered in a drawing to receive free audio tour headset rental packages, to facilitate factory tours on Manufacturing Day.

Everything you need to plan your event is here. 8/23/2017

One in Five U.S. Robots in Ohio and Michigan

Brookings this week released a study, “Where the Robots Are,” that looks at the distribution of robots in the country.

“Robots, it turns out, are congregating densely in some places but are hardly found in others. Specifically, the map makes clear that while industrial robots are by no means everywhere, they are clustered heavily in a short list of Midwestern and Southern manufacturing states, especially the upper Midwest,” finds the report.

“(M)ore than half of the nation’s 233,305 industrial robots are burning welds, painting cars, assembling products, handling materials, or packaging things in just 10 Midwestern and Southern states, led by Michigan (which accounts for nearly 28,000 robots, 12 percent of the nation’s total), Ohio (20,400, 8.7 percent), and Indiana (19,400, 8.3 percent), followed closely by Tennessee. By contrast, the entire West accounts for just 13 percent of the nation’s industrial bots,” according to the study.”

Not surprisingly, robot distribution tracks the footprint of the U.S. auto industry. 8/15/2017

Letter to Administration Officials Support Investment Protections in NAFTA Talks

The OMA signed onto a joint letter with the National Association of Manufacturers and dozens of other organizations to the U.S. Trade Representative, Secretaries of Commerce, State and Treasury, and the Director of the National Economic Council in support of including and upgrading investment protection and enforcement provisions in the NAFTA negotiations.

The parties wrote: “The negotiations to modernize NAFTA provide an important opportunity to upgrade the agreement to improve protection and enforcement tools against the theft, discrimination and unfair treatment of U.S. property overseas.” 8/9/2017