PRECISION PITTSBURGH PRECISION PITTSBURGH PRECISION PITTSBURGH WINTER 2012 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 MANUFACTURING AMERIC A’S FUTURE This article appeared in the December 2, 2011 issue of the Pittsburgh Business Times. Copyright 2011, Pittsburgh Business Times. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. If you believe manufacturing is no longer a vibrant American industry because China will eventually take away our manufacturing jobs, you need to spend some time with our Manufacturer of the Year finalists. According to the finalists and winners profiled in the 2011 Manufacturer of the Year Awards, those percep- tions about manufacturing are just plain wrong. According to representatives of manufacturing compa- nies in our awards program, and to statistics and trends (Continued on page 4) CHINA LOSING ITS COMPETITIVE EDGE By Alan Robertson, Publisher, Pittsburgh Business Times Combat robotics sounds cool, right? Well 43 area schools are finding out just how hard having that much fun really is. And the best part is that even after finding out how dif- ficult building a robot can be, they want to do it more! Perhaps most importantly, students see that building things is challenging, it's fun, and it’s a potential career. To find out what all the excitement is about attend one of (Continued on page 3) GEARING UP… BOTS IQ BEGINS! Is decreasing the tax burden on business and manufacturing the way to pull America out of recession? Obviously reducing business tax rates will encourage more investment in the US. And tax breaks to spur investment in R&D and advanced technology will lead to in- creased innovation, productivity, and competitiveness. Therefore many believe that reducing government spending in order to reduce business taxes will revitalize the domestic economy. It is not that simple. Easing the tax burden on small and medium domestic producers will have a very real and lasting impact that may initially appear to jump- start the economy. But unless it is part of a larger national economic strategy to reverse the US trade deficit, the long-term impact will be too limited to turn things around. (Continued on page 10) BUSINESS TAX CUTS CANNOT GO FAR ENOUGH By Dave Frengel, Governmental Affairs Chair DATES TO REMEMBER: BotsIQ Luncheon April 13, 2012 Details to be Announced Pirates & Politics PNC Park April 24, 2012 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM Apprentice Graduation Stratigo’s North Huntingdon, PA June 13, 2012 6 - 10 PM NTMF Annual Golf Tournament Greensburg Country Club Greensburg, PA August 13, 2012 Details TBA INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Pirates & Politics pg.2 Training Opportunities pg. 5 Apprenticeship Update pg.9 National Conference pg.12
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This article appeared in the December 2, 2011 issue of the Pittsburgh Business Times. Copyright 2011, Pittsburgh Business Times. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. If you believe manufacturing is no longer a vibrant
American industry because China will eventually take
away our manufacturing jobs, you need to spend some
time with our Manufacturer of the Year finalists.
According to the finalists and winners profiled in the
2011 Manufacturer of the Year Awards, those percep-
tions about manufacturing are just plain wrong.
According to representatives of manufacturing compa-
nies in our awards program, and to statistics and trends
(Continued on page 4)
CHINA LOSING ITS COMPETITIVE EDGE
By Alan Robertson, Publisher, Pittsburgh Business Times
Combat robotics sounds cool, right? Well 43 area schools
are finding out just how hard having that much fun really
is. And the best part is that even after finding out how dif-
ficult building a robot can be, they want to do it more!
Perhaps most importantly, students see that building
things is challenging, it's fun, and it’s a potential career.
To find out what all the excitement is about attend one of
(Continued on page 3)
GEARING UP… BOTS IQ BEGINS!
Is decreasing the tax burden on business and manufacturing the way
to pull America out of recession? Obviously reducing business tax
rates will encourage more investment in the US. And tax breaks to
spur investment in R&D and advanced technology will lead to in-
creased innovation, productivity, and competitiveness. Therefore
many believe that reducing government spending in order to reduce
business taxes will revitalize the domestic economy.
It is not that simple.
Easing the tax burden on small and medium domestic producers will
have a very real and lasting impact that may initially appear to jump-
start the economy. But unless it is part of a larger national economic
strategy to reverse the US trade deficit, the long-term impact will be
too limited to turn things around.
(Continued on page 10)
BUSINESS TAX CUTS CANNOT GO FAR ENOUGH By Dave Frengel, Governmental Affairs Chair
DATES TO
REMEMBER:
BotsIQ Luncheon
April 13, 2012
Details to be
Announced
Pirates & Politics
PNC Park
April 24, 2012
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Apprentice Graduation
Stratigo’s
North Huntingdon, PA
June 13, 2012
6 - 10 PM
NTMF Annual
Golf Tournament
Greensburg Country Club
Greensburg, PA
August 13, 2012
Details TBA
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Pirates & Politics
pg.2
Training Opportunities
pg. 5
Apprenticeship Update
pg.9
National Conference
pg.12
PIRATES
&
POLITICS
APRIL 24, 2012
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
I hope 2012 has gotten
off to a positive start for
one and all. As we’ve
all seen manufacturing
has been front and
center in the news and
was even mentioned 16
times by President
Obama in his recent
State of the Union. I
guess everyone is finally
realizing what we’ve
known for quite some
time now:
manufacturing is alive
and well and continues
to be the backbone of
our country’s economy.
After all, unlike some
industries, we actually
make things!
I encourage you to read
the emails that are
coming in from NTMA
National regarding
manufacturing news
and how our industry is
influencing our nation’s
economic policies. As
we learned at our
Membership
Appreciation night at
PNC Park we have an
active national
association that is doing
its best to provide us
with the tools and
knowledge we need to
be successful.
With that in mind I
wanted to make our
membership aware that
PNC Bank and the
NTMA are exploring
“partnering” in an
attempt to create a win-
win situation between
our industries. In other
words how can PNC
help individual shops
with equipment needs,
financial needs, lines of
credit, and the like?
PNC is currently
putting together a
customized presentation for
our association that they
plan to present in late
March. We’ll be sending
out notices as soon as the
meeting is scheduled.
With 2012 being a huge
election year, we also have
our political consultants,
Franklin Partnership,
coming in for a Pirates &
Politics presentation. The
meeting will be at PNC Park
in conjunction with a Pirates
game April 24, 2012. SMC
Business Councils and CPA
are co-sponsoring the event.
If you’ve never heard our
consultants speak, I strongly
encourage you to do so. It
truly is fascinating to see
how politics work in our
nation’s capital and how
much influence we really do
have. Following the
presentation, we’ll cheer the
Pirates on against the
Colorado Rockies.
Another point of interest: I
will be attending the national
meeting, which takes place
from March 6 – 11 at the
Hyatt Grand Cypress in
Orlando. There is an
impressive list of speakers
led by Joe Gibbs, former
three-time Super Bowl head
coach of the Washington
Redskins, who now heads
the Gibbs Racing Team, one
of the preeminent teams in
all of NASCAR. I’ll look
forward to giving you an
update in the spring
newsletter.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAPTER PRESIDENT, Kevin Hartford