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Prepare for the new normal in 2020

In 2020, companies in the industrial supply sector should be neither bullish nor bearish but remain status quo. Consider the mixed U.S. economic performance in 2019 that benefited from an unexpected rise in the employment labor participation rate and corresponding lower unemployment rate but from a gross domestic product standpoint saw a dip compared with 2018.

USCTI Fall 2019 Meeting: The Millennial and The Mentor

Terry Iverson, author of Finding America's Greatest Champion, discusses manufacturing careers with a millennial who attended the Fall 2019 meeting of the United States Cutting Tool Institute.  Terry, who has been involved in manufacturing since 1980, serves as president and CEO of Iverson & Co., a machine tool distributorship and rebuilder in Des Plaines, Illinois.

Among the goals for his book, which was published in 2018, Terry set out to help the industry address the shortage of skilled labor. In his words:

Has Trump delivered on his promise to revive U.S. manufacturing?

Most political analysts agree that Donald Trump won the presidency on the backs of long-suffering blue-collar workers in industrial states. His campaign was propelled by a promise to revive manufacturing through trade, tax and regulatory policies. After nearly three years in office, the results are unfortunately tepid in terms of engineering a real boom in this sector, and the trends in recent months signal spreading weakness. Nonetheless, manufacturing is stronger than it was when he took office, and policy support is still in place for growth. Headwinds from trade policy and political uncertainty, however, are restraining a more robust growth path.

Solar Manufacturing invests in Sellersville, Bucks County

Solar Manufacturing Inc. commemorated the opening of a new, 59,000-sq.-ft plant with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 24. The company, located at 1500 E. Clymer Ave., Sellersville, Bucks County, is the first business to build in the newly established Sellersville Business Campus. On hand to celebrate were a number of Bucks County notables, including Thomas C. Hufnagle, mayor of Sellersville Borough; Mary Smithson, chair of the Bucks County Industrial Development Authority; and Robert G. Loughery, chairman of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners.

Teachers awarded for their teaching excellence

In the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, three $100,000 first-place prizes were awarded to Cesar Gutierrez, a manufacturing teacher from Tucson, Arizona, Wendy Schepman, a landscape operations teacher from Stuart, Florida, and Brent Trankler, a welding teacher from Sikeston, Missouri, with the prize winnings shared between the individual teacher or team and their high school skilled trades program.

Why manufacturing leaves China but doesn't return to the U.S.

The cumulative stress of President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war is leading to if not an irreparable breach between the U.S. and China, then certainly a significant fraying. Trade talks notwithstanding, the rising cost of the tariffs is already inducing some U.S. manufacturers to exit China. But in most instances, they are not returning to home shores.