A WMMA Look into 2010
For most industries, associations, and association members, 2009 is a year unlike any other ever experienced. WMMA’s economic forecaster, Alan Beaulieu, looks to 2010 for improvement but certainly not yet a return to the days of yesteryear. Along those lines, the theme for the 2010 Woodworking Industry Conference (WIC) states “Forget Yesterday, It’s a New Tomorrow.” What does that “tomorrow” hold for WMMA and its members?
Certainly, everyone hopes 2010 will be different from 2009; no one wants to experience another “Great Recession,” as that year is forever labeled. For certain, the year ahead holds three milestone events for the WMMA member company, all of which afford countless opportunities for networking:
1. In February, the Association sponsors the 3rd Annual Woodworking Equipment and Wood Processing (WE&WP) Public Policy Fly-In. On Monday afternoon of the 8th, the WMMA Board will meet as Taylor Fernley recently communicated to you. That night, an All-Committee dinner features a presentation on Social Networking, otherwise known as Web 2.0. The next day, Tuesday the 9th, all WMMA committees and task forces will meet. During lunch that day, WMMA’s Legislative Counsel will provide an issue briefing for all in attendance, regardless of association affiliation. The featured dinner speaker will address attendees from all associations on the state of U.S. manufacturing. Wednesday the 10th has been designated as Appointment Day on The Hill, so start scheduling those meetings with your Senators and Representatives. The issues for discussion this year include:
Ø Industrial Dust,
Ø Estate Tax,
Ø “Card Check,” and
Ø Ergonomics.
Issue papers on these and other topics of concern can all be found on the website at http://www.wmma.org/members/public_policy.cfm. Prior to the visits to The Hill on Wednesday morning the Woodworking Industry Leadership Forum, a WMMA-organized group of related associations, meets to discuss issues of common concern.
2. In April, the Association again will sponsor the annual Woodworking Industry Conference over the 21st thru the 24th in scenic Monterey, CA. While the Manufacturer/Distributor Contact Table Program is once again a feature, it is no longer the centerpiece of the meeting. Forums are. These panel and roundtable discussions will focus on enduse markets, such as business furniture and household furniture, distributor and manufacturer centric issues, and industry-wide opportunities. As usual, there will be workshops for learning new techniques to utilize in your business. We are currently organizing joint committee meetings with AWFS and WMIA.
3. In August, the International Woodworking Machinery & Furniture Supply Fair (IWF) returns to the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta over the 25th thru the 28th. Aside from the normal opportunity to exhibit products and services to domestic and international buyers, there will be pavilions, or “centers of interest,” such as upholstery and plastics, for the first time. For those still debating whether to exhibit or not, plenty of prime space is still available.
Beyond these traditional standard bearers, the Association continues to provide leadership for its members and the industry in a variety of ways:
Ø Before it became a phenomenon in its own right, WMMA organized a task force, chaired by Jamie Scott and Dick Cowan, at the turn of last year on Industrial Dust to help educate members and customers on the salient issues. Before the year ended, that task force testified at an OSHA public hearing on the subject. This issue is just heating up, and more will certainly happen in 2010 with the task force fully involved and leading others.
Ø The semi-annual ITR webinars on the economic outlook will continue with a tentative schedule of late Spring/early Summer and November. The quarterly ITR reports now include analysis on panel processing as well as an outlook for plastics and composites. We have arranged for ITR answers to member follow-up questions on the report’s contents.
Ø The Business Development Committee hopes to offer a Certified Member Program which would benefit members in the areas of Safety, Engineering, Quality and Service.
Ø Look for more social networking (Web 2.0) opportunities within the Association, while the website continues to evolve as an information-rich resource for members.
Ø Under the leadership of Allen Turk, an innovative approach to exporting—the Brazil Consortium—launches itself for the next 13 months. If the concept proves successful, other target countries, such as Russia, might be considered.
Ø The first sales in India should result from the American Center for Wood Processing (ACWP).
Ø When you need a little more information before you make a decision impacting your company – an employment, tax or business concern – call John Satagaj, WMMA’s Legislative Counsel, at (703) 340-9596. His general business and legal advice on general topics is free to members.
Ø Finally, for that employee who needs some financial assistance to complete schooling or get a degree that leverages his/her contribution to your company, don’t forget WMMA’s Scholarships for Current & Prospective Employees Program.
Have a safe and prosperous New Year!
Volcker: U.S. Could Learn From Germany's Export Strategy. Really?
Recently, a colleague sent the following news item and asked for my thoughts:
Germany's The Local (12/13) reported, "One of President Barack Obama's senior economic advisors Paul Volcker" told the news magazine Der Spiegel that "he admired Germany's economic model, and suggested that the US should consider a shift towards exporting to help the US recover from the economic crisis." Said Volcker" "In some ways, I think the labour cost is higher in Germany than it is in the United States but you can somehow maintain that export edge. ... You are dedicated to exporting, we are dedicated to financial engineering and it hasn't worked out too well." Saying, "I wish we had fewer financial engineers and more mechanical engineers," Volcker noted "that while the US was doing okay in researching and developing new technologies, it was leaving all the manufacturing to other countries, particularly Germany." Volcker also "said that there was a fundamentally different psychology in Germany than in the US, which allowed a lot of manufacturing be outsourced."
I pondered Mr. Volcker's observations for awhile and then replied as follows:
"The difference is that manufacturers in this country have always enjoyed having the world’s single largest, homogenous market available to them. Global competition has changed all that, including the intensity level. The opportunities for growth, in many cases, now lie offshore, particularly given the level of the U.S. Dollar against the Euro. Most U.S. businesses, however, just are not comfortable in exporting, since they really never had to do that until now. And developing a successful exporting program does not necessarily mean locating a facility overseas (offshoring) and destroying jobs here."
Any agreement? Disagreement?
Sadly, We Have Lost Our Way!
I was recently impressed by a very provocative editorial from Kerry Knudsen, editor of Wood Industry. The latter is a trade magazine which serves the Canadian woodworking industry. As such, it may have some circulation among U.S. machinery builders, cutting tool manufacturers and other suppliers to the wood processing industry in Canada. Kerry loves the wood processing industry, enjoys being a Canadian, yet also admires what has made the U.S. the beacon in the world it has been for those who have a work-ethnic and want the opportunity to succeed.
For those of you who didn’t read his observations from the September/October, I will try to highlight some of the more interesting observations:
Ø Where there is risk, there should be reward. And, that is the way it has been in the U.S. until now. Now, The President and Congress are increasing the U.S. federal deficit to a stratospheric $1.8 trillion to finance the Obama Cultural Revolution for universal healthcare and all sorts of other entitlements. The entire additional tax load will supposedly be financed by those making $250,000 or more per year. It’s as if those within the federal government—most of whom have never met a payroll in their life, let alone sold or made a product—are now screaming for the heads of its most productive citizens.
Ø The U.S. as a country has “lost the cultural sense of combined resources for a common goal” which is the philosophy made Americans invincible. But something has happened. Yes, the information infrastructure, the financial foundation, the natural resources, and the work ethic remain to outgrow and out-produce anyone. The missing link is the lack of trained skilled professionals geminating from the outgrowth of the competition for talent.
Ø “Contrary to the current political thought in the U.S., talent is what makes a country great. Innovation, ambition, entrepreneurism, vision, and a willingness to take risk” were part of the DNA of Americans. Those traits are “the essence of talent.” With talent, comes “the ability to recognize and utilize one’s individual resources to maximum benefit.”
Ø Today, “faltering Americans” seem to select the enjoyment of “unaudited Stimulus and unregulated free everything… [in a place] where unions get to fire top management and seize bondholders’ money.”
It appears that under the Obama Cultural Revolution Americans have a choice: to accept “confiscatory tax rates as the reward for being excellent” (hello, the U.K. and Europe!) or recapture the vision of what made this country great. For Americans, that choice is here today.