Plastics in the Economy

Plastics play an indispensable role in a wide variety of markets, ranging from packaging and building/construction to transportation; consumer and institutional products; furniture and furnishings; electronics and more.

Plastic product manufacturing is fourth among the top manufacturing industry groups in the United States. The plastics industry as a whole, including resin (raw material) suppliers, plastic product manufacturers and machinery and moldmakers, contributes 1.3 million jobs. and $345 billion in shipments. to the U.S. economy. Another 735,000 persons are employed by upstream industries that supply the plastics industry, which brings the employment impact to 2.1 million – about 2 percent of the U.S. workforce. Upstream industries add an additional $93 billion to the value of industrial shipments, bringing the total annual shipments from plastics activity to $438 billion.

Learn more here.

Arizona Bioetch Update

Over the last 2 years, Arizona has concentrated investment and efforts in building its research
infrastructure and supporting the development of the state’s emerging bioscience industry sector. The state continues to implement its Arizona Bioscience Roadmap developed in 2002 with support from the Flinn Foundation.

Arizona’s strategy focuses on strengthening the state’s bioscience research base in the areas of neurological sciences, cancer therapeutics, bioengineering, and bioimaging and developing a critical mass of bioscience companies by encouraging the commercialization of bioscience discoveries and providing a supportive environment for start-up, emerging, and expanding bioscience companies. The state has developed comprehensive business plans for each of the targeted scientific platform areas.

Download report here.

Investment in Vietnam on Rise

Vietnam is becoming the destination choice for manufacturers from developed countries looking for low-cost production.

The government is combining tax breaks, inexpensive land and cheaper labor to attract such investors as Intel Corp.

The big California chipmaker recently rejected China and Thailand for the opportunity to invest $300 million to build a microchip facility near Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam's factory wages average $50 to $60 a month, half as much as wages along China's coast.
In fact, Vietnam's incentives have prompted some Chinese manufacturers to leave and move south.

Source: UPI

Arizona Economic Trends

Arizona posted year-over year job growth of 5.6 percent in first quarter 2006, placing the state in second place nationally for the eighth consecutive quarter (see Chart 1). The business services and construction sectors continued to generate the most new jobs as population growth and real estate markets remained robust.

Rapid job growth contributed to a decline in the state’s unemployment rate to 4.4 percent in first quarter 2006, down significantly from its recent peak of 6.2 percent in mid-2002. The Phoenix and Prescott metro areas each reported 4.0 percent unemployment, the lowest rates in the state.

The tightening job market likely contributed to the increase in per capita income for Arizona residents in first quarter 2006. Although the state’s annual per capita personal income of $30,860 remains below the national average of $35,530, the gap has been narrowing and may continue to do so if employers raise wages to attract qualified workers.

Although the high-tech sector has not reported net job gains since 2000, venture capital investment increased in 2005 and early 2006, targeting Internet software and e-commerce companies (see Chart 2). In addition, high-tech exports from Arizona expanded in 2005, suggesting that hiring in this sector may resume.

Source: FDIC State Profiles

Siemens to Buuild Wind Turbines in Iowa

Rapid growth in the wind turbine business has prompted German manufacturer Siemens AG to build its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Iowa. Munich-based Siemens Power Generation said it will buy a shuttered truck trailer factory in Fort Madison, a Mississippi River community located 135 miles southeast of Des Moines.The property includes a 224,000-square-foot building complex on 127 acres. The closing date for the purchase is expected in a few weeks.

The Iowa site was chosen because its close proximity to water, rail and road transportation, and its central location in the United States makes it is ideal for wind turbine blade manufacturing, where logistics are critically important due to the massive size of the blades, the company said.

More here.

Ford Cuts Ahead

More not good news in the US auto industry. Ford Motor Co. said that it will slash fourth-quarter U.S. vehicle production as it attempts to accelerate ongoing restructuring activities and lessen the impact of high gasoline prices on its business.The auto maker, struggling to stabilize U.S. market share and reverse deep financial losses in North American automotive operations, said in a press release that it plans to cut fourth-quarter production by 168,000 vehicles, or 21%, compared with the year-earlier total. Ford also plans to cut third-quarter production by about 9%. More here.

The Mature Market

From: Business Horizons
Volume 49, Issue 4 (July-August 2006)

“The Greydollarfella: An endangered species or a market opportunity?”
By Stephen Ogden-Barnes and Stella Minahan

“Greydollarfella” has an Antipodean ring to it: these authors, from Monash and Deakin universities in Australia, have coined the term to refer to men aged over 50, working or recently retired, who have time and disposable income on their hands but dislike shopping.

They claim the Greydollarfella, is an “ignored and endangered species”, neglected by advertisers and retailers who have concentrated on luring teenagers, younger men (including so-called “metrosexuals”) and women. Cited is the example of a mall in Hamburg that has a crèche for men, stocked with beer and computer games, where female shoppers can drop off their male partners. Such narrow focus, the authors argue, is mistaken, as older male shoppers offer “great value for marketers and retailers”. Not only are they susceptible to appeals from companies such as Orvis, which sells outdoor equipment and clothing, and Harley-Davidson. They are also more likely to shop online than their female counterparts. Shades of grey, it seems, could turn red to black.

Ford Gets Money Deal in Michigan

"The State of Michigan recently announced an incentive package, approved by the Michigan Economic Development Corp., in hopes of encouraging Ford Motor Co. to make new investments of up to $1 billion in Michigan facilities for flexible manufacturing and advanced powertrain technologies. If approved by the company, the project will retain a total of 56,200 jobs in Michigan, including up to 13,740 jobs directly by Ford."

Source: Expansion Management Magazine

More Competitive By Becoming More Cooperative

The counties in North Carolina's Triangle region discover that they can become more competitive only by growing more cooperative.

This is the same message I have been hearing and preaching across the country.

Click here to read the Business Week story of Research Triangle.

Great one!

Jack Welch Fan? Think Twice!

Fortuen says we should tear up the Jack Welch playbook. The Six Sigma master was once the undisputed authority in management. But Fortune is finding that today's smart CEOs are following a different set of rules. I agree!

Read the story here.

What Do You Think About This?

BusinessWeek's survey of 2,500 U.S. managers and executives found that the most competitive are the highly paid, the young, and men. Among the highly paid, 30% (vs. 22% overall) would fire a friend. Nearly half of people under 35 like the idea of laying off the bottom tenth of performers in a company every year. Women? They’re just a tad cynical. Only 41% think talent is a key quality for winning in business; 72% name "self-confidence."

Read more here.

Mind, Body and Soul for Executives

Stressed out? Get away. Get a grip on yourself.

Here are some options to consider.

US Company Customer Service Lacking

Despite the flood of new service-friendly technologies, nearly half of U.S. consumers were driven away from retailers, banks, and other businesses in the past year by lousy customer service, a new survey shows.

Of more than 1,000 respondents to an online poll in May, a full 46% said poor service had turned them off of at least one business this year, according to a survey released earlier this month by Accenture, a New York-based management consulting firm.

About 18% cited retailers as having the worst customer service, followed by Internet service providers, banks, home and cell phone companies, and cable and satellite television companies. Utility companies, life insurance firms, airlines, and hotels were cited the least, the survey found.

Outsourcing Update

Here is a recent NY Times article on the subject. Will it be an issue for the next Presidential race? What's your view?

ED Futures Newsletter

Dear ED Futures Reader:

In this issue of the newsletter, you will find articles on:

1. Emerging senior/boomer market.
2. A new Assets and Opportunities Scoreboard.
3. Self-Employment.
4. Wyoming Recruiting Michigan Workers.
5. Metro Land Use Trends.
6. University of Arizona's Bioscience Park.
7. New TVA Target Industry Service.
8. Midwestern Manufacturing.
9. Wisconsin ED Audit Results.
10. LA County's Biz-Friendly Community Program.
11. Georgia ED Results.
12. Tennessee Tops States in ED.
13. Evansville, IN makes case for ED.

Hope you find something of interest in this issue.

Best wishes,

Don Iannone, Publisher

Tel: 440-449-0753

Email: dtia@don-iannone.com

Technology and Innovation in an Emerging Senior/Boomer Martketplace

There are those who describe the expected impact of a large aging population as a “crisis.” Some community, business, academic, and government leaders, however, view aging demographics as an “opportunity.”

The potential benefits of this opportunity will not be realized, however, without unleashing this nation’s innovative and entrepreneurial spirit to create and deliver technology that responds to the “quality of life” needs of older Americans.

In the past, technologies associated with aging were generally applied to disease or disability. Today, however, aging demographics and Baby Boomer lifestyles seem to be calling for a different kind of technology. The approaching wave of wealthier, healthier and more independent Boomers is reframing the discussion of technology needs.

In response, technology and public policy will reflect greater emphasis on extending independence, productivity, and quality of life for the nation’s senior citizens. Because Boomers are themselves largely responsible for the successful development and widespread use of technology in our society, they can be expected to continue to be technology savvy consumers as they grow older.

Because Boomers are more “connected” than previous generations, technology awareness and adoption may be less of an issue than keeping abreast of the latest developments and being trained in technology products that best suit their needs and those of their caregivers and employers.

Boomers may also be more discriminating and demanding of technology, driving companies to produce more “user centric” products with greater focus on usability, usefulness, and use. Increasing emphasis on Universal Design” and human factors or ergonomic engineering and design should also assure that user’s needs and characteristics are included early in the innovation life cycle.

Download the paper here.

CfED's Assets and Opportunities Scoreboard

The 2005 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard is a state-level snapshot of how the country is performing in six key areas: financial security, business development, homeownership, health care, education, and tax policy and accountability. The Scorecard uses a broad array of outcome and policy measures to assess states' asset-building and asset-protection capacity. Letter grades are assigned for the outcome measures.

State policies are assessed separately and are rated as either "favorable," "standard," or "substandard." Grades are not issued for the tax policy area since it does not include outcome measures.After analyzing 31 outcome measures across the five graded issue areas, 10 states receive overall A's: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In looking at 38 policy measures, 21 states receive an overall favorable policy rating. Among them, only the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York received favorable ratings in all five graded issue areas.

Learn more here.