Inflation remains the main concern for most small-business owners. Nevertheless, fewer say they intend to raise prices, though many expect to put plans for capital expenditures on hold, given rising interest rates and the weak sales outlook.
About 23% of small businesses plan to increase employment in the next 3 months despite nearly half saying they can’t fill openings due to lack of qualified workers. The crunch is especially bad in transport, manufacturing, construction and services.
Clark Valve has created a new valve, the Dilating Disk, that the company says could prevent methane from causing atmospheric damage and keep hydrocarbons within their pipeline. The Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP) is funded with $850million dollars to the EPA to implement the reduction program. Clark Valve a Quonset Point manufacturer is on the [...]
Electric Boat who has partnered with Davies Vocational since 2019. Davies besides having Electrical & Renewable Energy program is now offering Maritime Electrical. Beginning November 2022, Davies will have an Electric Boat mentor working with their junior students twice a month. This mentorship program will provide students the opportunity to prepare and train for a [...]
Manufacturing employment increased by 32,000 in October, up from 23,000 in September and continuing to rise solidly. Currently, the manufacturing sector has 12,922,000 employees, the most since November 2008. The average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers in manufacturing rose 0.4% from $25.25 in September to $25.35 in October, up 4.9% from one year [...]
The NAM is interested in a U.S. trade agenda that supports open global markets so that manufacturers can benefit globally from the same principles that we value at home: nondiscrimination, fairness, equal opportunity and competition. It is also focused on pushing back against foreign practices that harm manufacturers and their employees in the U.S. and [...]
After contracting in the first two quarters of 2022, the U.S. economy rebounded in the third quarter, expanding 2.6% at the annual rate. Strength in consumer spending on services, government, net exports and nonresidential fixed investment boosted real gross domestic product. At the same time, goods spending was a drag on growth, along with the [...]
A second union has voted against ratifying a proposed contract between the Class I railroads and their workforce, increasing the possibility of a rail strike before the end of the year, according to POLITICO Pro (subscription). The background: Railroads and their unions have been working for three years to ink a new long-term contract. In [...]
NAM President Jay Timmons discussed the need for a more favorable tax code, which plays a major role in the ability of manufacturers in the U.S. to compete, he said. “For example, a longstanding deduction for full and immediate expensing of research and development expenses is being phased out,” Timmons said. “Businesses will now have [...]
Energy: Timmons noted that access to abundant energy is a national security issue, especially in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and highlighted manufacturers’ all-of-the-above energy strategy. He also laid out some of the key policies that will help achieve manufacturers’ goals. Timmons argued in favor of permitting reform; removing regulatory barriers; promoting reasonable [...]