Out of many, one. . .solution

This week, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce met to discuss an important question: How do we create jobs in Jamaica?

According the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, the unemployment rate in 2006 hovered around 10 percent.

JCC President Mike Myers told the Caribbean Business Report radio show:

"Jamaica must think outside the box. We need to pick industries where we can compete globally. Then we need to offer incentives, that is, give tax breaks.

In a fascinating interview, the Jamaica Observer spoke with an anonymous retired manufacturer:

The government should embark on a program whereby manufacturers get free land in exchange for building factories and then declare no general consumption tax on Jamaican-made products. That would put idle land to use and give Jamaican products a 16.5 per cent advantage. This would give us a competitive edge and wean the population off foreign goods. Look at it this way, if foreign and Jamaican goods are the same price, people won't buy the local goods, but once Jamaican goods are cheaper people will buy.

The high cost of manufacturing in Jamaica, coupled with the lack of incentives, has not allowed Jamaica to compete globally with industrial countries. Developing solar energy, hydroelectricity, and agriculture would be a good start if Jamaica is ready to emerge as a global force. The Cotonou Agreement (part of the ACP agreementŠyou can view more about that in the last few paragraphs of an earlier post here) that Jamaica signed in 2000 means that the country has a much wider trading scope.

Sources: The Jamaica Observer, The Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, European Commission, The Statistical Institute of Jamaica

Manufacture this, punk!

U.S. Steel, Alcoa, Goodyear, and other manufacturing companies have joined with the United Steelworkers labor union to form the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), aiming to preserve and promote manufacturing in the United States.

The alliance, which announced its formation yesterday, asserts that the decline of manufacturing undercuts America's long-term competitiveness, its research capabilities and its ability to produce sophisticated weapons needed for national security. The alliance aims to be partly a policy research organization, tackling subjects like international trade practices, inadequate enforcement of trading regulations by the U.S. government, health policy, and renewable energy.

In a Marketplace report last night, the executive director of the AAM, Scott Paul, quoted Ben Frankin's famous proclamation at the beginning of the American Revolution, "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we will hang separately."

Paul says the U.S. has lost more than three million manufacturing jobs in six years. He blames China -- and says the alliance will target what it calls Beijing's unfair trade practices. The group will also try to convince 20-somethings that manufacturing is hip.

Their new blog, "Manufacture This," will be the voice of the AAM.
And check out their bios!

Scott Paul--AAM Executive Director
"I'm a patriotic liberal who thinks good jobs are worth fighting for."

Horace Cooper--AAM Deputy Director
"Some might say conservative or even right-wing. I refer to it as just 'telling the truth.' "

Jonathan Swain--AAM Communications Director
"A voice of reason and common sense from the Midwest."

AWESOME. Looks like this group has all of their bases covered.

On a side note, it's interesting that Goodyear should join with United Steelworkers, considering the union's strike last year, which reduced the company's sales by about $200 million.

Anyway, speaking of hip, did you know that we have a new myspace page? We are trying just as hard as these manufacturers to show that facility management and site selection is, well, cool.
And check me out:

Pearl Gabel--BF Associate Editor
"I'm patriotic but skeptical, liberal but conservative, and a speaker of truth and gossip hailing from the Mideast. Some might say 'she's just being silly.' I say, 'I'm just keeping it real.' "

Sources: International Herald Tribune, The Dickonson Herald, National Public Radio, Manufacture This

Good News for Manufacturing

„ According to a Commerce Department report today, US-made manufactured goods climbed 3.4% in March, and businesses are continuing to grow and expand. In a Bloomberg News article today, Adam York, an economist at Wachovia Corporation, was quoted as saying, "It's still too early to say manufacturing is completely on the mend, but this is a positive.''

„ Alabama has announced a US$64.5m expansion of its facility in Lincoln, Alabama.

„ Last week, the Chrysler Group announced that it will invest $700 million investment in Marysville, Michigan and create 1,000 jobs (see last week's blog).The Marysville factory is part of $1.78 billion of new investments that Chrysler announced for Michigan. "It's the biggest thing that's ever happened in our county," said Doug Alexander, executive director of the EDA of St. Clair County.

„ Wyeth Laboratories, based in New Jersey, and the Irish government unveiled a joint$32.5 million plan today to strengthen the drugmaker's R&D operations in Ireland. Wyeth will expand its current 27,000-square-foot laboratory in West Dublin to more than 90,000 square feet.

„ Roche Pharmaceuticals announced today that it will invest $60 million in a new multi-purpose production facility in Florence, SC.

Sources: Forbes via AP, Automotive World, The Voice, Bloomberg, International Herald Tribune, The Carolina Newswire,

GE Aviation to expand its jet engine manufacturing

The Rutland Herald reported today that GE will break ground next month on a $4.5 million, 27,000-square-foot addition to its facility in Rutland Town, VT. GE Aviation handed its Rutland operation the assignment of making parts for the company's latest commercial aircraft jet engine. The company will also invest millions more on machinery and equipment to make the new blades. The GE plant has undergone several expansions over the years and is now 289,2933 square feet and has about 1,200 employees.
The spokesperson for GE said that with military orders on decline, the order has come along "just at the right time."

Speaking of a decline in military spending, the San Diego Business Journal just published an article on the 800 area-manufacturing jobs lost in the past year. The article sites a study by the San Diego Chamber of Commerce that says:

. . .manufacturing benefits the most from the business created by defense spending. Defense-related manufacturing supports more than 19,800 jobs and $4.5 billion in economic output. The professional, scientific and technical services sector was second, with military spending generating $2.4 billion, and more than 19,000 jobs for those sectors.

I was blogging about this last week, as presently we are seeing some US manufacturers struggling and some benefiting from this stage of the Iraq conflict.

Blogging on Blogging

The editors at Business Facilities like to keep you up to date on the latest economic development, corporate expansion, relocation, and site selection news and views. We sort through all of the online fluff so that you don't have to, and bring you our picks.

Do you know of a site that we don't? Send your tips to pgabel@groupc.com

aThe National Association of Manufacturers has some great news and advice on relocating and expanding manufacturing facilties.

In one recent post, Bill Canis writes about Joe Loughrey, the CEO of Cummins, a maker of diesel engines. Mr. Loughrey was asked to speak at the Rocky Mount, NC chamber of commerce (where he is planning to invest $22 million in a plant expansion this year) about his company grappling with globalization, competiveness, and lack skilled workers. He said,

Let me stress that for North Carolina and Rocky Mount--as well as other communities where Cummins does business--the big issue is finding enough skilled labor...employees who are prepared to use statistical methods, operate higher technology equipment, work well with colleagues and are eager to learn new, more efficient ways of getting their jobs done. Solving this problem is absolutely necessary to being and remaining a world-class manufacturer....and if we can't find it here, we and others will have to look elsewhere.

Yup. We know all about looking elsewhere.

aI can't stop reading the Private Sector Development Blog, an Economic Development blog written by members of the World Bank (the content is the individual's opinions, of course, and not the WB's).
This blog's mission is to "gather together news, resources and ideas about the role of private enterprise in fighting poverty."

You can search by regions or by topic. Thinking about doing business in Poland? Thinking of expanding your company into a post-conflict area? Among the writers of this blog are lead economists and managers at the World Bank, the oh-so-controversial international economic development organization. Love it or hate it, the global E.D. information here is from the experts.