Manufacturers unsure about meeting growth goals, compiled by Adrienne Selko, IndustryWeek, August 24, 2007
Slightly less than 40% of U.S. manufacturers think they will grow over the next three years, according to the results of a May 2007 survey conducted by IndustryWeek Custom Research and Capgemini and released yesterday. However the COOs, CIOs, CFOs and CMOs surveyed said they plan to reinvest cost savings in the business to improve their ability to deliver in changing market conditions (see chart below).

[Youngstown and state] officials to combine small-business help, by David Skolnick, Youngstown Vindicator, August 24, 2007
Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray and Youngstown city officials say they plan to coordinate financial assistance programs each offers to provide loans of up to $250,000 at 3 percent below the prime rate to qualified small-business owners.

Commissioners approve year-long Lake Erie wind turbine study, by Tom Breckenridge, Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 24, 2007
Cuyahoga County Commissioners picked a German Company, juwi international, to study the proposal of building wind turbines on the lake and establishing a wind-energy research center (to be run by CWRU) nearby.

Related stories:

Wind energy could boost Ohio economy, by Stephen Majors, AP via Coshocton Tribune, August 23, 2007
Environment Ohio released a report that concludes the state can revive manufacturing if it requires up to 20% of Ohio's electricity be generated by renewable energy technologies like wind by 2020.

N.Y.: Long Island wind park scrapped, by Frank Eltman, AP via Forbes.com, August 23, 2007

[Akron] expands, renames Canal Place incubator, by Cheryl Powell, Akron Beacon Journal, August 24, 2007
Now called the Akron Global Business Accelerator, 35 business ventures with more than 100 employees are housed in the city-owned building on Main Street that used to be part of the B.F. Goodrich complex.

Nordson pays $45 million for TAH Industries, by Frank Bentayou, Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 24, 2007
Westlake-based Nordson Corp. said the acquisition the Robbinsville, N.J.-based manufacturer of disposable plastic mixers for adhesives and sealants aligns with its strategic plans and will complement the company's existing product lines.

Cambria to open Kent Plant, by Paula Schleis, Akron Beacon Journal, August 23, 2007
Privately held, Minnesota-based Cambria, the country's only producer of natural quartz surfaces, will spend $4 million to open a plant on a 75,000-square-foot site in Kent. In this month's edition of Entrepreneur magazine, Cambria was ranked fourth on a list of the ''Hot 500'' fastest-growing small businesses in America.

Cleveland development chief Chris Warren calls for regional thinking, by Susan Vinella, Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 22, 2007
Chris Warren, the city's first regional economic development director, tells the PD that he and Mayor Frank Jackson will release a plan in October that will be focused on regional development, shared taxes and mandatory green building standards.

GM cuts production at six plants, by Dee-Ann Durbin, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 23, 2007
Citing fuel prices and competition, GM said it has cut production at six plants that make large sport utility vehicles and pickups. Although none are in Ohio, the cuts are seen as further signs of softness in the retail auto market that is expected to last through the end of the year.

Related Story: GM cuts reveal troubles, sector faces threat of extended slump amid sales decline, by John D. Stoll and Neal E. Boudette, Wall Street Journal, August 23, 2007 (subscription required)
The WSJ notes that Toyota and Honda Motor Co. saw their sales fall along with those of the domestic auto makers in June and July.

New nanotechnology-based coatings are energy-efficient and environmentally sound, by Adrienne Selko, IndustryWeek, August 22, 2007
IW features Akron, Ohio-based Ecology Coatings' "liquid nanotechnology" process which uses ultraviolet light to cure coatings. The company tells IW the process can reduce energy expenditures by as much as 80% because natural gas-based baking ovens are not needed. The company also says the process does not release pollutants to the ambient environment.

BWC rate discounts called unfair, by Jim Provance, Toledo Blade, August 22, 2007
A state-federal task force probing corruption in the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation criticized the policy that gave the bureau's former chief unilateral authority over granting group-rating discounts. However, the task force found no evidence of pay-to-play decisions.

Food manufacturer to expand (in Barberton), by William K. Alcorn, Youngstown Vindicator, August 22, 2007
On Monday, Summer Garden Food Manufacturing, formerly known as Zidian Manufacturing, broke ground on a six-acre, $6 million expansion in Barberton. The company's Gia Russa Select Pasta Sauces and Starletta Organic Pasta Sauce are sold in 5,000 retail stores nationally. It also manufactures private-label brands for restaurants and retailers.

Business Strategy: Worldsource or perish, by William J. Amelio, Forbes, August 17, 2007
Amelio, the American-born, Singapore-based CEO of PC manufacturer Lenovo argues that "worldsourcing" is a powerful emerging market force that is transforming the fundamental structure, operation and culture of business on a global basis.

Book: The Dragon and the Elephant: The rise of India and China and what it means to all of us, by Robyn Meredith, W.W. Norton, 2007
Forbes Senior Editor Robyn Meredith argues that the U.S. shouldn't fear these two rising economic powers. The book, published in July, ranks 539th on Amazon.com's book list.

Related link: Excerpt from The Dragon and the Elephant: The disassembly line, Forbes, July 23, 2007

Honda's Marysville Auto Plant at 25 Years: Historic Yet 'New', AutoSpectator.com, August 22, 2007
The first Accord produced in America rolled off the Marysville Honda plant's line on November 1, 1982. This feature article (authored by Honda) celebrates the plant's history and includes observations by the company's Marysville-based employees.

Patent Ruling May Help Firms' Defense in Suits, by Peter Lattman, Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2007 (Subscription required)
A federal appeals court ruling changed the standard to prove willful patent infringements, overturning a 24-year-old legal precedent. Lattman reports that the ruling is the latest in a string of decisions that have favored companies defending themselves from patent-infringement lawsuits.

Ohio community college to lead national welding education and training, Welding Magazine, August 21, 2007
The Lorain County Community College in northern Ohio has been named project leader for a $4.9 million National Science Foundation program to establish a National center for Welding Education and Training. Ken Smith has been named project director and principal investigator.

Cleveland's port looks to grow, boost projects, by Tom Breckenridge, Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 21, 2007
The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority released a draft of its 25-year growth strategy at a board meeting on Monday. By 2033, the port estimates it will grow by 200 acres, spur $2 billiion in private investment and add 50,000 jobs to the local economy. The public can comment on the plan at a meeting on Wednesday evening, August 29 at Tri-C's United Technology Center.

Related Link: Port Authority outlines new strategic direction, Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, August 21, 2007.

Geis shopping large industrial real estate portfolio, by Henry J. Gomez, Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 17, 2007
The Geis Cos. placed 14 large suburban industrial parks on the market. The properties cover just under 1 million square feet and are located in Oakwood, Parma, Streetsboro, Twinsburg and Valley View.

Parker Executive Vice President Jack Myslenski Announces Retirement After 34 Years of Service, PR Newswire, August 20, 2007.
Myslenski, 56, will assist with the leadership transition until his departure on April 1, 2008.

Energy Efficiency, Sustainability, Labor Shortage: Key issues at the Future of Manufacturing Congress Conference, by Adrienne Selko, IndustryWeek, August 14, 2007
The Future of Manufacturing Congress was held in Montreal August 5-7. IW rounds up some of the key presentations.

New Grant Program Established by Strickland Administration, Ohio Manufacturers Association, August 20, 2007
The Ohio Manufacturer's Association is putting the word out about Governor Strickland's Turnaround Ohio Grant Program. Grants between $10,000 to $20,000 are available for consulting services, to improve operations or prevent layoffs.

Stakes high in race to re-regulate Ohio utilities, by Julie Carr Smyth, Associated Press via The Canton Repository, August 20, 2007
The AP's statehouse correspondent reports on the stakeholders who are eagerly awaiting Gov. Ted Strickland's release of a new energy plan. A related article (Highlights of proposals for managing Ohio's electricity market) sets out the various proposals put forth by the Ohio Coalition for Affordable Power (includes Ford, GM, AK Steel), Industrial Energy Users-Ohio, the Ohio Electric Utility Institute and the Ohio Consumers' Council.

Related Event: If energy rates are of vital interest to your company, plan to attend the Second Annual Northern Ohio Energy Management Conference, September 19 at the John S. Knight Convention Center in Akron. Sponsored and hosted by MAGNET in conjunction with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Industrial Energy Users-Ohio, FirstEnergy Solutions, Ohio Cast Metals Association, the Ohio Department of Development and the Manufacturers' Education Council.

Lordstown GM plant threatened by fuel economy proposal, by Robert Schoenberger, Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 18, 2007
The Level Field Institute, a group founded by retired auto workers and financed in part by Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, took out advertisements in Sunday's Plain Dealer and other newspapers warning that small-car production could end if a bill passed by the Senate this year becomes law.

Smucker's executive says bevy of factors increasing food prices, by Frank Bentayou, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Although the news about the company's first-quarter 2008 results was good, Smucker's Chairman and Co-chief Executive Officer Tim Smucker warned about significant raw-material increases that may drive up prices. Although the company did not report price increase details, PD reporter Bentayou cites USDA statistics indicating basic raw material costs for the ingredients in Smucker's key brands have risen anywhere between 14% to 100% in the last year.

Team NEO and Cleveland Clinic Collaborate to Attract Biomedical Business to Cleveland Plus Region, Cleveland+. August 20, 2007
Team Northeast Ohio and the Cleveland Clinic will collaborate with the Fairfax REnaissance Development Corp. and more than 20 biomedical and academic institutions to create a Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center. The organizations will use a $60-million grant from the State of Ohio to create the center and attract bioscience and medical device companies to locate there.

Sunday PD publishes special section on Cleveland+ campaign
On Sunday, August 19, the Cleveland Plain Dealer published an 80-page special advertising section on Cleveland+, the new regional marketing campaign that unites the money and efforts of chambers of commerce in Cleveland, Akron, Canton and Youngstown. The section featured advertising and editorial on more than 100 Northeast Ohio businesses and agencies, including MAGNET.

For more about Cleveland+. see "Cleveland+ chosen as 'brand' for region," Plain Dealer, April 26, 2007 and visit the Cleveland+ Business page to see how the organization is promoting the region's industry.

Upcoming event: The Ohio Manufacturers' Association 2007 Committee Day, September 19, Columbus. The OMA committees on tax, energy, environment and safety & workers' compensation will meet to discuss the organization's legislative policy initiatives. Governor Strickland will speak at the luncheon. There is no fee but registration is required. Download the flyer and registration form (PDF) for more info.