Summit features national manufacturing expert

The Southwest Area Manufacturers Association went right to the source to get the latest updates on the state of manufacturing in the United States.
The association’s second annual Manufacturing Summit April 8 featured as its keynote speaker Arthur D. Wainwright, the head of the new U.S. Manufacturing Council and chairman and CEO of St. Peters-based Wainwright Industries.
Wainwright and the other speakers at the three-hour event discussed a variety of topics including current legislation on workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and exporting opportunities.
SAMA Executive Director Rita Needham said the summit looks at issues that need to be addressed by American businesses.
“Last year we brought in people from the U.S. Department of Commerce to talk about President Bush’s plan to help American manufacturers be more competitive,” she said. “We found there was a 22 percent cost disadvantage to American manufacturers when compared to the nine major foreign competitors.”
Bush selected Wainwright by Bush to head the council, which tracks progress on the Department of Commerce’s January 2004 Manufacturing in America report. The report outlined the Bush administration’s plan to help manufacturing, which included ways to reduce health care costs, reduce lawsuits, ensure affordable and reliable energy, streamline regulations and open markets for American products.
Among the other speakers at the summit was Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation Director Pat Secrest, who spoke about the new workers’ comp legislation recently signed by Gov. Matt Blunt.
The association also presented the results of a survey of its members on a number of issues, including hiring expectations, expected profits and the issues they are most worried about.
Rep. Brad Roark, R-Springfield, also was at the event to discuss his proposed legislation to alter the state’s regulations on unemployment insurance. He said the bill he’s proposed would cut out waste in the system by making a more clear definition of what constitutes employee misconduct.
“What this bill would do is define it by the employer policy, so it would be up to the business owner to have that in a handbook or posted in the workplace, but they could define what misconduct would be,” he said. “That would keep individuals who have been released of their job duties for those reasons from collecting unemployment.”
He added that the legislation also would allow the state to increase weekly benefits once the fund reaches $400 million. The change is needed, he said, because the state is currently having to borrow money to make benefits available – and it’s possible that some people who receive unemployment benefits lost their jobs for violating company policies.
Needham said the unemployment insurance issue is a key one for members of her organization.
“It’s an important issue for us because it really affects the bottom line,” she said. “Other states put emphasis on getting people back to work; we don’t do that.”
Other speakers at the event included Shirley Drake, director of export compliance for Bass Pro, and Missouri Economic Development Director Gregory Steinhoff.
Positronic Industries, Tuthill Vacuum & Blower Systems, Missouri Enterprise and SBJ Dynamic Dozen winner Penmac Personnel Services sponsored the event.
[[In-content Ad]]