Dear Sir or Madame-
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In this November 25, 2009 Publication:
Norwegian Electric Car Maker To Locate Manufacturing
Facility In Indiana
Feds Plan 6,000 Biz Audits: What They're Looking For
SGB To Open US Manufacturing Plant Near Denver
Registration for CastExpo Now Open!
How to Promote Growth in Magnesium Die Casting
Norwegian Electric Car Maker To Locate Manufacturing Facility In Indiana
The
Indianapolis Business Journal (11/19) reports,
"Norwegian electric car maker Think Global will locate its U.S. manufacturing facility
in Indiana." Charles Gassenheimer, CEO of lithium-ion battery maker Ener1 Inc., said
"that the carmaker has applied for a government loan as part of a program set up to
encourage production of fuel-efficient vehicles. Ener1, the parent company of
Indianapolis-based EnerDel Inc., owns 31 percent of Think Global." EnerDel, which
"develops lithium-ion batteries for cars, in August announced a $100 million expansion
to create 850 jobs across Indiana by 2012. About 275 of the new positions are earmarked
for the Indianapolis area."
Feds Plan 6,000 Biz Audits: What They're Looking For
The Internal Revenue Service is calling it “the National Research Program on employment
tax compliance.” What it amounts to is a far-reaching audit program to dig up
business-tax revenues.
Here are the two main areas that are going under the IRS spotlight:
* Improper worker classification. The agency is mainly concerned with workers
classified as independent contractors because the classification affects the revenue
state governments receive to pay for unemployment benefits.
* So-called nonconforming benefits. Those are benefits that could be considered
wages subject to employment taxes. The typical targets: personal use of company
vehicles, employee discounts, employer-provided housing and meals, accident and health
benefits, educational assistance and stock-based compensation. Reimbursed expenses, in
order to be tax-free and deductible, must generally be reasonable, have a business
connection, include reasonable accounting for the expenses, and all excess reimbursement
should be repaid within a reasonable time.
IRS has announced that it will be looking at mainly tax records for 2007 and 2008, but
that doesn’t mean other years are exempt from examination. The announcement about the
program was first made by the agency’s Anita Bartels at the Annual Congress of the
American Payroll Association.
SGB To Open US Manufacturing Plant Near Denver
The Denver Business Journal (11/19, Proctor) reports, "SGB USA Inc., an
arm of German transformer manufacturer Starkstrom-Beratebau GmbH, on Wednesday said it
will set up the company's first U.S. manufacturing plant near Denver." The company
"makes transformers that convert electricity generated by wind turbines into a form that
can be delivered onto the power grid." SGB expects "to hire up to 10 people and invest
about $1.4 million in the plant in Wheat Ridge (CO)." The plant will "assemble
components and test the transformers before they are shipped to customers." The city
"offered $15,000 in tax incentives to SGB, a figure that could go higher if the company
raises its investment and hires more people, said Ryan Stachelski, an economic
development specialist with Wheat Ridge."
Registration for CastExpo Now Open!
Attendee registration for CastExpo 2010 is now open! CastExpo'10 will be held March
20-23 in Orlando, FL. To complement the show floor, CastExpo is held in conjunction with
the annual Metalcasting Congress, where the latest advancements in metalcasting research
and practice is presented every year.
For more information, please
click here.
How to Promote Growth in Magnesium Die Casting
Growing magnesium applications requires addressing the fundamental problem: other
industries are larger, wealthier and better organized to perform the research and
technology development that will lead to new product applications. The producers of
magnesium components need to coordinate their activities to maximize their commonality,
or they will be shut out of new vehicle developments just at this critical juncture when
the auto industry is searching for solutions to attain the 35.5 mpg average fuel economy
mandated by Congress. Major use of magnesium will not occur until “fully accounted
costs” for magnesium components — ingot, high pressure die casting, corrosion inhibition
and assembly costs — become less than that of current materials/components. The major
social issues of global warming, high gasoline prices and oil independence might be the
catalyst that finally drives sustainable growth of magnesium in automotive, while the
aging population could drive major uses of lightweight magnesium consumer products.
To read more about how to promote growth in magnesium die casting, click here
to login and view the November issue of Die Casting Engineer.
