Dear Sir or Madame-
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In this December 9, 2009 Publication:
Business Groups Concerned Over Anticipated EPA Rule
Factory Orders Gain In October
The U.S. Economy...Growth Has Returned
Registration for CastExpo 2010 Now Open!
Daimler Plans To Move Some Mercedes Production
To Alabama
Performance Appraisal as an Employee
Development Tool
Business Groups Concerned Over Anticipated EPA Rule
The
Wall Street Journal (12/7, Ball, Forelle, subscription required)
reports that as officials gather in Copenhagen this week, business leaders are focusing
on the Obama administration's expected announcement to formally declare carbon dioxide a
dangerous pollutant. Many business groups are opposed to EPA efforts to curb a gas as
ubiquitous as carbon dioxide. US Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue said, "An
EPA endangerment finding could result in a top-down command-and-control regime that will
choke off growth by adding new mandates to virtually every major construction and
renovation project." The NAM said, "EPA action won't do much to combat climate change,
and is certain to come at a huge cost to the economy."
Factory Orders Gain In October
The
AP (12/4)
reported, "Orders to U.S. factories unexpectedly rose in
October, the sixth gain in the past seven months," and another "evidence that the
manufacturing sector is beginning to recover, which will help support the overall
economy." The Commerce Department said Friday that "orders rose 0.6 percent in
October...much better than the flat reading that economists had expected. A jump in
demand for commercial aircraft and petroleum products led the gain." Orders for durable
goods "rose 0.6 percent, unchanged from a preliminary estimate last week," while "orders
for nondurable goods rose 1.6 percent, propelled by gains in demand for petroleum,
chemicals, plastics and food."
The U.S. Economy...Growth Has Returned
The American economy finally returned to “growth mode” during 2009’s second half, fueled
in part by extremely aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus. Pent-up demand by
consumers, combined with stronger global performance, also added to growth numbers. A
return to positive U.S. economic growth does not imply that problems with commercial
real estate, housing, and emotional financial markets are finally behind us, but it
clearly helps.
The revised 2.8% inflation-adjusted annual growth pace during the third quarter was a
major departure from the 6.4% real annual rate of decline during 2009’s first quarter.
A similar 2.6%-3.0% real growth pace seems likely in coming quarters.
The longest, deepest, most painful, and most pervasive recession since the Great
Depression has officially been with us since December 2007.
Registration for CastExpo 2010 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.
Daimler Plans To Move Some Mercedes Production To Alabama
The
AP (12/3, Frey)
reports, "German carmaker Daimler AG said
Wednesday it will move production of some Mercedes-Benz sedans to its Alabama plant,
part of plans to cut manufacturing costs and take advantage of a growing U.S. market for
the automaker's luxury vehicles." Daimler said "production of the new generation of the
C-Class, one of Mercedes' more compact lines of sedans, should start in 2014 at the
plant at Vance, near Tuscaloosa." The move could "add about 1,000 jobs to Daimler's
Alabama operations." The decision has "caused anxiety among German autoworkers who fear
that the automaker is trying to shift jobs overseas." Daimler said the new Alabama
production "would protect jobs in Germany over the long term and that employment levels
at its Sindelfingen plant in southern Germany, the largest Mercedes-Benz German car
plant, would be maintained."
Performance Appraisal as an Employee Development Tool
One of the critical human resource issues of the 21st century is an organization’s
ability to refine and develop mechanisms to provide meaningful job performance feedback
to all employees. A positive and coherent understanding between the employee and
supervisor as to what is acceptable job performance is essential for all employee and
management work relationships to survive. To read more about how to create and maintain
a helpful performance appraisal system, click here to
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