Purchasing Fair
The purchasing fair was well attended with 110 buyers and 220 sellers. There was quite a bit of activity despite the poor economy and most members that attended considered it successful.

Thursday’s Events
Thursday morning started with the general membership assembly where Ron Overton, NTMA’s Chairman and President of Overton Industries overviewed the state of the NTMA and presented various awards. NTMA is working on hiring a new President who will be in charge of day to day operations and will report to the Executive Team. A search committee is being assembled and recruiting companies identified. If anyone is interested in serving on the search committee, please contact Ron.

There was a presentation on a government assistance program for companies that are struggling against imports. NTMA members who have participated in the program went through examples of how the funding was used to reinvent their companies. The funds can be used for many purposes. The members who spoke used it for lean enterprise and marketing assistance. They said that the benefit of the program was not only the funds but also the process used in getting the funds forced them to develop plans and goals then implement them.

The Tool and Die roundtable was a great opportunity to share ideas in everything from HR issues to marketing, business relationships and technology. Due to the relatively poor business conditions most companies were experiencing, much of the discussion was how to deal with the downturn in terms of remaining profitable while keeping key talent and being fair to your employees. New technologies discussed were hard milling and simulation software.

Thursday afternoon was the golf tournament, which was cancelled, and an optional tour of the King Tut Exhibit.

Thursday night was a welcoming dinner and reception sponsored by Makino, More Seiki and Vericut.

Friday’s Events
Friday Morning featured tours of Overton Industries and Major Tool. Both are outstanding NTMA companies. Overton is a state of the art tool and die shop featuring large complex dies as well as tight clearance precision carbide tooling. Major Tool showcased a 500,000 square foot facility with extensive automated pallet systems and large machining of parts up to 42 feet in diameter and milling to 65 feet in length – an awesome place!!

On Friday afternoon, there were experts for the growing fields of wind energy and medical manufacturing. These speakers outlined growth rates and trends in these fields and expectations for suppliers that are trying to break into these growing markets.

The Next Generation roundtable had speakers on banking relationships and government affairs. These sessions are interactive and are good for individuals starting out in the business to share experiences and ask questions of their piers.

Saturday
Saturday morning started with a session on professional sales training followed by an industry expert on the Nuclear energy industry and search engine optimization (getting your website noticed by search engines). The SEO speaker had a lot of good statistics and tips on making your website your #1 salesperson cost effectively.

An automotive industry expert spoke on trends in automotive tool and die manufacturing and strategies to survive in this tough market place.

Team meetings including the National associate members team, Next Generation, Website, Industry Marketing, Meetings and Business Development, Government Affairs, Chapter Execs, Robotics, PJAM, and Plant Managers teams.

Saturday evening’s events were sponsored by the Indiana Chapter and featured a tour of the Indianapolis motor speedway. We took a bus ride around the track and got out to touch the brickyard. We were able to go up on the stage where the winner is presented the trophy after the race. A reception was held at the museum where there were winning cars from the first race all the way through modern times (including cars from Mario Andretti and Tony Stewart). This was a truly amazing place!!

Government Affairs
CTMA’s trustee attended and joined the Government Affairs Team.

Our Lobbyist, Franklin Partners, stated that their strategy is generally to work with the 52 “Blue Dog” representatives in the house and 10-20 moderate senators in the senate.

Climate Change: 16 senators are opposed to climate change legislation. Climate change is more geographic than down party lines as the new taxes will hit certain states harder than others. Ohio’s liberal senator, for example, is opposed because it will hit Ohio very hard. Several utility companies have left the US Chamber because the companies favor the legislation as it will transfer $$billions to them through carbon credits.

Healthcare: There is a lot of debate over who’s going to pay for it. The house bill and some senate versions are more Liberal the version in the senate finance committee is more conservative. The Tea Parties have had a tremendous impact on the effectiveness of the lobbying efforts. Many congressmen are scared and much more willing to talk and listen to manufacturing groups.

Taxes: The association continues to push for continuation of R&D tax credits, bonus depreciation (Note: Harry Mosher is looking for examples of equipment purchases that were made based on the bonus depreciation if you have an example, please see Bruce Dworak) and net operating loss carry forward. Franklin expects the estate tax will be held at current levels for another year and may be taken up in 2010.

The Legislative Conference is April 20-21 – Please consider attending if at all possible. Please also consider donating to NTMA government affairs for lobbying efforts (Company checks) or the PAC (Personal Checks).

The 2010 Annual convention will be February 28th – March 4th in St Thomas.

Board of Trustees Meeting
NTMA will update the trustees on the progress of the Executive search and relocation as major events arise.

Major NTMA goals going forward are to maintain membership despite a poor economy, operate in the black and hire the new President.

Respectfully Submitted,
Bruce Dworak
Trustee CTMA