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President's Letter - May 07

Please Join Us for our 94th Annual Dinner and Accelerate 2007 on May 9th

May 9th will be an exciting day in our region. It’s the day of our 94th Annual Dinner, and you won’t want to miss this year’s event. As we do every year, we will be presenting our Manufacturers Wall of Fame winners and Success Awards (celebrating longevity in business). This year’s Wall of Fame Winners include: Chet Amond, formerly of Syracuse China; Ronald Ruzic, formerly of BorgWarner Morse TEC; and Milt Stevenson of Anoplate Corporation. It promises to be a very nice evening to celebrate past manufacturing success and focus on the future. Please contact Carol Waters at cwaters@macny.org or at 315-474-4201, ext. 21 for information and tickets.

Also on May 9th, during the day, we will be co-hosting Accelerate 2007. We have partnered with the CASE Center at Syracuse University, Central New York Technology Development Organization, F.O.C.U.S. Greater Syracuse, and the Syracuse Center of Excellence in offering a daylong event. The day includes seminars, workshops, and displays highlighting the importance of innovation and competitiveness in this region’s success. Workshop tracks are offered in six critical areas: Community and Environmental Development; Workforce Development; Business Development; Clean and Renewable Energy; Manufacturing; and Technology. Please visit www.accelerate2007.com for details and to register.

We look forward to seeing you at both of these exciting events on May 9th.

Next Public Policy Agenda Item – Lower Energy Costs

In March, a significant workers compensation reform package had been passed into law. Although much work still needs to be done to achieve the savings, this was a major accomplishment of Governor Spitzer and our legislative leaders. The next target for action must be high energy costs. Companies in New York pay some of the highest industrial energy rates in the country. MACNY is advocating for significant reductions in energy costs for manufacturers. Over the next month, we will make repeated trips to Albany to communicate the need for significant changes to lower overall energy prices. Effective power programs are needed to replace the current Economic Development Power and Power for Jobs programs. We look forward to working with our members and allies across the state as we push hard for significant changes in energy policy.

Economic Conditions for NYS Manufacturers

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey, compiled by the Buffalo Branch, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, indicates that conditions for New York manufacturers were essentially flat in April. The general business conditions index edged up, rebounding only marginally from its March value, the lowest in nearly two years. While the new orders index held steady, the shipments index fell to its lowest level since mid-2005, and the index for unfilled orders slipped further into negative territory. The prices paid index jumped several points, but the prices received index continued to decline. Employment indexes weakened moderately but remained positive. Future activity indexes held relatively steady at generally high levels. Price expectations indexes were mixed, with continued widespread increases anticipated in prices paid but more subdued expectations about prices received. 

In a series of supplementary questions, manufacturers were asked to estimate changes in the various components of unit labor costs and worker productivity. The same questions were asked in April 2006. In the current survey, unit labor costs were estimated to have increased by slightly less than 2 percent, on average, over the past year, and were expected to rise 2 percent in the year ahead. In assessing recent trends in worker productivity, almost one-quarter of respondents reported moderate to rapid growth, while roughly 13 percent indicated declines; looking to the year ahead, about 30 percent of respondents anticipated moderate to rapid gains, while none predicted a decline.