April - 2019

MANUFACTURING STRONG PENNSYLVANIA COMMUNITIES

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Kicking Roboburgh into High Gear in 2019

Isaac Maw for Engineering.com

Apr 30, 2019

Kicking Roboburgh into High Gear in 2019

Home to tech allstars like Uber, Bosch and Disney Research as well as institutions like Carnegie Mellon and the ARM institute, Pittsburgh’s reputation as one of the top robotics research hubs in the U.S. is getting more and more deserved. To support this, the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the industry’s trade organization, has recently announced a strategic partnership with Pittsburgh Robotics Network (PRN), a grassroots organization that aims to elevate awareness of

Keeping Pace with Rising Wages!

Greg Olson, SEWN SE Regional Director

Apr 25, 2019

Keeping Pace with Rising Wages!

Today’s recruiting challenges are rapidly leading to real time, in-house, employee adjustments! Your existing workforce is very aware of the wage inflation strategies being used to attract new employees. Whether or not it is true for your organization, the perception exists and will become a real issue when the next performance review time arrives. At the beginning of each year, employers typically ask for industry specific survey data that can provide benchmark wage ranges f

Buy Local: Why Small Business Owners Must Practice What They Preach

Bill Brunelle for Business.com

Apr 25, 2019

Buy Local: Why Small Business Owners Must Practice What They Preach

You've asked your customers to buy local, and you should buy local too. Business-to-business (B2B) purchases can have a ripple effect on the small business community. Here are four factors to keep in mind when choosing how to spend your business dollars. Small businesses often advocate for consumers to buy local, and the message seems to have caught on. In 2016, SCORE, a nonprofit resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration, reported that 90 percent of Americ

Governor Wolf’s Budget Goal: Create ‘Strongest Workforce in the Nation’

Governor Tom Wolf Website

Apr 25, 2019

Governor Wolf’s Budget Goal: Create ‘Strongest Workforce in the Nation’

Harrisburg, PA – Bold and sensible plan will rebuild Pennsylvania’s economy and prioritize skills training from birth to retirement. With the commonwealth on a comeback, Governor Tom Wolf today outlined in his 2019-20 budget address a bold plan to move the commonwealth forward by building the strongest workforce in the nation that drives the strongest economy. With a comprehensive package of programs and an overhaul of policies, the Statewide Workforce, Education, and Account

Oat Foundry, the Local Company Reviving Split Flap Displays

Daniela Galdi for CityWide

Apr 23, 2019

Oat Foundry, the Local Company Reviving Split Flap Displays

An idea that stemmed from a college thesis project has grown into a national and international success in product development. Oat Foundry is an engineering design and product development company; this group of engineers solve problems by building machines for brands and companies. Their slogan, “We Build Cool Stuff,” sums up their mission. Founder and chief executive officer Mark Kuhn has never had an engineering job outside of Oat Foundry. During his sophomore year at Drexe

State initiatives stepping in to fill much-needed skilled manufacturing job openings

Kim Riley, Pennsylvania Business Report

Apr 19, 2019

State initiatives stepping in to fill much-needed skilled manufacturing job openings

Pennsylvania suffers from a lack of skilled labor to fill numerous manufacturing job openings, a rising number that stakeholders across the Commonwealth say has resulted in a cap on the state’s economic growth. Fortunately, several initiatives are underway across Pennsylvania to rectify the issue. At the Lancaster, Pa.-based Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, for example, an April 10 dedication and ribbon-cutting event heralded the opening of a new complex that will hous

Is Your Focus On You, Or Your Customers?

Andrea Olson for Industrial Machinery Digest

Apr 18, 2019

Is Your Focus On You, Or Your Customers?

We often oversimplify what we believe a customer’s need is, often due to the fact that many organizations view customer needs through an internal lens. “Because we sell widgets, our customer must need widgets. Our customers must want them to perform reliably, have them delivered on time, and at least meet a minimum quality standard.” Organizations frequently view this as their organizational purpose and mission – to generate a product and sell it to as many customers as possi

Sisters taking the helm for Yuengling at 190

Jason Scott for Central Penn Business Journal

Apr 16, 2019

Sisters taking the helm for Yuengling at 190

For the last year, Yuengling has pushed a marketing message of “spread your wings” and drink beer made by the nation’s oldest and largest independent brewery. The tagline also pays homage to the history of the Schuylkill County brewery, which was originally called the Eagle Brewery. But more than that, the message is something that Wendy Yuengling and her three sisters — the sixth generation of Yuenglings to run the brewery — are living in the beer business today. “Spread you

Using Employee Ownership to Build a More Equitable Future for Work

Melissa Hoover, NPQ

Apr 12, 2019

Using Employee Ownership to Build a More Equitable Future for Work

When the trash collectors of the 1930s (then known as “scavengers”) formed cooperatives to organize their work, they did so to meet an immediate and pressing need for better jobs. Their intervention in the labor market was a crisis response to market gaps. But they also laid out a vision and a set of principles that pointed at a different way to organize economic activity. Cooperatives have always walked this line between practical and visionary. Market gaps change with the t

Life's Too Short to Run Your Company into the Ground

Alec Pendleton for Industry Week

Apr 11, 2019

Life's Too Short to Run Your Company into the Ground

Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world and the founder of Amazon, recently predicted to a group of employees that “Amazon will go bankrupt.” He was reflecting on the recent bankruptcy of Sears, which not that long ago was as formidable as Amazon is today. “If you look at large companies,” he said, “their lifespans tend to be 30-plus years, not a hundred-plus years.” I know what you’re thinking: That doesn’t seem right. Large companies have enduring strength. Massive corpora

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