It is quite possible to be a fast-growing, profitable company and still end up insolvent; however, it is rare to find a company that is well-managed with an eye towards cash-flow and working capital to wind up in that position. It has been a long-standing mantra that private firms should be managed for cash, but more and more savvy public firms (and investors) are bench-marking using “Free Cash Flow” as a metric. Simply put, this is cash flow from operations found on your Cash Flow Statement in your financials minus capital expenditures. Looking only at an Income Statement can mask operating deficiencies and other issues. If a company has cash left over after making needed investments, then

PITTSBURGH, June 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) union, along with other members and leaders of the labor-environmental partnership BlueGreen Alliance (BGA), today launched the group's ambitious agenda to rebuild American manufacturing while fighting the effects of climate change. The BGA, founded in 2006 by the USW and the Sierra Club, now includes more than a dozen unions and environmental organizations committed to fighting for good jobs, clean infrastructure and fair trade. The group's proposal, released today, outlines a set of national actions necessary to create a manufacturing economy that is globally competitive, clean, safe and fair for workers and communitie

Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic crisis, American manufacturing has been slowly but surely falling behind. While there was a positive outlook for the sector in 2017 and 2018, with over 450 thousand jobs added in those two years, manufacturing job growth slowed in 2019, and in April 2020, fell to the lowest level since 2010—wiping out ten years of steady gains. The 2019 slowdown was national in scope, and has hit especially hard in the Midwest states, providing evidence that big-ticket policy issues like tariffs and taxes can’t alone generate a manufacturing recovery. And now, as we face a much deeper crisis, it is essential to look at effective and inno

The crush of layoffs and business closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc for workers who were already facing a structurally vulnerable workforce and employment system. The combined magnitude of the current public health, economic, and political crises provides an opportunity for bold and robust interventions that will make the United States a more resilient country moving forward. Any massive job creation push to achieve a just transition to economic recovery must ensure access to better jobs for all workers and should also require a different workforce approach to worker training and labor force adjustment. Expanding workshare, subsidized employment, national service, an

GUIDELINES APPLY CONTACT DCED Overview The COVID-19 public health crisis has impacted every Pennsylvanian in every community. The recently enacted state budget includes $2.6 billion in federal stimulus funds through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES). Within this allocation, the Department of Community and Economic Development has been allocated $225 million for COVID-19 relief to small businesses through a distribution to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Uses DCED will distribute the funding to the Pennsylvania CDFI Network, which will then administer the funding in the form of: Grants to cover operating expenses for the duration of the shutd

As our region and our state is currently moving back to a new normal, business leaders are faced with a new set of challenges and a broad spectrum of unknowns. What has become painfully obvious is that many pre-COVID-19 strategies do not apply now, predictions on future events are hopelessly flawed, and there is little expertise on how to proceed. Even our legal and medical systems have overturned past precedents and are implementing new remedies and generating corrections from user feedback. Taking a best guess, using collective wisdom, and learning from failures has become the new norm for COVID-19 crisis management. May Survey Summary The Manufacturing Alliance of Bucks & Montgomery Cou