Archive for April, 2009
April 22nd, 2009
It’s never too early to think about your future and a group of local seventh graders learned that today.
Students from Eisenhower Middle School in Rockford took a trip to the EIGERLab today to get a sneak peek at possible jobs in manufacturing and engineering.
The 30 students were selected based on their performance in Math. It’s all part of the “Year of Innovation 09′” sponsored by The Workforce Connection.
Organizers say they hope the hands-on projects made students more aware of possible career choices in manufacturing.
See the TV coverage here …WIFR
April 21st, 2009
Did you see the great Editorial today here… RRStar and National news last night here…ABC
The kids deserve all the recognition they can get, they work hard at this, and are very excited to be creating and competing.
Well done, Robotics Teams!!
April 20th, 2009
In case you missed Thomas Bona’s extensive coverage of the Winnebago and Rockford Robotics teams and their National Competition, here’s the latest story… Robots
Well done, Thomas!!
April 19th, 2009
I couldn’t resist. My journey from the Conference led me to follow up meetings in Chicago with the Trade Consulates from Mexico. Turkey and India.
I was most impressed by the Turkey rep. A young man, very energetic and selling relationships with the US. When I walked into his office, he sat me down at the window of his 29th floor office on N. Michigan Ave., overlooking Lake Michigan! Wow, what a view.
The best part, once I was served Turkish coffee, he asked his assistant come into the meeting. There I was presented with threes pages of name, rank, and web site address of 50 companies that they thought I might want to explore for possible exporting and develop a possible long term partnership!
My job now is to review these 50 companies web sites, select 5-6 top candidates and HE would make the first introduction. If there is interest on their side, meetings would be arranged.
Talk about marketing, the trip to Chicago was worth it!
This was coupled with my lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern for a double hamburger…you know the place…made popular by John Belushi on Saturday Night Live…”cheesebugger, chessebugger, Pepsi, no Coke”… believe it or not, they still speak that way.
What a day!
April 19th, 2009
Here’s a good trend that appears to be developing…jobs coming back to the US from INDIA!
Delta Air, Chrysler LLC, SLM Corp. among others. “The customer acceptance of call centers in foreign countries is low” said Richard Anderson, Delta’s CEO…read the rest here…. CallCenters
April 19th, 2009
In the last few weeks I have seen presentations by two economists plus a speech by President Obama trying talk like an Economist. None of the three said the same things….There are two more opportunities to hear about the economy —here in Rockford this week! As you have read on this Blogg Dr. Chris Kuehl is coming to RVC on Wednesday night.
When: Wednesday, April 22, 7 p.m.
Where: Rock Valley College | Student Center Atrium
Please reserve your seat at this free lecture by calling (815) 921-2071 or E-mail: s.charles@rockvalleycollege.edu
I have heard Chris, in person, several times. If you decide to DVR your Wednesday night shows and attend, you will find this guy easy to understand and worth listening to!
I also noticed that First Evangelical Free Church is having Dave Ramsey, author of the Financial Peace, speak.
They are calling the event: Town Hall for Hope. The Economy, your money and real answers. Their advertisement suggests he will have some positive things to say about our situation…after all a friend said this to me in December— “God’s economy isn’t always our economy!”
When: Free event 4/24/2009
Where: First Evangelical Free Church
Also: LiveSimulcast@First Free Church
April 19th, 2009
After seeing this story… Fiat I figured I should add my comments based on my experiences with the Fiat organization in the past.
The first observation is that in the 1970’s or so, Fiat cars were sold in the U.S. but then they left this market. The general understanding was that they simply did not produce (actually imported) cars that they could easily and quickly be serviced. The quality then left a lot to be desired. Fiat’s service parts support was not well organized and the wait was too long for the demanding American market.
How will they overcome a much more sophisticated buying public and take away market share from the US and Japanese locally produced vehicles that have a quality reputation that will be difficult to penetrate? If they think the Chrysler dealer network will provide a sales channel, then that’s a good thought. But taking market share from the others, servicing the cars, getting around the quality image, etc. to me remain a major challenge.
The second observation: my first corporate experience was with the Allis Chalmers construction machinery business. In the mid-1970’s , Fiat and Allis entered into a Joint Venture and was 60/40 with Fiat the 60. At the time Allis had a small market share in the US but had some good large vehicles which Fiat needed. Early years started out great; Fiat made the necessary investments to rebuild engineering and manufacturing facilities. They put the worldwide business under one President just like today’s President Sergio Marchionne wants to do. Of course, corporate and financial staff were Italians, so you know who called the shots.
After about 5 years and changes in top management, the strategy changed. Slowly, Fiat began to shift US production to other Fiat facilities in Italy and Brazil and within 10-12 years, the former US Allis facilities and engineering were gone. Have you seen any Fiat construction machinery equipment around the US? I always look for them when I travel out of the area, but I don’t seen any. WHy aren’t they at least importing?
In Italy, there is much loyalty to Fiat and the country is much smaller making production, sales and service easier to conduct. But here in the US?
If Fiat can take control of Chrysler with no money invested up front, what a deal for them!
But I wonder how good a deal it will really be for Chrysler?
On the other hand, what other options does Chrysler have? As I said in a previous post, Fiat has the upper hand!
Good luck Chrysler, my best wishes for success.
April 16th, 2009
This is the final cersion for now, I’m going Global!
Well, actually I’m going to Chicago for follow-up meetings with consulates from Mexico, Turkey and India. I met them at the April 8-9th Go Global II conference and this will be more in-depth discussions of what they can or will do to assist me in exporting to their respective countries. I’ve done some background homework, learned a few words in their language and off I go. Should be interesting.
Marketing materials in hand, I’ll be out of contact with the world, uh, Rockford, until next week. You can always e-mail me and I’ll try toget into a wireless ring!!
See ya!
April 16th, 2009
“Golden Eagles Manufacturing” is a collaborative effort between Woodward and Rock Valley College.
· Students work a minimum of 20 hours per week (5 days a week)
· Attend RVC as a full time student (14-16 credit hrs per semester)
· Classes and books are paid for by Woodward
· After successful completion of the program students earn an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree in Manufacturing Engineering Technology
A maximum of 15 students are selected each fall
· In order to stay in the program students must;
· maintain a 2.0 GPA or better overall
· if a student receives a grade lower than a C in any class, the class and book fees must be paid for by the student
· work a minimum of 20 hours per week but no more than 32 hours per week
· attend classes during the summer
· summer class schedules will be determined based on work load
As a part time member at Woodward students will earn the following benefits;
· Vacation pay
· Performance Bonus Plan
· Holiday pay
For more information, please contact: Richard Gocken, Associate Dean of Engineering & Technology, Rock Valley College
815-921-3100 or E-mail: R.Gocken@RockValleyCollege.edu
Here is a pdf that you can review....Golden Eagles
April 16th, 2009
Here’s a good story about tool and die makers and how they’re weathering the latest downturn… Joy
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