The Virginia Manufacturer, February 2011

The Virginia Manufacturer - Focusing on Manufacturing Issues of Today and Tomorrow

In This Issue

Resources for Members

2011 Priority Legislation

Made In Virginia Video

New Board Members

Small Business Extension

Quick Links

VMA Homepage

VMA Professional Development

Dream It Do It Virginia

VMA Discounted Business Services

VMA Insurance Services

Advanced Technology Job Board

Business Services Directory

Resources for Members

Legislative Action Center

VMA added a new feature, a voter scorecard, to the Legislative Action Center to highlight votes on key issues taken by the General Assembly members and Congress. Please click here to review House votes and click here to review Senate votes.

Job Board

Post your job openings now on Advanced Technology Jobs.com. www.advancedtechnologyjobs.com

offers special job posting prices to VMA members. As a special promo for 2011, members qualify for a 25% discount on all multiple job posting packages in addition to their member pricing by using the promotional code HIRE2011 when checking out. With multiple job posting packages, not all jobs have to be posted at time of purchase, but rather must be posted within a year of purchase.

Discounted Business Services

VMA's newest business service is its Virginia Business Systems partnership offering manufacturers special pricing on Konica Minolta Business and Production Print Systems.

Start saving money today on everything from insurance to office supplies. Click here to access a complete list of all VMA Discounted Business Services.

VOLUME 4.0 | Edition 1 | February 2011

2011 General Assembly Session

Update on Priority Legislation

Yesterday was crossover for the Virginia General Assembly, the date by which all bills must have been acted on by the originating body and will then be sent to the other body for action. So far, in the 2011 legislative session, the VMA has been managing more than 100 bills, including ten priority bills.

With specific goals identified by the VMA Board and published in July 2010 in the Virginia Industrial Innovation Strategy, this "blue print" specifically enables us to successfully communicate our strategies to lower the manufacturing sector's effective tax rate, reduce the cost of regulatory compliance, improve the quality of worker skills and keep energy costs affordable and reliable.

In pursuit of these goals, the VMA is supporting the following 2011 priority legislation, with a significant grassroots effort of phone calls, emails and letters made for HB1636 (Machinery & Tools Taxation Reform) along with local media attention for the 1st two issues:

· HB1636 - Machinery & Tools Taxation Reform
o Click here for this NBC12 report
o Assigned to House Appropriations Committee on 2/2/11 and never voted on = died for lack of action
· HB2052 - Right to Vote by Secret Ballot on Labor Organization Representation
o Click here for this NBC12 report
o Passed House 63-32 on 1/28/11 and assigned to Senate Commerce & Labor Committee
· HB2385 - Port Tax Credit
o Passed House 90-8 on 2/8/11
· SB1481 - Port Tax Credit
o Passed Senate 35-5 on 2/7/11
· HB1493 - Industry Certification Requirement for CTE Courses
o Passed House 98-0 on 2/4/11 and assigned to Senate Education & Health Committee
· HB2172 - Adds STEM/CTE courses to Virginia Index for Performance Program
o Passed House 97-0 on 1/24/11 and assigned to Senate Education & Health Committee
· SB953 - Adds STEM/CTE courses to Virginia Index for Performance Program
o Passed Senate 39-0 on 1/25/11 and assigned to House Education Committee
· HJ636 - Asks DOE to Establish Goals for K-12 Engineering Education
o Killed by House Rules Subcommittee #3 on 1/27/11
· SJ308 - Asks DOE to Establish Goals for K-12 Engineering Education
o Passed Senate by voice vote on 2/2/11 and assigned to House Rules Committee
· HJ735 - Resolution on Repatriating Manufacturing Jobs; study to be directed by the Virginia Manufacturing Development Commission.
o Passed the House 96-0 on 2/4/11 and assigned to Senate Rules Committee

Made In Virginia Video Launched

The VMA is pleased to announce the release of a new video, Made In Virginia, which highlights the manufacturing industry of Virginia and was made possible in part by a grant from the Alcoa Foundation. It was developed as part of the Dream It Do It Virginia outreach campaign, and we would like to thank the following companies for their participation:

Boehringer Ingelheim Chemicals, Inc. (Petersburg)

DuPont (Richmond)

Flexicell, Inc. (Ashland)

FreightCar America, Inc. (Roanoke)

Georgia-Pacific (Big Island)

McKee Foods Corporation (Stuarts Draft)

Micron Technology, Inc. (Manassas)

STIHL Inc. (Virginia Beach)

Super Radiator Coils (Richmond)

Unilever/Lipton (Suffolk)

Volvo Trucks North America (Dublin)

Video still image

The video was officially distributed to all members of the Virginia General Assembly on Tuesday, January 18, 2011. Click here to watch the video.

The VMA also recently launched a new "avatar" on its website, which provides a virtual host for visitors to the VMA's website to get answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the work of the VMA.

"The VMA is making strategic investments into new technologies that will expand our relationship with members, Federal, State and local leaders, and the public," commented Brett Vassey, VMA President & CEO. "We expect to continue developing new tools throughout the year leading up to our 90th Anniversary in 2012."

To utilize the avatar, please visit the VMA's homepage at www.vamanufacturers.com and look for it in the top right corner.

Meet new VMA Board Members

We would like to thank the outgoing Board members for their service to the VMA. Please welcome the new Board members elected by the membership during the 2010 Annual Meeting: