California International Business Report » Manufacturing

California loses 127,000 Manufacturing Jobs

editor — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:45:21 +0000

California was the second-largest loser of manufacturing jobs — 123,400 — over the past year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only Ohio lost more more jobs than the Golden State: 127,000. A report by the Milken Institute released earlier this summer reached a similar conclusion, but noted that the state is hemorrhaging high-tech manufacturing jobs at an even higher rate than in traditional manufacturing industries. California’s employment in this high-wage, high-skill segment is down 23 percent from 2000 levels, as opposed to declines nationally of 19 percent and the peer states’ average of 16 percent. In fact, from 2003 to 2007, encompassing the recovery of the high-tech sector, the peer states gained 24,000 high-tech manufacturing jobs while California lost almost 16,000.

“Widespread misconceptions about the manufacturing sector in California are part of the problem,” said Perry Wong, senior economist and one of the authors of the report. “People don’t understand that manufacturing is an integral part of the high-tech and clean-tech economy. If Californians want to build the future economic recovery on high-tech and retain highly skilled workers, they have to address the underlying issues of this sector now.”

Toyota Dumps California

editor — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:47:30 +0000

Toyota Motor Corp. has announced that it plans to end production in March 2010 at the Fremont plant it has run with General Motors Co. The Toyota-GM partnership has run the plant since 1984 – Corolla compact and Tacoma pickups are built there. Bob Wasserman, mayor of Fremont expressed disappointment at the news that the 5.3-million-square-foot plant would close: “This is a real tragic loss of jobs, very good jobs, for the workers at NUMMI,” he said. “There are a lot of good people there who will now be out of work. And this impact will be felt well beyond Fremont, considering all of the people employed by suppliers around the East Bay and the Central Valley. This is a very difficult situation.”

Tesla seeking $350 million loan from Federal Government

editor — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:37:08 +0000

Tesla Motors Inc. said it has not been notified yet whether it will get a $350-million loan from the federal government, but expects word within four to five months. A newsletter distributed Wednesday by the company caused confusion when CEO Elon Musk wrote, “I am excited to report that the Department of Energy informed Tesla last week that they expect to disburse funds … within four to five months.” Some took that to mean that the loan had been approved but the company said later that this isn’t the case. Spokesperson Rachel Konrad said the Department of Energy hasn’t given final confirmation to any of the 75 entities that applied for the funds. “No one has gotten final confirmation,” she said. “That said, we’re very confident we’re going to get financing.” Full story here.

HP CEO Scores with $42 million salary prior to massive layoffs

editor — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:25:43 +0000

Is this another example of our corporate leaders being rewarded for short term gain rather than long term vision?

Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Mark Hurd received about $42.5 million in pay during 2008, according to a regulatory filing. The Palo Alto-based personal computer maker said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday that it gave Hurd a $5.3 million bonus along with $12.9 million in stock awards, $18.6 million in incentive plan compensation and $4.2 million in option awards, pension and expense payments. His base salary was $1.5 million. Hurd took the reins in April 2005 and began a revamp of the company. In September HP said it would take a $1.7 billion charge and cut 24,600 jobs.

HP to build new PC manufacturing plant in China

editor — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:09:00 +0000

Hewlett-Packard Co. has announced plans for an advanced manufacturing complex in West China. According to a report in Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal, Palo Alto-based HP plans a 20,000-square-meter facility in Chongqing where it will make notebook and desktop PCs for customers. Manufacturing operations are expected to begin in 2010. When in full operation, the HP-managed plant is expected to have the capacity to meet market demand in Chongqing as well as other parts of China across government, public and retail sectors.

Ausra to mass-produce solar thermal collectors

editor — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 05:56:20 +0000

Ausra, the Palo Alto-based solar thermal company that just last month announced plans to build a 177-megawatt solar installation in California, is now in the process of launching a new business arm, mass producing its own flat-mirrored solar collectors. As reported in VentureBeat, itâ€™s begun construction on a Las Vegas facility that it says will churn out enough solar collectors each year to produce 700 megawatts of energy. Ausra plans to have the 130,000 square foot plant completed as early as April 2008

Volkswagen and Apple in exploratory talks

editor — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 03:12:42 +0000

Rumor has it that German automaker Volkswagen AG and American computer company Apple Inc. are now in talks about the possibility of producing an â€œiCarâ€ that would feature products from the manufacturer of personal music player. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs and Volkswagen’s chief Martin Winterkorn met several days ago in California, and plan to meet for further discussions, said Hans-Gerd Bode, a spokesman for Volkswagen. There are “scores of ideas,” but few concrete plans at this point, according to a report in Digital Journal. Jobs and Winterkorn are supposedly in discussion to build a series of vehicles, reported German magazine Capital. The two industry giants met in California recently, and while the talks are in their early stages, Apple and Volkswagen are reportedly planning to cooperate on developing VW compact cars that will include Apple products.

Chevron teams with Dow on large plastics venture

editor — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 04:34:00 +0000

“A joint venture of San Ramon-based Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips is teaming up with Dow Chemical Co. to create the largest producer of styrene and polystyrene plastics in the Americas. Cost savings from the 50-50 venture between Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. and Dow Chemical will exceed 10 percent of sales. That’s because Dow is a net buyer of styrene in North America and Chevron Phillips is a seller, Andrew Liveris, Dow’s chief executive officer, said in an interview with Bloomberg. The joint venture would reduce costs in a low-margin industry. The venture hopes to bolster profit margins by matching larger styrene production from Chevron Phillips with a bigger polystyrene output from Dow. Styrene is made from benzene and is used to produce polystyrene, a hard plastic used in packaging and disposable cutlery. Chevron and its partner Phillips will contribute two U.S. factories to the joint venture. Dow will contribute seven plants, including five in the United States, to the new operation. The only California plant being contributed is a Dow factory in Torrance.”

Manufacturing still top job provider in Southern California

editor — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 16:46:00 +0000

There were mixed trends in manufacturing in Southern California during 2006, according to â€œManufacturing in Southern California,â€ which was released March 28 by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) in conjunction with the WESTEC Manufacturing Technology Exposition and Conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center. â€œOrange and Ventura Counties, and the Riverside-San Bernardino area all added factory jobs during 2006, which was counter to the national trend,â€ said Jack Kyser, chief economist, LAEDC. â€œHowever, Los Angeles County saw 9,400 factory jobs disappear from 2005 to 2006. Despite this, Los Angeles County was still the nationâ€™s number one manufacturing center.Its 2006 manufacturing employment average of 462,300 jobs was well ahead of number two Chicagoâ€™s average of 390,200 jobs. Detroit remained in third place with 268,800 jobs.â€ The latter two areas also experienced job losses. The LAEDC report calculated that there were 911,000 manufacturing jobs in Southern California during 2006 (this region is defined as the Los Angeles five-county area plus San Diego County). â€œThis would make the area the nationâ€™s third-largest manufacturing â€˜state,â€™ behind California (1,505,000 jobs) and Texas (926,000 jobs),â€ noted Kyser. â€œWhat are the implications of this large factory workforce,â€ asked Kyser. â€œThis sector represents a huge market for all types of suppliers (goods and services) and means that local manufacturers can find inputs right in their backyard.â€

Alcoa receives large business award from Fullerton Chamber

editor — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 07:01:00 +0000

“Alcoa Fastening Systemsâ€™ (AFS) Fullerton Aerospace Operations was recognized as the Large Business of the Year at the Fullerton Chamber of Commerce Presidentâ€™s Award Banquet held recently in Fullerton, Calif. U.S. Congressman Ed Royce presented the award to Craig Brown, director of operations for the facility. ‘We are extremely pleased that the city recognizes our commitment and contributions to the business community in Fullerton,’ Brown said. ‘We have been an active member of the community for over 40 years and we will continue to support it’. “