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The Wall Street Journal: GE to Shift Jobs to Canada In Ex-Im Bank Protest

September 28, 2015 – General Electric Co. said Monday that it would cease manufacturing gas engines in Waukesha, Wis., and move 350 jobs to a new factory in Canada to use that country’s export financing regime to pursue new business.

The announcement is the latest from GE after Congress failed in July to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, the export financing entity in the U.S.

GE says that financing from an export credit agency such as Ex-Im is required for some $11 billion of projects for which it is preparing bids, including power turbines, generation equipment and aircraft engines.

Earlier in September, GE executives announced plans to create 500 jobs in the company’s power and water business in France, Hungary and China, saying the moves would enable GE to secure export financing from those countries in exchange for creating jobs. The company also said it would create as many as 1,000 jobs in its oil-and-gas unit in the U.K., also in exchange for export financing.

Export financing deals, such as those GE has secured in the past from the Ex-Im Bank, are required as part of a formal bid on many significant projects that GE competes for, company officials say.

GE will cease manufacturing gas engines at its factory in Waukesha, Wis. President Barack Obama toured the facility in 2014.
GE will cease manufacturing gas engines at its factory in Waukesha, Wis. President Barack Obama toured the facility in 2014. PHOTO: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

“You have to make a choice,” said John Rice, a GE vice chairman who directs the company’s global operations. “Either bid and make it in a country that has an export credit agency, or you’re not going to bid.”

GE’s exit from Waukesha means the departure of a namesake product: the company’s Waukesha line of engines used for compression and mechanical drivers, as well as for generating power. Several hundred GE jobs will remain in Wisconsin, including in engineering and design, Mr. Rice said, but the manufacturing positions will move to a new $265 million factory planned to open in 20 months in Canada.

The new facility will allow for future expansion and be designed to handle manufacturing requirements of GE’s other industrial businesses.

GE said it already has about 6,500 workers in Canada and has used Canada’s export financing entity to support past sales.

Opponents of Ex-Im say GE and other major manufacturers are throwing their weight around to add pressure for the bank’s reauthorization, and suggest announcements such as GE’s could have been made regardless of Ex-Im’s status. GE, for instance, is expanding in France with the acquisition of the power business of Alstom SA. The company says its recently announced job-creation plan in France is unrelated to the 1,000 jobs it promised as part of the Alstom deal.

But GE says the Ex-Im fight is one of necessity because export financing is a condition to qualify for bidding on many projects, and other countries are willing to supply financing in exchange for GE shifting manufacturing work to their shores.

“This notion that it’s a choice is just the craziest idea,” Mr. Rice said Monday.

Mr. Rice, in an interview, said GE wasn’t sure if the interval before the planned departure of House Speaker John Boehner could offer a chance to Ex-Im supporters to push through a reauthorization of the bank. Mr. Boehner’s most likely successor, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, started out supporting Ex-Im but later turned to oppose its reauthorization.

Even if the bank is reauthorized later this year, Mr. Rice said, “it really won’t change any of what we’ve announced, but it will certainly help in the future.”

Write to Ted Mann at ted.mann@wsj.com

Article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/ge-to-shift-jobs-to-canada-in-ex-im-bank-protest-1443449286

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AMC: Cutting Edge Newsletter

STATE & FEDERAL NEWS FOR ARIZONA’S MANUFACTURING COMMUNITY

August 25, 2015 – Two weeks ago the Arizona Manufacturers Council (AMC) hosted perhaps its best environmental and sustainability summit to date. Special thanks to Haley & Aldrich and Snell & Wilmer who were this year’s presenting sponsors.

The event opened with a look at the “state of sustainability.” It turns out 90 percent of businesses nationwide are said to be implementing sustainability practices and finding them valuable. The summit continued with a series of content-rich panels featuring high quality, engaging speakers who delivered meaningful takeaways for all participants.

First up, a terrific discussion on the Clean Power Plan and Ozone Rule. Panelists brought startling statistics to light about the Ozone Rule in particular. As much as $4 billion gross state product loss is expected through 2040 with a $5 billion compliance cost. That’s a hefty price to pay for very few environmental gains in return.

On a more positive note, newly appointed Director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Misael Cabrera energized the room with a presentation about “elegant design for environmental good,” while Mitch Klein and Patrick Cunningham led an enlightening panel on ethics.

We were also fortunate to have Kirk Adams, chief of staff to Governor Ducey, as our luncheon keynote speaker. He delivered a terrific address, highlighting the status of water resources in California and Arizona. He emphasized that Arizona is positioned far better than California due to decades of good stewardship and responsible water management. His comments tied nicely into our Water Sustainability and Sustainable Water Practices panels, which closed out the day with leading experts on best practices, complexities of the west, as well as industry-specific information. In particular, SRP discussed marked water storage growth and Intel highlighted their “treat, reuse, save” strategy.

Summit attendees also received an overview of the Voluntary Environmental Stewardship Program (VESP) as well as its levels of recognition and program elements. Rather than functioning as a license, VESP effectively serves as an environmental “good housekeeping” seal of approval.

If you weren’t able to make it to this year’s Summit, please consider joining us next year! Our 2015 event was outstanding and plans are already underway to make 2016 even better.

The Arizona Manufacturers Council is the preeminent manufacturing lobbying association at the state capitol and is the official state affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers.


USA Today: EPA proposes huge methane limits for oil, gas industry
Posted 08/19/15

Washington Examiner: Industry braces for EPA regulatory ‘tidal wave’
Posted 08/19/15

Yakima Herald-Republic: This bears repeating: Reauthorize Ex-Im Bank
Posted 08/20/15


The Arizona Republic: Why career-education cuts hurt Arizona
Posted 08/21/15


We welcome feedback from our members about the type of news and information you would like to see. Please contact Erica Wrublik at ewrublik@azchamber.com or 602-248-9172 x110 to share any editorial suggestions.

 

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Report: EPA Exceeds Its Authority With Proposed Rules

Congress should use the appropriations process to reassert its authority over the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a Heritage Foundation issue brief released Tuesday.

The report, written by scholar Daren Bakst, identifies three issues on which the EPA has proposed rules and regulations that exceed its authority. In all three cases, Bakst recommends that Congress prohibit the agency from using its funding to implement the proposals

Click here to read the full article.

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