August 2015

June 2014 Eye on Business The Montana Chamber of Commerce There is a lot of talk around Washington D.C. these days about reviving U.S. manufacturing; assisting “Made in America” enterprises, specifically small manufacturers. These companies, especially, have taken the brunt of free trade agreements and the recession; owners trying to do more with less, often […]

February 24, 2011 Wall Street Journal Letter to the Editor: William Perry Regarding your editorial “Free Trade Foul-Ups” (Feb. 9) and the statement that “TAA is turning into one more open-ended entitlement”: There needs to be a clarification.  I am on the board of directors of the Northwest Trade Adjustment Assistance Center.  We provide trade

February 16, 2011 Idaho Business Review By Brad Carlson The demand that Fresh Air Manufacturing Co. (FAMCO) owner Marty Artis sees for his new ventures isn’t much better than the recession-battered appetite for his core wholesale business, but he’s pleased anyway. “It’s new revenue to me,” he said.  “We have the same number of remodels

January 31, 2011 SupplyChainBrain By: Robert Bowman If you’re like me, your eyes tend to glaze over while reading stories about dumping disputes between trading partners.  Sure, you know what dumping is – the practice of selling raw materials or finished goods overseas at prices below one’s production costs, or what’s being charged at home. 

September 16, 2010 Idaho Business Review By Brad Carlson Idaho’s timber market is at a near-perfect storm. General market and overall economic conditions of the past three years have placed harvest and production levels well below normal, closing several mills across the Northwest. “We have bled pretty hard for the last couple of years, and

October 29, 2009 Alaska Business Monthly Anchorage, Alaska Federal grants are now available to help Alaska companies compete in changing global markets Congress has again funded Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs aimed at assisting companies that are losing sales to foreign imports, or have been forced to lay off workers or cut back on hours.

September 24, 2009 The News-Review Roseburg, Oregon By John Sowell The Swanson Group has been selected to receive $100,000 from a federal grant meant to protect jobs in Oregon’s struggling timber industry. The money, from a Trade Adjustment Assistance grant issued through the federal Economic Development Administration, will be used to create a new market

August 9, 2009 Alaska Journal of Commerce By Laine Welch Is competition from foreign imports biting into your business? Trade Adjustment Assistance programs are designed to help American workers and businesses become more competitive.  Three TAA programs have been funded again, under the U.S. Departments of Labor, Agriculture and Commerce. “Salmon pollock, crab – we

July 2009 Economic Development Board for Tacoma Pierce County Teamwork Newsletter Competing on world markets can present unusual challenges for American manufacturers.  Just ask Lisa Chissus, president of Cascade Plastics, which produces plastic parts in its Fife plant. “There are situations where quotes for the molded parts from off-shore competition have matched the material costs

February 18, 2007 Alaska Journal of Commerce By: Margaret Bauman Firms involved in commercial fisheries that have seen a detrimental economic impact in sales, production and employment due to imported seafood may be eligible for federal aid. The federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program, with a national budget of $13 million, helps commercial fishermen – who