ASAEF Welcomes New Director of Professional Development
American Supply Association
The American Supply Association Education Foundation (ASAEF) has announced the hiring of Doug Dillon as Director of Professional Development. In this role, Dillon will be responsible for formalizing the new education and training advisory model for the Foundation, as well as overseeing the development and implementation of the Branch Manager Certification Program including the related content, requirements and assessments. More

First 2012 ASA Supplier Partnerships Announced
American Supply Association
ASA is proud to announce that four organizations that were cornerstone participants in the 2011 ASA Supplier Partnership program have reinvested for 2012. Partnering with ASA at the Platinum Level are the ASA Education Foundation, Bradford White, Kohler Company and Weldbend. Developed in 2010, the ASA Supplier Partnership was created as an alternative to a traditional sponsorship program. ASA Supplier Partnerships fund the association's year-round activities and programs to benefit ASA members and raise awareness among the industry at large. With their financial commitment, the Supplier Partner organization receives an extended return on investment as their support is now promoted through an entire calendar year and at all ASA-produced events. This sustained marketing and support effort is viewed as a win-win for both the Supplier Partner and the ASA. Please contact Ruth Mitchell for more information on the Supplier Partner program at ruth@asa.net.

Legal Battle Lines Drawn Over Health Care Law
American Supply Association
This spring the Obama administration will defend one of its key legislative accomplishments, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, in our nation's highest court. On Friday, the administration began its defense by filing a brief on one of the more controversial provisions in the law: the individual mandate. For three of the four cases dealing with this issue, Friday was the deadline to file opening briefs. The court will set aside three days of hearings in March. Until then, it is believed that a record number of "amicus," or "friend of the court briefs," will be filed in the meantime. More

2012 University of Industrial Distribution: Early-Bird Registration Deadline Tomorrow!
American Supply Association
Attention, all industrial distribution and manufacturing professionals committed to ongoing education and professional development: If you have not yet registered for the 2012 University of Industrial Distribution, NOW is the time. Save $200 in registration fees if you register by tomorrow, Friday the 13th! Held March 5-8 in Indianapolis, UID is a four-day institute that offers superb concentrated learning and excellent peer-to-peer networking. 2012 marks the 19th year that UID has been serving the distribution industry. Known worldwide for excellence in education, UID is sponsored by the leading industrial distribution professional associations in cooperation with the Industrial Distribution Program of Purdue University. Click HERE for more details!

ASA-Sponsored Warehouse Training Approaching — Register Today!
American Supply Association
Essentials of Profitable Warehouse Operations©, an ASA-sponsored training course offered through the Association Education Alliance, will take place in Tampa on Feb. 7, Miami on Feb. 21 and Orlando on Feb. 23. The course is geared toward warehouse employees, especially those on the supervisor track, and features instructor Jason Bader, managing partner of The Distribution Team Inc. Bader brings more than 20 years of experience in managing small and large distribution facilities, and emphasizes practical experience through all of his teaching. Participant registration deadlines are 10 days prior to each class, so please click here to register for any of these dates today. For full program details, including a complete schedule of cities and dates through June 2012, please click here.

Report: IRS Workload Cripples Agency
POLITICO
A sharp increase in the IRS's workload is causing a slew of problems for the agency, including delays in refunds to taxpayers and failure to identify fraudulent tax claims, a new report to Congress out Wednesday warns. "The overriding challenge facing the IRS is that its workload has grown significantly in recent years, while its funding is being cut," Nina E. Olson, the national taxpayer advocate, said in her annual report to lawmakers. "This is causing the IRS to resort to shortcuts that undermine fundamental taxpayer rights and harm taxpayers — and at the same time reduces the IRS's ability to deliver on its core mission of raising revenue." More

Copper Falls, Europe Debt Crisis Dims Demand Prospects
Reuters
Copper fell on Monday as markets feared that a solution to Europe's debt crisis remained out of reach, suggesting dim prospects for metals demand despite signs of improved growth in the United States, the world's largest economy. Other metals ended in positive territory, however. Aluminium was underpinned by production cutbacks, while zinc, lead and nickel were helped by the prospect of output reductions and the fact that prices are near production costs. More

Greater Skills Expected for Manufacturing Jobs
American Public Media
More than 2 million manufacturing jobs were lost during the recession. Companies have started hiring again — but they want workers who are more highly skilled than the ones they laid off. So they're turning to local vocational programs for help. Under the watchful eye of welding teacher Leo Suhre, students are cutting through sheets of metal at Richland Community College in Decatur, Ill. The school only has enough shop space for only 12 students at a time. But this year, there's been so much demand for welding courses, the college began offering classes overnight. More

ASA Insights is a weekly newsletter from the American Supply Association, providing information on ASA initiatives as well as items of interest to the PHCP and PVF industry.  Columbia Pipe & Supply is a proud member of ASA and is pleased to share this information with you.

ASA Members Focus of January Supply House Times Feature
American Supply Association
Beginning in the January 2012 issue of Supply House Times, the official publication of the American Supply Association, six prominent ASA wholesaler members will be featured in a two-part, in-depth look at the PHCP distribution industry. ASA and Supply House Times partnered to facilitate the panel during NetworkASA 2011 in Las Vegas in order to bring the industry valuable and relevant information to better prepare for the coming year. Participants were David Finkel (Davis & Warshow, Maspeth, N.Y.), Reggie Hickman (Brock-McVey, Lexington, Ky.), Patrick Hughes (Jabo Supply, Huntington, W.Va.), Joe Poehling (First Supply, Madison, Wis.), Rick Schwartz (WinWholesale, Dayton, Ohio) and John Strong (Economy Plumbing Supply, Indianapolis). The topics discussed ranged from company operations to the economy to health care reform. Visit http://www.supplyht.com later this month to view the first article of the two-part series.

ASA Applauds Pair of Year-End Legislative Victories for Small Businesses
American Supply Association
As 2011 closed, many issues remained unresolved, yet there were a few achievements worth noting. While one is an example of good government that ASA fought for, the other could be a potential windfall for industry jobs and lower energy costs in the Midwest. Unfortunately, however, a final outcome remains undetermined. More

ASA-Sponsored Warehouse Training Approaching — Register Today!
American Supply Association
Essentials of Profitable Warehouse Operations©, an ASA-sponsored training course offered through the Association Education Alliance, will take place in Los Angeles on Jan. 24, San Diego on Jan. 25, San Francisco on Feb. 7 and Phoenix on Feb. 9. The course is geared toward warehouse employees, especially those on the supervisor track, and features instructor Jason Bader, managing partner of The Distribution Team Inc. Bader brings more than 20 years of experience in managing small and large distribution facilities, and emphasizes practical experience through all of his teaching. Participant registration deadlines are 10 days prior to each class, so please click here to register for any of these dates today. For full program details, including a complete schedule of cities and dates through June 2012, please click here.

Building Optimism: American Manufacturing Re-Emerges in New Form
TriplePundit.com
American manufacturing once conjured images of sweaty workers in cavernous factories churning out steel beams and station wagons. By the middle of the 20th century, a deep sense of optimism and the possibility of a solidly middle-class life for workers accompanied these images. Today, manufacturing brings to mind offshore sweatshops and abandoned U.S. factories, and this trend shows no immediate signs of ending. However, there is reason to believe that American manufacturing is alive and growing, albeit in a new form. More

Copper Jumps as Output Data Boosts Demand Outlook
Bloomberg via Bloomberg Businessweek
Copper jumped to a three-week high in London on speculation increased manufacturing output from China to the U.S. may boost demand for industrial metals. More

Inventory Restocking to Propel US Manufacturing
Bloomberg via Bloomberg Businessweek
The need to rebuild depleted inventories may supersede spending on business equipment as the catalyst propelling gains in U.S. manufacturing in early 2012. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a measure of future corporate investment, dropped 1.2 percent in November, the biggest decline in 10 months, according to Commerce Department data Wednesday. A report Tuesday showed a gauge of stockpiles at factories customers slumped in December to a seven-month low. More

Gold Back Above $1,600 Mark as Dollar Slides
RTTNews.com via NASDAQ
Gold futures rallied to close above the $1,600 mark Tuesday, on a weaker dollar and higher oil prices. Gold for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $33.70 or 2.2 percent to $1,600.50 an ounce, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The precious metal closed Friday having gained 10 percent for the year, after six straight sessions of decline late December. The dollar index which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, dropped to 79.553 from last week. The euro rose to $1.3070 from $1.3072 prior to the Fed minutes release and $1.2931 in late Monday trade in North America. More

ASA Insights is a weekly newsletter from the American Supply Association, providing information on ASA initiatives as well as items of interest to the PHCP and PVF industry.  Columbia Pipe & Supply is a proud member of ASA and is pleased to share this information with you.

The ASA Materials Market Digest is designed to keep readers informed of important changes and recent trends in the areas of:

• Carbon steel and stainless
• Alloy steel and principal alloying metals
• Non-ferrous metals and alloys (including copper)
• Ferrous and non-ferrous scrap
• Crude oil and natural gas
• Resins
• Paperboard

In each issue, a section is devoted to those materials where pricing or price-influencing action has taken place within the previous month. The Digest is prepared by Jim Olsztynski, former editor of the industry publication Supply House Times., economist and renowned industry icon, and supported by ASA's Vendor Member Division.

As a member of ASA, Columbia Pipe & Supply is pleased to be able to provide you access to this important information. Please click the following link to view the January 2012 issue:

NLRB Issues Final 'Ambush Elections' Rule; Christmas Arrives Early for Labor
American Supply Association
The National Labor Relations Board has published its final rule in Wednesday's Federal Register permitting what many in the business community have billed as "ambush elections." The rule is widely believed to lead to a radically skewed process for union representation elections — tilting the playing field strongly towards organized labor. The new rule effectively shortens election time frames, limiting employees' opportunity to hear from employers and make an informed choice and diminishing employers' due process. More

Survey: 85 Percent of Manufacturing Executives See Manufacturing Returning to US
Business Wire via MarketWatch
According to a survey conducted by Cook Associates Executive Search, 85 percent of manufacturing executives see the possibility of certain manufacturing operations returning to the U.S., with 37 percent citing overseas costs as the major factor. Nineteen percent cited logistics and 36 percent stipulated other reasons, including economic/political issues, quality and safety concerns, patriotism and overseas skills shortages for highly technical manufacturing processes. More

Economy's Plight to Shape 2012 Presidential Race
The Associated Press via Boston Globe
For the intertwined U.S. economy and presidential politics, it was a year of twists and unexpected turns. The wobbly economy framed the agenda for both parties, and how it performs in the coming months will help decide whether President Barack Obama wins a second term. An improved economy in 2012 could greatly enhance Obama's chances of re-election. If it stays about the same or worsens, his chances could fade, regardless of his GOP opponent. More

Heavy Metal is Back: The Best Cities For Manufacturing
Forbes
For a generation American manufacturing has been widely seen as a "declining sport." Yet, its demise has been largely overplayed. Despite the many jobs this sector has lost in the past generation, manufacturing remains remarkably resilient, with a global market share similar to that of the 1970s. More recently, the U.S. industrial base has been on a powerful upswing, with employment climbing steadily since 2009. Boosted by productivity gains and higher costs in competitors, including China, U.S. manufacturing exports have grown at their fastest rate since the late 1980s. In 2011 American manufacturing continued to expand, while Germany, Japan and Brazil all weakened in this vital sector. More

LME Preview: Copper Climbs on Shrinking Stockpiles, US Outlook
Bloomberg via Bloomberg Businessweek
Copper advanced, trimming weekly declines, as inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange headed for an 11th weekly decline and better-than-expected U.S. jobless claims and manufacturing data boosted demand outlook. More

Manufacturing Can Thrive But Struggles For Respect
Reuters
On a quiet stretch of the waterfront, about a mile from Boston's main tourist sites, a Gillette factory hums along 24 hours a day making an unlikely commodity: top-of-the-line razors. The factory, which employs about 700 people in manufacturing as well as another 800 in design, engineering and management, is an anomaly in modern America — a manufacturing site in one of most expensive cities in the country. But to Gillette's parent company, Procter & Gamble, Boston is an ideal base not only for making Fusion and Mach 3 razors, but to produce machines that assemble Gillette products around the world. More

ASA Insights is a weekly newsletter from the American Supply Association, providing information on ASA initiatives as well as items of interest to the PHCP and PVF industry.  Columbia Pipe & Supply is a proud member of ASA and is pleased to share this information with you.

The ASA Materials Market Digest is designed to keep readers informed of important changes and recent trends in the areas of:

• Carbon steel and stainless
• Alloy steel and principal alloying metals
• Non-ferrous metals and alloys (including copper)
• Ferrous and non-ferrous scrap
• Crude oil and natural gas
• Resins
• Paperboard

In each issue, a section is devoted to those materials where pricing or price-influencing action has taken place within the previous month. The Digest is prepared by Jim Olsztynski, former editor of the industry publication Supply House Times., economist and renowned industry icon, and supported by ASA's Vendor Member Division.

As a member of ASA, Columbia Pipe & Supply is pleased to be able to provide you access to this important information. Please click the following link to view the December 2011 issue:

Buzz Continues to Build in Northeast Region
American Supply Association
ASA's regional affiliate, the Wholesalers Association of the Northeast (WANE), continued to "build the buzz" this week with its second all-industry hospitality reception this fall. In mid-October, 40 people representing nearly 20 different companies met at Wollaston Golf Club outside of Boston. On Tuesday of this week, Bradford White sponsored a similar event at Overbrook Golf Club outside of Philadelphia in Villanova. Fifty people representing more than 20 wholesalers, manufacturers and independent manufacturer representatives attended. As was the case in October, a large number of emerging industry leaders were in attendance, making this another well-rounded and successful regional event. For further information on WANE initiatives and events, please contact ASA Executive Director Chris Murin.

Senate GOP Breathes New Life into Keystone XL Pipeline
American Supply Association
Last month, presumably to stave off election year discord between two of his core constituencies, labor and environmentalists, President Barack Obama postponed indefinitely the development of a major pipeline from Canada through the United States. The pipeline, known officially as Keystone XL, would transmit valuable Canadian tar sands south more than 2,500 miles to two terminals in Texas. You may recall that ASA supported this project and wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging its swift approval in October. More

Copper Slips as Germany Dampens EU Summit Hopes
Reuters
Copper slipped on Wednesday as market sentiment soured following pessimistic comments from a German official about the chances that an EU summit on Friday would solve a euro zone debt crisis that is crippling economic growth and denting metals demand. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed at $7,820 a tonne, down from Tuesday's close of $7,835. Copper was up about 1 percent earlier in the session as investors hoped that EU leaders, who will meet on Dec. 9, will take tougher measures to resolve the debt crisis. More

Speaker Boehner in Tax Vise
The Hill
Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, faces a critical test Thursday as he tries to sell a payroll tax holiday to GOP colleagues deeply divided by it. The unveiling of the leadership plan follows days of deliberation over how to rally conservatives to pass a bill that enacts President Barack Obama's top year-end priority. Pressure mounted Wednesday as Obama said he would postpone his planned 17-day holiday vacation to Hawaii until the payroll tax issue was decided. Republican leaders are separately using the Christmas countdown as leverage. More

Massachusetts Governor Launches Manufacturing Collaborative
Canton Patch
Gov. Deval Patrick has launched the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative and released a new road map for manufacturing job growth in Massachusetts. "Our administration is committed to preparing students and workers to compete and win in the 21st century global economy," Patrick said. "The creation of the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative and the release of this new road map will help us grow jobs and opportunities in the manufacturing sector." More

ISM: US Manufacturing Sector Picks Up in November
Reuters
The pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector picked up in November at its strongest level since June, and new orders rose, according to the Institute for Supply Management. ISM's index of national factory activity rose to 52.7 from 50.8 in October. The reading topped expectations of 51.5. New orders gained to 56.7, its highest level since April, from 52.4. But the employment gauge lost some steam, falling to 51.8 from 53.5. More

Gretchen Zierick: Are Women the Answer to Shortage of Skilled Workers in Manufacturing?
Manufacturing & Technology News
A recent study from the Manufacturing Institute reported that almost 80 percent of American manufacturers are reporting trouble filling open positions despite a national 9 percent unemployment rate in the United States. In addition, 25 percent of the current manufacturing work force is age 55 or older, with few young skilled workers available to replace them as these longtime employees near retirement. One way to address the lack of skilled workers would be to attract more women to manufacturing careers and mentor them so that they encourage other women to look at this sector for a career. More

ASA Insights is a weekly newsletter from the American Supply Association, providing information on ASA initiatives as well as items of interest to the PHCP and PVF industry.  Columbia Pipe & Supply is a proud member of ASA and is pleased to share this information with you.

ASA is Moving!
American Supply Association

During the week of December 19, 2011, the headquarters of the American Supply Association, the ASA Education Foundation, the Midwest Distributors Association (MwDA) and the Wholesalers Association of the North East (WANE) will be moving from the current location in Chicago's Merchandise Mart to the western Chicago suburb of Itasca. The new official address will be:

1200 N. Arlington Heights Road, Suite 150
Itasca, IL 60143

Please continue to use current telephone and fax numbers until otherwise notified. Updated contact information will be communicated after our move has been completed. We look forward to serving our membership and the industry from our new location in the new year!

ASA-Sponsored Warehouse Training Approaching — Register Today!
American Supply Association
Essentials of Profitable Warehouse Operations© an ASA-sponsored training course offered through the Association Education Alliance, will take place in Houston on Dec. 8 and in Dallas on Dec. 14. The course is geared toward warehouse employees, especially those on the supervisor track, and features instructor Jason Bader, managing partner of The Distribution Team Inc. Bader brings more than 20 years of experience in managing small and large distribution facilities, and emphasizes practical experience through all of his teaching. The registration deadline for the Houston and Dallas dates is tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 2. For full program details, including a complete schedule of cities and dates through June 2012, please click here.

Turmoil at NLRB Reaches its Boiling Point
American Supply Association
After months of partisan back and forth, the makeup of the five-member National Labor Relations Board could soon be down to two, taking away its ability to continue issuing rules many believe are tilted heavily in favor of labor's interest and against employers. A heated dispute has erupted in wake of the board's announcement that it will meet this week to vote on a streamlined version of the proposed "ambush elections" rule. NLRB Member Brian Hayes, the board's lone Republican, sent a letter to House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline about the NLRB's failure to follow normal procedures for the rule making and misleading Kline about the timeline for the rule. More

Register Early for 2012 University of Industrial Distribution: Space is Filling Quickly!
American Supply Association
Attention, all industrial distribution and manufacturing professionals committed to ongoing education and professional development: Registrations are now being accepted for the 2012 University of Industrial Distribution. Held March 5-8 in Indianapolis, UID is a four-day institute that offers superb concentrated learning and excellent peer-to-peer networking. 2012 marks the 19th year that UID has been serving the distribution industry. Known worldwide for excellence in education, UID is sponsored by the leading industrial distribution professional associations in cooperation with the Industrial Distribution Program of Purdue University. The program provides an excellent opportunity to align the development plans for your management and management candidates with excellent learning opportunities. There is limited enrollment and space fills quickly so register early! Click HERE to learn more!

Copper Rises Most in Five Weeks as Central Banks Boost Liquidity
Bloomberg
Copper rose the most in five weeks after central banks from the U.S. to China moved to ease strains in financial markets and spur growth. The Federal Reserve and five other central banks agreed to cut the cost of emergency funding for banks in Europe as part of a global effort to stem the region's debt crisis. Separately, China cut the amount of cash that lenders must set aside as reserves for the first time since 2008. The coordinated efforts among central banks "along with the Chinese reserve cut are the obvious short-term drivers," James Dailey, who manages $215 million at TEAM Financial Management LLC in Harrisburg, Pa., said in an email. More

ADP: Manufacturing Employment Increases by 7,000 in November
Shopfloor
Manufacturing employment rose by 7,000 in November, its first increase since June, according to Automated Data Processing data. Total nonfarm payrolls increased by 206,000. This was the largest jump of the year, followed closely by the increases in February and March of 205,000 and 203,000, respectively. November's gains came almost entirely from the service sector, which grew by 178,000 net new jobs. In addition, small and medium-sized payrolls (i.e., those with less than 500 employees) accounted for the bulk of the net new jobs, continuing a familiar trend. More

Copper, Gold Mine Project in Peru Suspended in Face of Protests
Los Angeles Times
Faced with increasingly violent local opposition, the developers of the giant Conga gold and copper mine in northern Peru suspended the project late Tuesday night, saying they were bowing to a demand from the government of President Ollanta Humala. Much of the northern district of Cajamarca has been paralyzed the last six days by general strikes called by Conga opponents that closed businesses and schools. Residents were concerned that the massive gold and copper mine could pollute the region's water supply, a charge the mine's operators, led by Colorado-based Newmont Mining, strenuously denied. More

ASA Insights is a weekly newsletter from the American Supply Association, providing information on ASA initiatives as well as items of interest to the PHCP and PVF industry.  Columbia Pipe & Supply is a proud member of ASA and is pleased to share this information with you.

MwDA Meeting Spotlights World's 9th Wonder!
American Supply Association

Persons attending the 2011 Annual Meeting & Dinner of the Midwest Distributors Association witnessed what might be considered a wonder of the modern world — an economist who doesn't mince words! That was dinner speaker Paul Kasriel, senior vice president and chief economist for Northern Trust, whose 2008 economic forecast was cited by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top five in an annual survey of economists. In 2009 he was credited by WSJ as one of the few who identified the housing bubble forming early on and the ensuing financial market havoc when the bubble burst. More

Business Group Tees Up 2012 Fight Over Healthcare
American Supply Association A new report released by the National Federation of Independent Business's (NFIB) Research Foundation tells us what many have already suspected. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) raises costs and uncertainty for small- and medium-sized businesses. Among many unsettling provisions is the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) included in the overhaul that was signed into law last year and goes into effect in 2014. If implemented, the HIT will raise a total of $87 billion in the first ten years and $208 billion in the second ten years. More

Supercommittee Meltdown: Behind the Scenes
Politico
Chances to reach a deal by the moribund supercommittee fell to two of the most important men on Capitol Hill not elected to Congress — David Krone and Barry Jackson. Krone, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) chief of staff, and Jackson, the top aide to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), had been quietly deputized to find a last-ditch deal and avert yet another failure of Congress's own making. Both had been here before — they were instrumental in preventing the government from shutting down this spring and raising the national debt ceiling this summer. More

Failure to Mitigate Supply Chain Risk to Cost Companies Billions in 2012
Procurement Leaders Network
Chief procurement officers at the world's largest companies predict their businesses, unable to manage the range of risks affecting their global supply chains, will lose more than $222 million each, on average, over the next 12 months as a result of supply chain disruptions, according to a recent report. Commodity volatility, adverse weather conditions and a range of other threats featured heavily in 2011 and, despite the measures taken to combat these events, the sentiment among procurement executives is that 2012 could prove to be another costly year. More

Supply Chain Management Risk 2.0
Supply Chain Digital
Ten years ago, an organization could expect to identify its suppliers and have a general understanding of where they operated. These days a company's suppliers regularly move materials and goods around the globe across dozens of trade lanes, with each supplier maintaining its own supply network. It all adds up to organizations having less visibility into their full supply profile at a time when disruptions — and their impacts — are growing. Effective supply chain management in this global economy requires an approach that encompasses more than just-in-time delivery and insurance against damages. More

Tomorrow's Supply Chain Leaders — Do They Know the Fundamentals?
The 21st Century Supply Chain
Many of the current supply chain managers are transplants from other parts of their companies, with no formal schooling in the discipline. So what are the potential risks of filling these roles with managers from other parts of the business? To understand the potential risks, one must understand the key ingredients which make C-level supply chain executives successful. More

ASA Insights is a weekly newsletter from the American Supply Association, providing information on ASA initiatives as well as items of interest to the PHCP and PVF industry.  Columbia Pipe & Supply is a proud member of ASA and is pleased to share this information with you.

ASA Members Creating Jobs in America
American Supply Association
American Supply Association members' October 2011 financial report shows that they have been hiring for the twelfth consecutive month, as their full time equivalent employee count is larger than a year ago in all levels. This is especially true for larger distributors, specifically within the industrial PVF sector. Also very importantly, the driver of this has been improved profitability as compared to 2010. These increased profits are driven by one and one half years of continued revenue growth. More

Obama Administration Diminishes Trade Associations, ASA Responds
American Supply Association
This fall, during NetworkASA 2011, the Office of Government Ethics issued a proposal designed to limit the trade association community's interaction with the executive branch. Specifically, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) asserts that trade associations "may sponsor educational activities for their members and even the public, but the primary concern of such associations generally is not the education and development of members of a profession or discipline ..." ASA and more than 400 groups took issue with this premise and challenged the administration to explain how it is that organizations such as institutions of higher learning, scientific organizations, nonprofit professional associations and learned societies receive an exemption from these proposed rule changes, but trade associations do not. More

CFO Networking Council Continues to Build Momentum
American Supply Association
The ASA CFO Networking Council continues going strong with its second networking session this year. This week, members representing 11 different companies met in Chicago for a peer roundtable discussion on industry topics ranging from business metrics and budgeting to ESOPS and fraud. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, March 1, 2012, also in Chicago. All member manufacturers and distributors involved in the financial divisions of their respective organizations are invited to participate. Please contact Margaret Bean, CFO Networking Council staff liaison, for more information.

Copper Futures Trim Losses After Italian, Spanish Yields Drop
CNBC-TV
Copper futures trimmed losses, bouncing off a four-day low as a drop in Italian and Spanish bond yields helped boost market sentiment. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for December delivery traded at USD3.473 a pound during European morning trade, shedding 0.8%. It earlier tumbled by as much as 1.9% to trade at USD3.431 a pound, the lowest price since November 11. More

Manufacturers Wrap Up Sustainable Packaging
Procurement Leaders Network
Global consumption of sustainable packaging is registering "impressive" growth, according to market watchers. The sector has been largely immune to the economic downturn, reveals a new report. The study notes that Europe and the U.S. represent the largest regions for sustainable packaging, together accounting for more than 70 percent of the global market. More

Spate of Disasters Exposes Supply Chain Weakness
Reuters via Insurance Journal
A string of natural disasters has exposed a vulnerability in global supply chains: How do you set up a network that is compact enough to be efficient but spread widely enough that no single unexpected event can knock it out? Business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings said the disasters forced them to rethink the wisdom of relying on a limited number of vendors or locations. APEC members agreed recently to develop public-private partnerships by 2012's summit so they can respond more effectively when disasters strike. More

ASA Insights is a weekly newsletter from the American Supply Association, providing information on ASA initiatives as well as items of interest to the PHCP and PVF industry.  Columbia Pipe & Supply is a proud member of ASA and is pleased to share this information with you.