MSCI Central States Chapter Hosts Forum with PMA and NAM

February 14, 2005

MSCI Central States Chapter Hosts Forum with PMA and NAM

ROLLING MEADOWS, Illinois, February 14, 2005 – The Central States Chapter of the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) will join with the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to conduct a town hall meeting on the future of North American manufacturing on April 19.

“In the midst of an economic recovery, it is easy to forget the critically important structural issues that continue to erode the strength of our durable goods manufacturing sector,” said Martin J. Napoli, Jr., president of NAPCO Steel, Inc. of West Chicago, Illinois, and president of  MSCI’s Central States Chapter. “In fact, even with a weaker dollar, the cost advantages of manufacturing in China and other Asian industrial centers are substantial, and we continue to see factory closings and production shifts away from North America. If we are to survive as a manufacturing nation, we must all be aware of the problem, understand the issues, and be prepared to defend our manufacturing base.”

Speakers at the meeting, to  be held at Drury Lane in west suburban Oakbrook Terrace, will include:

• Dr. Joseph Massey, director of the Center for International Business and professor at the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College. Dr. Massey is an expert in Asian trade and a former assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan and China.
• William E. Gaskin, president of the Precision Metalforming Association, a trade association that represents the $41 billion metalforming industry.
• Stephen V. Gold, vice president of NAM and executive director of its Council of Manufacturing Associations, which represents more than 200 manufacturing trade associations.
• M. Robert Weidner, III, president and chief executive officer of MSCI.

“I am delighted that PMA and NAM have agreed to join with us to discuss the challenges facing North American manufacturing and how we can, as members of the manufacturing value chain, act to make sure that the U.S. and Canada retain their preeminence as global manufacturing centers,” said Weidner. “Such issues as Asian currency manipulation, unequal enforcement of global trade agreements, and unnecessarily high cost penalties for manufacturing here must be addressed if we are to succeed.”

“Manufacturing in America remains critical to our economic and national security, yet is challenged as never before by rising structural costs and unprecedented global competition,” said John Engler, president of NAM. “These town hall meetings play a key role in helping manufacturers and policymakers understand what it will take to keep America a nation that makes things.”

Gaskin, an outspoken advocate of free and fair global trading arrangments, said that by joining with metals producers and distributors and with NAM, PMA hopes to attract additional attention to an issue that threatens the well-being of the U.S. economy.

“Metalforming companies and their metals service centers are closely linked as business partners, so it is critical that PMA and MSCI work together to pass legislation and policies that support manufacturing in America,” said Gaskin. “Together with NAM, we must eliminate currency manipulation by trading partners, win passage of Association Health Plan legislation to help control costs, and keep our elected representatives focused on the importance of manufacturing to the U.S.economy.”

Contacts:

            Steve Weiner, Readmore Communications, 847-533-9143

            Jonathan Kalkwarf, MSCI, 847-485-3007

            William E. Gaskin, PMA, 216-901-8800

            Laura Narvaiz, NAM, 202-637-3087

About MSCI

Founded in 1907, the Metals Service Center Institute has more than 350 members – including mills, distributors, fabricators, and companies that provide products and services to them – operating from about 1,200 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere around the world. Together, MSCI service center members constitute the largest single group of industrial metals purchasers in North America, amounting each year to more than 75 million tons of steel, aluminum, and other metals, with about 300,000 product manufacturers and fabricators as customers. Metals service centers distribute metals and provide first-stage fabrication services.

PMA is the full-service trade association representing the $41-billion metalforming industry of North America – the industry that creates precision metal products using stamping, fabricating and other value-added processes. Its nearly 1,200 member companies include metal stampers, fabricators, spinners, slide formers and roll formers as well as suppliers of equipment, materials and services to the industry. Members are located in 30 countries, with the majority found in North America – in 41 states of the United States as well as Canada and Mexico.

The National Association of Manufacturers is the nation’s largest industry trade association, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the NAM has 10 additional offices across the country. Visit the NAM’s award-winning web site at www.nam.org for more information about manufacturing and the economy.