ITASCA ILLINOIS - Members and associates of the Technology & Manufacturing Association enjoyed a sold out golf outing on June 17 at the Itasca Country Club in Itasca Illinois. 
Photos of the event are available on Facebook HERE: 

SCHAUMBURG - In response to the majority of the Illinois General Assembly voting to accept Governor Pritzker's FY 2022 Budget of over $42 billion, Technology & Manufacturing Association President Steve Rauschenberger said that small businesses will be forced to carry the brunt of additional tax hikes.

“If state Democrats led by Governor Pritzker had a goal of taking a final punishing blow to the Illinois economy, business community, and taxpayers, then they succeeded and even added some extra punches to make sure manufacturers and small businesses could never succeed in this state," Rauschberger said. 

The coming tax hikes on small businesses, expensive energy reform proposals will increase costs and decrease reliability, while changes in employment and labor laws and even a constitutional amendment will support unions. To top it off, unfair redistricting maps will place another 10-year stronghold on state politics all culminate to be a knockout punch for any hope for positive business growth in our state, he went on to say.

“The extravagant and unaffordable budget continues the Governor's massive tax and spend policies and shows absolutely no fiscal restraint. The largest punch the Governor will throw is removing so called 'corporate loopholes' that are actually tax incentives manufacturers and small businesses across Illinois use to help create jobs for Illinoisans," Rauschenberger said.

Closing the "loopholes" will cost job creators a significant amount of money, he said. It is just another way for the state government to take more of money earned.

“This has been one of the most dysfunctional end of sessions in Illinois history and it’ll bring irreparable damage to already struggling manufacturers and businesses, yet Democrats will chalk this up as a success. The manufacturing community will not be fooled or forget.”

​More at www.tmaillinois.org 

​BOLINGBROOK - Home to a national floor mat manufacturer, Bolingbrook, just southwest of Chicago, also hosts important TMA members such as Prater Industries. 

Prater Industries graciously opened their doors to host a TMA Blueprint Reading class over the last two Saturdays. 

TMA is looking to expand its locations and class offerings over the next few years to encourage growth among manufacturers and their teams' skills. 

For more information on TMA's ongoing classes in an array of topics that would benefit team members at all levels, check out: ​https://www.tmaillinois.org/class-calendar.html 

According to the latest data from the Institute for Supply Management, expansion in manufacturing is still on the rise despite record-long lead times and wide-scale shortages of critical basic materials. The manufacturing sector as a whole has consistently grown each month since April 2020, a full year of expansion.

The ISM Purchasing Manager’s Index rose half a percentage point to 61.2% in May, growing at a faster rate last month than in April. The production index fell four points to 58.5%, indicating continued growth at a slower rate: like the main index, production has grown consistently since April of last year.


“Record-long lead times, wide-scale shortages of critical basic materials, rising commodities prices and difficulties in transporting products are continuing to affect all segments of the manufacturing economy,” said Timothy Fiore, who chairs the ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. At the same time, he said, optimism among survey respondents increased compared to April.

More at INDUSTRY WEEK