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 

​Apprentices Graduated with Nationally Recognized Manufacturing Certificates in Mold Making, CNC Programming, and Tool & Die Making
 
SCHAUMBURG, IL – Manufacturers from all around the United States are concerned about the future of the industry as a retiring “Silver Tsunami” looms on the horizon – threatening a whole generation of the US manufacturers. For several years, the Technology & Manufacturing Association has been working with members, local high schools and community colleges to thwart the impending workforce disaster by offering training and education that equips their graduates with what many call “the gold standard” for manufacturing skills – and all completely debt-free.
 
Thursday evening, TMA hosted their annual Related Theory Graduation and presented diplomas of completion in Tool & Die, Mold Making and CNC Machining to 38 students that have completed three long years of training and education in those particular fields.

This year’s Graduation can be viewed HERE and HERE.
 
“The COVID pandemic highlighted the critical importance of manufacturers and having a ‘made-in-America’ supply chain. The programs that educated these students over the last three years are the gold standard of manufacturing training. This nationally-recognized certificate, which requires over 500 hours of instruction and 6,000 hours of on-the-job training, will allow these students to enter into a lucrative and rewarding career in manufacturing,” said TMA President Steve Rauschenberger.
 
Traditionally, TMA holds a public ceremony providing family, friends, and leaders in the manufacturing community the opportunity to honor both the graduating students and the employers that funded the students’ training and education.
 
Commenting on the pandemic-related adversity the program’s staff and students overcame, Patrick Osborne, TMA’s Executive Vice President said, “I don’t think anyone could have foreseen a health emergency of this magnitude. I am especially proud of the fact that our TMA team, like our members, are among the most innovative people in the world, and we were able to continue these very important education programs during this unprecedented time.”
 
TMA’s Related Theory Graduation is for students who have completed the three-year Apprentice Training Program. During their first year, they learn basic skills such as shop math, blueprint reading, and the basics of machine tool technology. In their second year, students begin their discipline in mold making, CNC programming, or tool & die. In the third year, students continue their education with more advanced training.
 
The TMA Related Theory Apprenticeship Training Program has been assisting member companies in training their apprentices for over 70 years. Click here for more information on TMA's training programs.
 
About TMA: Founded in 1925, the Technology & Manufacturing Association (TMA) represents and supports manufacturers in the Chicago metropolitan area and surrounding counties in northern Illinois, northern Indiana, and southern Wisconsin. TMA has almost 1,000 members and represents over 32,000 employees and nearly 26M square feet of manufacturing in Illinois.

TMA is mentioned in below Illinois Review.com story: 

​SPRINGFIELD - Private and public sector unions will rule the state of Illinois with a constitutional amendment that passed the Illinois Senate Friday afternoon. Eleven (11) Republican senators and all voting Democrats supported the measure that would ban any "right to work" effort in Illinois. 

​Three Republican senators were in such strong support of banning right to work in Illinois, they co-sponsored the measure:  Senator Neil Anderson of Moline;  Donald DeWitte of Dundee:  and John Curran of Lemont. 
​
​
Here's what a Wirepoints commentary says about Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 11 :
... The amendment, if passed by three-fifths votes in each chamber and approved by voters, would prohibit municipalities and the state from ever taking any measure that would impair the ability of workers to collectively bargain over wages, hours, terms and conditions.
In other words, it would constitutionally ban any attempt to reform collective bargaining rules for both public and private unions. The resolutions, including links to the text, are here and here. The amendment would also effectively ban any right-to-work movement.

SJRCA 11, analysts say, adds to the Bill of Rights Article of the Illinois Constitution that employees shall have the fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work.

It prohibits any law state or local that interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively over their wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment and workplace safety, including any law or ordinance that prohibits the execution or application of agreements between employers and labor organizations that represent employees requiring membership in an organization as a condition of employment.

That means, observers say, requiring union membership and the fees, expenses, etc., unions require cannot be stifled in anyway - such as any effort that would give workers the right to choose whether they want to be union members. 

Groups that signed on in opposition to the measure include the Technology & Manufacturing Association, the Illinois Municipal League and 120 other business groups. Their cautions were ignored and there was no opposition voiced during the Senate floor debate. 

Below is the roll call for Friday's vote. The 11 Republican senators joined the Democrat super-majority in voting yes are Anderson; Bryant; Curran; DeWitte; Fowler; McClure; Rezin; Rose; Stoller; Syverson and Wilcox. 
​
​The measure will now go to the Illinois House. If it passes there, the question of whether or not to amend the Illinois Constitution in such a way will be on the 2022 Illinois General Election ballot. 

From The Economist: 

A poll released on May 5th by YouGov in partnership with The Economist shows that, for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, Americans are split on whether the economy is on the rise or in decline. The survey, conducted between May 1st and May 4th, asked 1,500 American adults, “Overall, do you think the economy is getting better or worse?” Roughly 30% said the economy was on the upswing, 30% said it was trending downwards and 28% said it was about the same. All are within each other’s margin of error.

Read more HERE. ​

​​In their May 11, 2021 update story, ZDNet.com offers information about the Colonial Pipeline cyber attack ​in response to these questions: 

1. What is Colonial Pipeline? 

2. How did the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack happen? 

3. Why does the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack matter? 

4. Will there be gas shortages? 

5. Have any agencies become involved? 

6. Who is DarkSide? 

7. What happens next? 

​Get the answers HERE: 

A coating of zinc the thickness of a sheet of paper can protect a steel structure for 100 years. Galvanized coating is one of the most durable methods of protecting against corrosion that is currently available.

That’s what Gatto Industrial Platers, Inc. offers, and what George Gatto Jr oversees every day.

George Gatto Jr grew up around his family’s business, but spent ten years in real estate before accepting his father’s standing invitation to join Gatto Industrial Platers.

During his teen years, George Jr worked summers at the family business – which led him to believe that particular work just wasn’t for him.

“I’d spend 10 hours a day working and would go home exhausted, hot and dirty. Making something like $4.50 an hour, before taxes, as a teenager, I decided I’d do better mowing lawns,” he said. “A friend and I started mowing and made more money. That started me thinking about college and what career I’d work in.”

Gatto studied advertising and marketing at Drake University, and headed into the real estate industry directly after graduating in 2002 – the very field of work that eventually led the Gatto Family into manufacturing.

The older George Gatto was operating a machine shop when the opportunity came up to purchase a plating business in Chicago. Gatto – a tool & die maker himself – had started a small machining business making motorcycle forks.

“He also got into making other things like the polished and plated poles to which velvet ropes for crowd control are attached. Soon he was making different furniture components, and learned how important plating was to each of them,” Gatto Jr. said.

“My dad would go to the plants where they were plating and watch how it was done. The process looked productive, so when the opportunity came up for him to buy a plating company, he did.”

The plating business seller was a member of the Gatto extended family, so Gatto Sr’s father came on to help the effort and ended up staying involved until he was 95 years old, just before passing away in 2018.

In the meantime, the younger George Gatto Jr said he was struggling in a very difficult real estate market during the 2008 economic recession and its aftermath. One day, he accepted his dad’s invitation to join him at a lecture series hosted by the Technology & Manufacturing Association.

During the dinner conversation, other TMA members began asking George Jr why he continued in the struggling real estate industry when his father was nearing retirement age – and would soon be taking his industry knowledge with him.

“My dad was thinking about what his future was, so these guys heard this for awhile from my dad. They said to me, ‘Listen, you know you’re at a perfect point your life where you know you’ve been out working, and you’ve got maybe a five year window if you want to do this,’” Gatto Jr said. “’It’s going to be gone, they said, and you would have passed up a good opportunity.’”

The next day after the TMA event, George Jr picked up the phone and shocked his father by suggesting they have a conversation about him joining the company.

That was over ten years ago. Now George Gatto Jr is president of Gatto Plating and is serving on the Technology & Manufacturing Association’s Board of Directors.

Gatto Industrial Platers, Inc. has grown exponentially in shop floor size and number of employees. The company moved from a 30,000 square foot two-story building in Chicago to another building they expanded to 200,000 square feet. There are currently 150 employed.

During the COVID crisis, Gatto Industrial Platers fared well, George Jr said. Zinc plating is used in nearly all industries – from medical equipment to household appliances , automotive, heavy equipment to railroad needs.

“Our sales were down, but we didn’t have to think about shutting down or doing anything like that. We did reduce hours and took a hit to sales in the second quarter,” Gatto said. “But we are coming through in good shape.”

Gatto, 41, says his biggest personal challenge these days as president of Gatto Industrial Platers, Inc. is managing his time. He’s busy every day answering business questions, coming up with industry solutions and strategizing the company’s future – but he also has young family demands.

The Gattos have three boys – ages five, three and one. The pressures mounted during COVID as his wife pushed ahead in her career while together they juggled childcare.

Assistance via email from the Technology & Manufacturing Association was especially appreciated during the early days of the COVID crisis, he said. It helped keep the company’s decision-makers informed as to what state and federal government were doing while team members dealt directly with personnel issues that had never been an issue previously – and helped to answer crucial questions few had time to find on their own.

Being a part of a trusted association network before crises erupted proved to be especially valuable during those early COVID days, he said.

“TMA provided information about what was going on, and what others were doing in these situations. We could take ideas from what everybody else said, and apply that to what worked for us, like where to get needed supplies. That part of TMA is extremely valuable because you build those relationships in a time when you don’t you know necessarily need them, but they’re there when you do need them.”

Gatto says he’s hoping to lead the business to double within the next five to 10 years – and that he will be counting on his involvement with fellow manufacturers in TMA to help him achieve that goal.

“We have the infrastructure to grow that much. I’m interested in developing the technology here over the next few years, and I’ll be looking to others in TMA for ideas on how they’ve updated their companies’ equipment,” he said.

While he may not be able to get as involved in TMA Young Leader activities as he was before his three sons came along, Gatto says he plans to continue to be involved in the TMA board for the next few of years.

“I know firsthand how important TMA networking can be,” he said. “It changed my career path – something I never expected to happen.”

More information about Gatto Industrial Platers, Inc is available at www.gattoplaters.com. The company is located at 4620 W. Roosevelt Road in Chicago.

From TMA's March/April 2021 News Bulletin. Profile and photo by Fran Eaton.