The Manufacturers Association of Florida (MAF) applauds the Florida Senate and the House of Representatives on the final passage of the permanent sales tax exemption on manufacturing machinery and equipment. The measure, which is included in House Bill 7099, was originally sponsored by Senator Dorothy Hukill and Representative MaryLynn Magar.

"The permanent sales tax exemption for manufacturing machinery and equipment will allow business owners to grow their business and enrich Florida's economy," said Nancy Stephens, Executive Director of MAF. "The thousands of dollars in savings from the exemption will be applied to additional equipment, the creation of new jobs, training to upgrade employee skills, or increased benefits for current employees. In 2014, the Florida Legislature passed a temporary sales tax exemption for manufacturing businesses and the results of that effort have proven to make a positive impact on our state. The support of Governor Scott, the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives is a clear message that Florida has great expectations for our manufacturing businesses and their ability to grow Florida's economy."

MAF wishes to thank Governor Scott, President Gardiner, Speaker Crisafulli, President Lee, Speaker Designate Corcoran, Sen. Hukill, Rep. Gaetz, Rep. Ray Rodrigues, and Rep. Magar for the critical roles they all played in passing this cornerstone legislation on manufacturing.

CareerEdge Invites you to an Employer Roundtable
Manufacturing and Transportation, Distribution & Logistics
For Manufacturing and Transportation, Distribution & Logistics (TDL) industry employers.

Please join CareerEdge for coffee, refreshments and a robust discussion around what you are experiencing, seeing and most importantly what you need within your organizations and industry.

Thursday, February 18
8:00 – 9:30 AM
St. Petersburg College Epicenter - Collaborative Labs
13805 58th Street N., Clearwater, FL 33760

• Join your peers in this opportunity to share your workforce challenges and needs.
• Learn about the exciting grants available for your industry:
• Eight nationally recognized TDL certifications being offered in partnership with St. Petersburg College.
• Funding opportunities to help train your incumbent workers.
• Internship program provides up to a $1,500 in reimbursement per intern.

RSVP to Sandy Keeton at skeeton@uwsuncoast.org or 941-328-6974

National Assoc. of Manufacturing (NAM) comes to Port of Tampa Bay to address the "State of Manufacturing"

Read the article and view speech by NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons

HOUSE PROPOSED TAX BILL IS GAME CHANGER FOR MANUFACTURING

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Manufacturers Association of Florida (MAF) applauds the House Finance and Tax Committee for including the permanent sales tax exemption on manufacturing machinery and equipment, along with a reduction in business rent tax, in the Committee’s proposed tax package.

“The support of the House Finance and Tax Committee on these issues shows Florida’s families and businesses that lawmakers are invested in their success” said Nancy Stephens, Executive Director of MAF. “For the past 12 consecutive months, manufacturing has added 9,200 new jobs in Florida, growing not only the economy, but allowing small businesses to invest back into their community with the creation of new jobs and higher wages. The permanent sales tax exemption on manufacturing machinery and equipment, along with the reduction in business rent tax, will propel Florida forward to compete for employment, new business creation, and expansion. MAF appreciates the House Finance and Tax Committee for their support of Florida manufacturers, their businesses and their ability to create new jobs.”

The House’s proposed tax package also extends the manufacturing machinery and equipment sales tax exemption to include metal recyclers. “Manufacturing companies use a tremendous amount of metal” added Stephens. “By adding metal recycling machinery to the bill, the Legislature will further reduce manufacturers’ production costs.” The temporary sales tax exemption on manufacturing machinery and equipment was passed by the Florida Legislature in 2014 and will expire in 2017. We thank Representative Magar for bringing this issue to the attention of the House Committee.

As an industry, manufacturing is “hot.” Regions are creating manufacturing initiatives, countries are creating policies to lure manufacturing back and prepare the next generation of talent, maker fairs show entrepreneurs and small-scale artisans how they too can design and manufacture their own products, what manufacturers sell goes well beyond the 100-year-old recipe and the mechanical drawings, and new technologies are changing the economies of scale so that large- and small-scale value chains can be successful.

Article by Kimberly Knickle, research vice president, IDC Manufacturing Insights
Read the article

The Employment and Training Administration and the Office of Apprenticeship are excited to announce the release of Training and Employment Notice (TEN) 20-15, titled, “ApprenticeshipUSA Information and New Technical Assistance Resources for Starting and Enhancing Registered Apprenticeship Programs”.

This important guidance is a great resource intended to support the expansion of Apprenticeships across the country.

TEN 20-15 / ApprenticeshipUSA Information and New Technical Assistance Resources for Starting and Enhancing Registered Apprenticeship Programs

Within the TEN you’ll find information related to TEN 20-15 / ApprenticeshipUSA Information and New Technical Assistance Resources for Starting and Enhancing Registered Apprenticeship ProgramsThe launch of the ApprenticeshipUSA initiative and the DOL.GOV/Apprenticeship portal at: The release of the ApprenticeshipUSA Toolkit, which can be accessed here:  http://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/toolkit.htm

The release of the Federal Resources Playbook for Registered Apprenticeship, which can be found at: https://www.doleta.gov/oa/federalresources/playbook.pdf

The release of the Pre-Apprenticeship: Pathways for Women into High-Wage Careers, which offers information and resources to help community-based organizations and other workforce intermediaries build and sustain quality pre-apprenticeship programs., and can be accessed here:   https://www.doleta.gov/OA/preapp/

Additional resources and outreach materials to support the ApprenticeshipUSA initiative and the American Apprenticeship Grants program.

We encourage you to download TEN 20-15 and share the information widely among your partners.  By bringing together many of our recent technical assistance tools into one document, this resource provides a great opportunity to continue informing our partners and stakeholders about the many ways they can help advance Registered Apprenticeship across the U.S. in all industries.

This month, SPC launches the first issue of St. Petersburg College Magazine. The purpose of this semi-annual magazine is to assist the college in telling "its story" to internal and external stakeholders. Recipients will include business, educational and community partners; Alumni Association members; FCS presidents; and members of the state legislature, among others.

Each issue will feature updates on college initiatives, as well as feature stories that showcase various areas of SPC, including but not limited to: academic programs, workforce development, active learning, events, special programs and student support services.

Read the SPC Magazine here

St. Pete College just announced free info sessions for some courses on this Wednesday, Jan. 6. Feel free to share this info with your staff or attend one yourself. Click Here to Register: http://bit.ly/1Qycgm3

Some of the topics offered:

• Introduction to a Manufacturing Career
• What is Emotional Intelligence?
• Mentorship - How to build a program
• Building High Performance Teams
• Which collaboration tools work best?
• Delivering Effective Presentations
• Resume/Linkedin Tips
• Office 2016 New Features
• Word 2013 Tips and Tricks
• Excel 2013 Tips and Tricks
• PowerPoint 2013 Tips and Tricks
• Adobe Photoshop Tips and Tricks

At the Top of Our Game: Florida Ranks #1 in the Nation for 2015 Manufacturing Day/Month

Official figures for MFG Day/Month for 2015 are out and with that we are tooting our horns. For the third time in a row (past three consecutive years), Florida ranks Number 1 in the NATION for hosting MFG Day tours and events. 2015 was another banner year for Florida, as FLATE and its network of statewide partners worked cohesively to organize and host 238 manufacturing day/month events across Florida. Since the conclusion of 2015 MFG Day/Month, FLATE has been working on compiling statewide data that provides an in-depth snapshot of the tours and events and the impact it had on all participants. Let’s look at some of the impressive stats and figures from 2015 MFG Day/Month which once again placed Florida as the LEADING STATE IN THE NATION to host manufacturing day tours and events.

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