Another Good Sign
I took particular interest in a report that crossed my desk this week issued by the PA. Department of Community and Economic Development’s Center for Private Financing. In it they reported the 2007 year-end results for the issuance of industrial development bonds. Of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania, Crawford County ranked second behind only Philadelphia in the value of bonds issued for local projects during 2007. While $19.2 million in bonds were issued in Philadelphia, $14.0 million were issued in Crawford County for two new strategic industrial expansions.
During the year, Acutec Precision Machining, Inc. invested $4.0 million in proceeds from the issuance of industrial development bonds to expand local operations; while Greenleaf Corporation’s similar investments reached $10.0 million. Of course, it’s great to see both companies making a strong commitment to stay and grow in Crawford County. Collectively, these commitments combine to support the retention of nearly 500 jobs and the creation of 100 new jobs in the community.
Crawford’s relative ranking is just another indication of the underlying strength of the region. And, for the record, Philadelphia’s projects were unrelated to industrial development and consisted of investments in various stadium projects.
Until next time...
Mark Turner
U.S. employers cut 17,000 jobs in January, the first such reduction in more than four years, according to a report released by the Department of Labor. This drop was in total payrolls, both government and private employers, and was widespread. Manufacturers, construction firms and a variety of professional and business services eliminated jobs while the government cut 18,000 positions. All these cuts swamped job gains in education, health care and retailing.
Construction and manufacturing workers have been especially hard hit. In January, construction companies cut 27,000 jobs, mostly in housing. The construction industry has lost a total of 284,000 jobs since its employment peak in 2006. Factories eliminated 28,000 positions in January and have cut 269,000 job over the last twelve month.
The unemployment rate declined from 5% in December to 4.9% in January. The jobless rate, which is calculated from a different statistical survey than the payroll figures, may have dipped as people, perhaps discouraged by their prospects, left the labor force for any number of reasons.
Wage growth also slowed as the average hourly earnings for jobholders increased by only 0.2 percent from the previous month. Over the last twelve months, wages went up by 3.7% but high energy and food prices may seem to negate that increase.
source: The Associated Press
Recently the Crawford County Historical Society (CCHS) received a request for assistance in positively identifying an artifact found at an expedition site on an uninhabited island in the Republic of Kiribati, Micronesia. TIGHAR, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, sent pictures of a zipper slide and pull with Talon clearly marked on it at the site that is part of their 70th Anniversary Expedition of the Earhart Project.
Since 1988, TIGHA has been investigating the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Their investigation led them to the same island where skeletal remains of a female castaway were discovered in 1940. This evidence was later lost but measurements taken in 1941 were re-evaluated in 1998 by forensic anthropologists using current forensic databases. In 2001, they found the site where the bones were discovered and began an archaeological examination which uncovered fascinating artifacts and features indicating a castaway's campsite. Several previous expeditions to the island recovered artifacts appearing to be debris from a civilian aircraft seeming to match components from Earhart's Lockheed Electra but without positive identifying marks.
The 2007 expedition expanded the archaeological site and discovered a large number of objects that may prove to be highly significant, including brown and green bottle glass, remnants of a pocket knife, a small piece of flat mirror glass, a snap of the kind used on clothing, a woman's shoe of the size Earhart wore - and the zipper slide and pull.
While TIGHA's investigation continues, CCHS is providing them with detailed information regarding the zipper. The fact that the pull has Talon on it dates it no earlier than 1937 as that trademark was officially adopted in January, 1937. Earhart disappeared July 2, 1937. The zipper is described by TIGHA as roughly the size found in airmen's jackets. Earhart had a tendency to design her own clothes for flying and as these zippers were on the market at the time, it is possible she could have purchased this zipper. So, while nothing is proof positive that this was part of Earhart's clothing, the timing makes it a good possibility and perhaps adds another piece to solving the puzzle of Amelia Earhart's disappearance.
Another connection to Talon separate from TIGHA's project that CCHS has responded to is a query regarding the invention of the Talon zipper from a New York production company for a Japanese documentary.
The first Governor's Report on State Performance is available online for those Pennsylvanian's who want to know how their tax dollars are being used. The report describes the work of 25 state agencies and offices during the 2006-07 fiscal year. Subject areas covered include education, economic and community development, health and human services, consumer protection, environment, public safety, infrastructure, and managing state government.
Included in the report are each agency's annual operating budgets and annual authorized complement for the three-year period from 2004-05 through 2006-07. Pennsylvania's total operating budget for 2006-07 was $56.5 billion.
The Pennsylvania Center for eBusiness and Advanced Information Technology (eBizITPA) is holding two Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) training seminar in the month of February, both two consecutive days.
The first seminar will be held February 6-7, 2008 and is designed to prepare attendees for the industry standard CompTIA RFID+ examination, giving an in-depth understanding of RFID technology, hardware and software capabilities, and system implementation and maintenance. Attendees will gain the ability to install and maintain their own RFID systems upon completion of the course.
The second seminar, RFID Technical Integration on February 27-28, 2008, is an interactive course designed for experienced IT professionals and provides a comprehensive overview of RDIF middleware standards and RFID reader programming. Hands-on exercises include how to write host software to connect to an RFID reader, how to configure and RFID reader, how to read tags both on demand and through notifications, how to interface with I/O devices, how to receive data from Application Level Events middleware applications, and how to use open source tools to pilot RFID enterprise integration.
Instructors for both seminars are Chris Wassel, RFID Program Manager at Penn State Behrend RFID Center of Excellence, who oversees the Center's corporate membership and RFID training program; and Brian Zentis, Program Manager with the Penn State Behrend RFID Center of Excellence overseeing the development of the RFID Enterprise Integration curriculum.
Cost for these seminars is $499 each. For further information or to register for these seminars, contact eBizIT at 814-898-6500 or register on line.
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Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County
764 Bessemer Street, Suite 101
Meadville PA 16335
814-333-2299
02/14/2008