AFS NEWS
AFS NEWS AFS Member Testifi es Before “
House Committee Eric Meyers, President, Oil City Iron Works, Corsicana,
I’m very satisfi ed with
my long-term print advertis- ing program in MCDP—it’s the only advertising I do. It gives me great visibility and name recognition, both with existing customers and with new ones. And the steady fl ow of new business it brings in easily justifi es the investment.
”
Kevin Evers President St. Louis Precision Casting
Texas, testifi ed before the U.S. House Energy and Com- merce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade on Feb. 14 at the “Our Nation of Builders: Manufac- turing in America” hearing. T is is the fi rst in a series of hearings in which the com-
mittee will explore American manufacturing. Other partici- pants included representatives from Raytheon, Corning and 3M. Before the hearing, the committee showcased products from a variety of U.S. manufacturers located in the members’ districts, including castings from Bodine Aluminum, Jack- son, Tenn., and Lodi Iron Works, Lodi, Calif. During his testimony, Meyers highlighted that more than
90% of all manufactured goods and capital equipment use metal castings as engineered components or rely on castings for their manufacture. He also identifi ed three key obstacles hindering the competitiveness of his metalcasting facility and many other metalcasters, such as the wave of new and upcoming regulations from a variety of agencies, the U.S. tax structure and the shortage of skilled labor. Meyers argued that federal agencies, such as the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), have failed to recognize the full impact of their regulations, which dramatically increase the cost of business for metalcasting facilities. Meyers cited OSHA’s silica rule currently under development as a key example. In addition, he called on Congress to enact “competitive
tax rates at the individual and corporate levels” and remarked on “how our system makes it increasingly diffi cult for foundries to plan capital investments, perform long-term tax or fi nancial planning.” Meyers also discussed the diffi culty his facility has fi lling open positions including machinists, electricians, welders and patternmakers. Oil City Iron Works is a third-generation, family-owned
metalcasting facility with more than 200 employees. T e fa- cility produces iron castings for the energy, mining, agricul- ture, waterworks and transportation sectors.
METALCASTINGDESIGN.COM
Meyers (pictured at center) higlighted issues hindering the metalcasting industry including EPA and OSHA regulations.
106 | MODERN CASTING March 2013
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