(2) 2008 05 30_marketshare
1
Total direct jobs, by select industry Health care Education Agriculture Automotive manufacturing Detroit Free Press Source: Free Press research 515,692 472,628 208,595 73,536 With the downturn in Mich- igan’s economy, the role the health care industry plays as the state’s leading employer has never been more impor- tant, a new study released to- day shows. Michigan’s hospitals direct- ly employ 515,700 people, gen- erate $36.7 billion in annual taxes and pay out $26.3 billion a year in salaries and benefits, according to the fourth annual health survey by the Michigan Health & Hospital Association and the state’s two leading physician organizations. Hospitals also provide sub- stantial community contribu- tions including free health pro- grams, sponsorship of commu- nity events and participation in civic committees. Health care jobs are the kind needed to transform Michigan’s economy from manufacturing to industries that attract higher-educated workers, the report said. “Health care jobs are help- ing to put Michigan back on the path to prosperity,” said Dr. Craig Magnatta, president of the Michigan Osteopathic As- sociation in a statement re- leased with the report. The Michigan State Medical Soci- ety also participated. As an industry, health care is more stable than many oth- ers; provides better medical, advancement and other bene- fits, and is less likely to be out- sourced abroad, said Spencer Johnson, president of the hos- pital association. Still, layoffs can occur, as recently happened to 300 workers in the Warren-based St. John Health System. Ponti- ac’s Oakland Regional Medical Center also is struggling to stay open. Seeking security Last year, Michia Pippin of Health jobs are seen as crucial Economic impact to state studied By PATRICIA ANSTETT FREE PRESS MEDICAL WRITER See IMPACT, 2F K CMY ▲ DOW: +52.19 Close: 12,646.22 ▲ NASDAQ: +21.62 Close: 2,508.32 Inside Briefing 2 Autos 3 Stocks 3 TODAY ON FREEP.COM April personal spending report, 8:30 a.m. Chrysler may add hybrid models 3E F Friday, May 30, 2008 Business dept.: 313-222-8765, [email protected] www.freep.com Detroit Free Press M ACKINAC ISLAND — I’ve had a soft spot for former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina — now an eco- nomic adviser to John McCain’s presidential cam- paign — ever since she made CNN’s blowhard anchor Lou Dobbs sputter, “Go to hell, Carly.” Her sin at the time in 2004: She told members of Con- gress, “There is no job that is America’s God-given right anymore. We have to compete for jobs as a nation.” Given Fiorina’s penchant for blunt speaking about harsh realities, I looked for- ward to interviewing her at the Detroit Regional Cham- ber’s Mackinac Policy Confer- ence, where she was sched- uled to be the dinner speaker Thursday night. If you were the CEO of an enterprise called Michigan or Detroit, I asked her, what would you do? Where would you start? “Every city, every state, has to compete to attract companies and attract jobs,” she said, “and Michigan is at the very bottom of the pile” in terms of its perceived busi- ness climate. “Automotive jobs are going to South Carolina,” she added. “You’ve got to recognize the reality.” When it comes to job cre- ation and attraction, a state or a city must act like a busi- ness, she said: “Who’s the competition? How can we beat our competitors?” Are Michigan’s business and political big shots think- ing and acting that way? Or have they focused more on appeasing labor unions to avoid strikes, or trying not to anger the anti-tax zealots to make re-election easier? For far too long, Michi- gan’s so-called leaders have chosen the roads of least re- sistance and have not shown the political will to make diffi- cult decisions. The result: Fiorina’s advice to us? Compete Ex-H-P chief says run state like a business TOM WALSH See WALSH, 2F Ford Motor Co. has aban- doned its objective of selling 13% of the retail cars and trucks sold in America. George Pipas, Ford’s top sales analyst, disclosed the change during a Thursday in- terview with the Free Press about the automaker’s market share. He said the 13% goal had “became inoperable” in the current market conditions. The move, which was made earlier this year without much public notice, came after the automaker missed the objec- tive for much of the past two years and now faces a toughen- ing U.S. economy, where fuel- and finance-conscious con- sumers are trading in their pickup trucks and SUVs for more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. The disclosure comes a week after Ford revealed that it would miss its 2009 profit goal, slash production of its trucks and SUVs and intensify its turnaround effort, a move that could cause 10% or more of the company’s 24,300 sala- ried workers to be involuntari- ly laid off. Shares of Ford closed at $6.71 Thursday, down 7 cents or 1%. While Ford is trying to more quickly bring to market those more popular models — such as the Ford Focus compact — pickups and SUVs still make up a substantial portion of Ford’s total sales. The F-Se- ries, for example, represented one-fourth of the company’s total sales through April. R.L. Polk & Co., which ob- tains actual vehicle registra- tions, reported Thursday that Ford’s share of the retail light- vehicle market, which ex- cludes sales of heavy- and me- dium-duty trucks, was 12.6% in the first three months of the year. During the same period a year ago, Ford’s share was 12.9%. That makes Ford the steadi- est performer so far this year among Detroit’s automakers. “We suspected that Ford was the closest to holding its own,” Pipas said. General Motors Corp.’s share of the retail market was 21.7% in the first quarter, down 0.6 points from 22.3% in 2007, Polk said. Ford lowers sales goal Exec calls 13% retail market share ‘inoperable’ By SARAH A. WEBSTER FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER See FORD, 3F Shares of American Axle & Manufacturing Inc., on Thurs- day rose nearly 6%, regaining some of the ground it lost in re- cent weeks as Wall Street in- dicated that the Detroit sup- plier’s concessionary contract with the UAW could help it weather a weak truck market. American Axle’s shares jumped $1.06, or 5.9%, Thurs- day to close at $18.98. The gains came after Deut- sche Bank auto analyst Rod Lache upgraded American Axle’s stock from a hold rating to a buy rating on the lower cost-structure it established in its new, concessionary con- tract with the UAW. American Axle “has estab- lished a framework that could propel the company to re- spectable profit improvement, and provide cost flexibility even if key products such as GM’s large pickups and SUVs decline dramatically from re- cent levels.” During the week after American Axle reached a ten- tative deal with the UAW, the company’s stock plummeted 18%, and even declined Wednesday after company ex- ecutives detailed for the first time the future savings associ- ated with the contract and the estimated cost of buyouts and buy-downs. Some of the costs were higher than the company pro- posed earlier in the talks, in- cluding some buyout and buy- down offers. Analysts also were bearish on American Ax- le because the weakness of the truck market became clearer during the strike and after the deal was reached. The strike took place as GM 18 20 21 22 23 $24 19 17 Detroit Free Press Source: Free Press research American Axle Stock price M T T W F T W T Thursday’s close: $18.98 May 19, open: $23.12 American Axle shares climb 5.9% on UAW pact By JEWEL GOPWANI FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER See AXLE, 3F When Henry Ford was assembling the Model T and Billy Durant was pulling to- gether General Motors 100 years ago this year, another business now based in Michigan was starting at the ocean bot- tom off the Bahamas. All three enterprises are still around. To celebrate its centennial, Armaly Brands of Walled Lake would like you to wash your Ford or GM vehicle (or any other brand) with one of its sponges, please. The company’s centennial advertising campaign includes national TV commer- cials that promote urethane-based Arma- ly sponges as the environmentally friend- ly option over cellulose. The ads promote do-it-yourself car washing — as opposed to driving to the car wash. It’s less wasteful, saves gas and is more environmentally sound, said com- pany president John Armaly, whose grandfather created the company in the Bahamas in 1908. “We think we will be more successful Still soaking it in after 100 years in business ANDRE J. JACKSON/Detroit Free Press Sheeti Mazumder, 30, of Wixom places a sponge sheet onto a conveyor belt to be glued to a scrub pad at Armaly Brands in Walled Lake on Tuesday. The family-owned company’s centennial TV ad campaign promotes its urethane-based sponges as environmentally friendly. From the ocean floor near the Bahamas to Walled Lake, sponge maker still squeezing out sales By MARGARITA BAUZA FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER Little-known sponge facts to absorb The University of Florida published a study in 2007 that found microwave ovens can be used to sterilize kitchen sponges. Many people who read about it and tried it ended up putting out fires. The study required sponges to be wet before they were microwaved. Do you know what a natural sponge is? Find out, along with other sponge facts, on page 2F. See SPONGE, 2F
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Transcript of (2) 2008 05 30_marketshare
Total direct jobs,by select industry
Health care
Education
Agriculture
Automotivemanufacturing
Detroit Free PressSource: Free Press research
515,692
472,628
208,595
73,536
With the downturn in Mich-igan’s economy, the role thehealth care industry plays asthe state’s leading employerhas never been more impor-tant, a new study released to-day shows.
Michigan’s hospitals direct-ly employ 515,700 people, gen-erate $36.7 billion in annualtaxes and pay out $26.3 billiona year in salaries and benefits,according to the fourth annualhealth survey by the MichiganHealth & Hospital Associationand the state’s two leadingphysician organizations.
Hospitals also provide sub-stantial community contribu-tions including free health pro-grams, sponsorship of commu-nity events and participationin civic committees.
Health care jobs are thekind needed to transformMichigan’s economy frommanufacturing to industriesthat attract higher-educatedworkers, the report said.
“Health care jobs are help-ing to put Michigan back on thepath to prosperity,” said Dr.Craig Magnatta, president ofthe Michigan Osteopathic As-sociation in a statement re-leased with the report. TheMichigan State Medical Soci-ety also participated.
As an industry, health careis more stable than many oth-ers; provides better medical,advancement and other bene-fits, and is less likely to be out-sourced abroad, said SpencerJohnson, president of the hos-pital association.
Still, layoffs can occur, asrecently happened to 300workers in the Warren-basedSt. John Health System. Ponti-ac’s Oakland Regional MedicalCenter also is struggling tostay open.
Seeking securityLast year, Michia Pippin of
Healthjobs areseen ascrucialEconomic impactto state studied
By PATRICIA ANSTETT
FREE PRESS MEDICAL WRITER
See IMPACT, 2F
KC M Y
� DOW: +52.19Close: 12,646.22� NASDAQ:+21.62Close: 2,508.32
InsideBriefing 2Autos 3Stocks 3
TODAY ON FREEP.COMApril personal spendingreport, 8:30 a.m.
Chrysler may addhybrid models 3E
FFriday, May 30, 2008 Business dept.: 313-222-8765, [email protected] www.freep.com Detroit Free Press
MACKINAC ISLAND —I’ve had a soft spot for
former Hewlett-Packard CEOCarly Fiorina — now an eco-nomic adviser to JohnMcCain’s presidential cam-paign — ever since she madeCNN’s blowhard anchor LouDobbs sputter, “Go to hell,Carly.”
Her sin at the time in 2004:She told members of Con-gress, “There is no job that is
America’s God-given rightanymore. We have to competefor jobs as a nation.”
Given Fiorina’s penchantfor blunt speaking about
harsh realities, I looked for-ward to interviewing her atthe Detroit Regional Cham-ber’s Mackinac Policy Confer-ence, where she was sched-uled to be the dinner speakerThursday night.
If you were the CEO of anenterprise called Michigan orDetroit, I asked her, whatwould you do? Where wouldyou start?
“Every city, every state,
has to compete to attractcompanies and attract jobs,”she said, “and Michigan is atthe very bottom of the pile” interms of its perceived busi-ness climate.
“Automotive jobs are goingto South Carolina,” she added.“You’ve got to recognize thereality.”
When it comes to job cre-ation and attraction, a stateor a city must act like a busi-ness, she said: “Who’s thecompetition? How can webeat our competitors?”
Are Michigan’s businessand political big shots think-ing and acting that way? Orhave they focused more onappeasing labor unions toavoid strikes, or trying not toanger the anti-tax zealots tomake re-election easier?
For far too long, Michi-gan’s so-called leaders havechosen the roads of least re-sistance and have not shownthe political will to make diffi-cult decisions. The result:
Fiorina’s advice to us? CompeteEx-H-P chief says run state like a business
TOM WALSH
See WALSH, 2F
Ford Motor Co. has aban-doned its objective of selling13% of the retail cars andtrucks sold in America.
George Pipas, Ford’s topsales analyst, disclosed thechange during a Thursday in-terview with the Free Pressabout the automaker’s marketshare. He said the 13% goal had“became inoperable” in thecurrent market conditions.
The move, which was madeearlier this year without muchpublic notice, came after theautomaker missed the objec-tive for much of the past twoyears and now faces a toughen-ing U.S. economy, where fuel-and finance-conscious con-sumers are trading in theirpickup trucks and SUVs formore fuel-efficient cars andtrucks.
The disclosure comes aweek after Ford revealed thatit would miss its 2009 profitgoal, slash production of itstrucks and SUVs and intensifyits turnaround effort, a movethat could cause 10% or moreof the company’s 24,300 sala-ried workers to be involuntari-ly laid off.
Shares of Ford closed at$6.71 Thursday, down 7 centsor 1%.
While Ford is trying to morequickly bring to market thosemore popular models — suchas the Ford Focus compact —pickups and SUVs still makeup a substantial portion ofFord’s total sales. The F-Se-ries, for example, representedone-fourth of the company’stotal sales through April.
R.L. Polk & Co., which ob-tains actual vehicle registra-tions, reported Thursday thatFord’s share of the retail light-vehicle market, which ex-cludes sales of heavy- and me-dium-duty trucks, was 12.6% inthe first three months of theyear. During the same period ayear ago, Ford’s share was12.9%.
That makes Ford the steadi-est performer so far this yearamong Detroit’s automakers.
“We suspected that Fordwas the closest to holding itsown,” Pipas said.
General Motors Corp.’sshare of the retail market was21.7% in the first quarter, down0.6 points from 22.3% in 2007,Polk said.
FordlowerssalesgoalExec calls 13%retail marketshare ‘inoperable’
By SARAH A. WEBSTER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
See FORD, 3F
Shares of American Axle &Manufacturing Inc., on Thurs-day rose nearly 6%, regainingsome of the ground it lost in re-cent weeks as Wall Street in-dicated that the Detroit sup-plier’s concessionary contractwith the UAW could help itweather a weak truck market.
American Axle’s sharesjumped $1.06, or 5.9%, Thurs-
day to close at $18.98.The gains came after Deut-
sche Bank auto analyst RodLache upgraded AmericanAxle’s stock from a hold ratingto a buy rating on the lowercost-structure it established inits new, concessionary con-tract with the UAW.
American Axle “has estab-lished a framework that couldpropel the company to re-spectable profit improvement,and provide cost flexibility
even if key products such asGM’s large pickups and SUVsdecline dramatically from re-cent levels.”
During the week afterAmerican Axle reached a ten-tative deal with the UAW, thecompany’s stock plummeted18%, and even declinedWednesday after company ex-ecutives detailed for the firsttime the future savings associ-ated with the contract and theestimated cost of buyouts and
buy-downs. Some of the costs were
higher than the company pro-posed earlier in the talks, in-cluding some buyout and buy-down offers. Analysts alsowere bearish on American Ax-le because the weakness of thetruck market became clearerduring the strike and after thedeal was reached.
The strike took place as GM
18
20
21
22
23
$24
19
17
Detroit Free PressSource: Free Press research
American AxleStock price
M T TWFT W T
Thursday’sclose:$18.98
May 19,open:
$23.12
American Axle shares climb 5.9% on UAW pactBy JEWEL GOPWANI
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
See AXLE, 3F
When Henry Ford was assembling theModel T and Billy Durant was pulling to-gether General Motors 100 years ago thisyear, another business now based inMichigan was starting at the ocean bot-tom off the Bahamas.
All three enterprises are still around. To celebrate its centennial, Armaly
Brands of Walled Lake would like you towash your Ford or GM vehicle (or anyother brand) with one of its sponges,please.
The company’s centennial advertisingcampaign includes national TV commer-cials that promote urethane-based Arma-ly sponges as the environmentally friend-ly option over cellulose.
The ads promote do-it-yourself carwashing — as opposed to driving to thecar wash. It’s less wasteful, saves gas andis more environmentally sound, said com-pany president John Armaly, whosegrandfather created the company in theBahamas in 1908.
“We think we will be more successful
Still soaking it in after100 years in business
ANDRE J. JACKSON/Detroit Free Press
Sheeti Mazumder, 30, of Wixom places a sponge sheet onto a conveyor belt to be glued to a scrub pad at Armaly Brands in Walled Lake onTuesday. The family-owned company’s centennial TV ad campaign promotes its urethane-based sponges as environmentally friendly.
From the ocean floor nearthe Bahamas to WalledLake, sponge maker stillsqueezing out sales
By MARGARITA BAUZA
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Little-known sponge facts to absorb The University of Florida published a study in 2007 that found microwave ovens can be used to sterilize kitchen
sponges. Many people who read about it and tried it ended up putting out fires. The study required sponges to be wetbefore they were microwaved.
Do you know what a natural sponge is? Find out, along with other sponge facts, on page 2F.
See SPONGE, 2F
