Dear Fellow PCI® Members, We’ve spent the last two years on “Return to Growth” and “Shaping the Future Together...

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This week marks the start of regular season baseball in the United States, an event I look forward to with anticipation every year. Somehow, the beginning of baseball seems to return life back to a normal, predicable cadence. Like the innings of a long game, we have seen a steady rise in nonfarm payrolls over the past year. This month, however, the labor market threw a curveball and upset the reliable recent progress in the labor market. 

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The trade journal Tire Business (3/31, Moore) reports that despite the looming expiration in May of the “$10.8 billion stopgap transportation funding bill” that President Obama enacted last summer, Congress has yet to authorize a multiyear transportation funding plan. 

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Be on the lookout for your next edition of Powder Coated Tough, which will land in your mailboxes and e-mailboxes soon! 

Here is what you will find in our feature stories:

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As we have seen in past weeks, economic data continue to reflect dampened activity in the early months of 2015 as a result of a number of significant headwinds. These challenges range from weak economic growth abroad, to a significantly strengthened U.S. dollar, to the sharp drop in crude oil prices. Weather and the West Coast ports slowdown have also been relevant factors in some of the softness that we have seen in the reports released since December. 

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PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) has published “Preferred Powders by PPG,” a 12-page color card that features 199 readily-available, in-demand colors for ENVIROCRON(R) and ENVIRACRYL(R) powder coatings.

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Estron Chemical Inc. announces that Anna Chizhikova has joined Estron as Applications Manager, Powder Coating Raw Materials.

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The U.S. economy has sputtered a bit in the early months of 2015. While it continues to grow modestly, several economic indicators are weaker than we would prefer. For example, manufacturing production decreased by 0.2 percent in February, declining for the third straight month. Many headwinds have combined to bring about this softness in the manufacturing sector, including global economic weakness, a strong U.S. dollar, the West Coast ports slowdown, a cautious consumer and the weather in some parts of the country.

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The Washington Post (3/19, Nakamura, Eilperin) reports that during a speech at the City Club of Cleveland on Wednesday, President Obama announced that the Federal government will “direct nearly $500 million toward manufacturing-focused initiatives.” According to the Post, the initiatives will include a “textiles-focused manufacturing institute competition led by the Department of Defense” and a 12-state $320 million competition to help small manufacturers. Beyond the competitions, the Post reports the Administration plans to spend $158 million in the next five years through the state-federal network known as the Manufacturing Extension Partnership “to provide technology and engineering expertise to small manufacturers.” The article notes those funds will be “matched by another $158 million in private funds.” The Post also reports that White House statistics show manufacturers in the US have added 877,000 jobs since February 2010, “the fastest rate of manufacturing job growth since the 1980s.”

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(March 16, 2015) Polychem powder coatings today re-launched its Crescent Collection. The Crescent Collection now features 16 very dark shades, including two new products - Marsala Black and Textured Marsala Black. Marsala Black is a deep black hue with a hint of rich red, and the Textured Marsala Black also adds a tactile element with a light textured finish.

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