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Politics : How Quickly Can Obama Totally Destroy the US? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (12)	11/8/2012 10:36:10 AM
From: Nicholas Thompson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 16547

Gee how come those socialist countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark are at the top of the list? Is it possibly because they care about their citizens and spend more on education than the US and also respect their teachers ? Etc, etc?

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (12)

11/8/2012 3:10:10 PM

From: joseffy

Respond to of 16547

Boeing Announces Big Layoffs in Defense Division

Wednesday, 7 Nov 2012 Reuters
cnbc.com

Boeing announced a major restructuring of its defense division on Wednesday that will cut 30 percent of management jobs from 2010 levels, close facilities in California and consolidate several business units to cut costs.

The company [BA 71.19

1.08 (+1.54%)

] told employees about the changes on Wednesday, in a memo obtained by Reuters and confirmed by Boeing. Boeing, the Pentagon's second-largest supplier, said the changes were the latest step in an affordability drive that has already reduced the company's costs by $2.2 billion since 2010, according to the memo.

The measures come as U.S. weapons makers are under pressure to cut costs and preserve profit margins amid dwindling defense spending in the U.S.

In a message to employees, Dennis Muilenburg, chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said the company aimed to cut costs by an additional $1.6 billion from 2013 through 2015.

"We are raising the bar higher because our market challenges and opportunities require it, and our customers' needs demand it," Muilenburg said.

He said the total savings would reach $4 billion, making the company healthier and better able to deal with a tougher marketplace.

He said Boeing would cut the number of executive jobs an additional 10 percent by the end of 2012, bringing overall cuts in its executive team to 30 percent for the past two years, a move that would result in a 10 percent cut in management costs.

Boeing said the changes were not a response to the threat of additional, across-the-board U.S. budget cuts due to take effect on Jan. 2, or the outcome of U.S. elections, but represented another step in its continuing drive to "be more competitive while investing in technologies and people."

Boeing said it could not project exactly how workers would lose their jobs because it would try to place people in its growing commercial business.

A company spokesman declined to say how many jobs had already been cut from the 2010 level.

Rival Lockheed Martin has reduced its management ranks by about 25 percent in recent years after announcing a voluntary buyout.

Boeing said it would also expand its efforts to cut supply-chain costs by working closely with its suppliers, but did not provide details.

Defense consultant Loren Thompson said the changes were needed to ensure Boeing's continued profitability.

"Many investors focus on Boeing's commercial operations," Thompson said, referring to the jet-making business.

"But defense provides 40 percent of the company's revenues and returns, so controlling costs there is crucial to maintaining the company's overall profitability."

Boeing and other top weapons makers like Lockheed Martin [LMT 90.29

-0.86 (-0.94%)

], Northrop Grumman [NOC 65.70

-1.00 (-1.5%)

] and Raytheon [RTN 55.3599 -0.1101 (-0.2%) ] have focused heavily on cutting costs and drumming up foreign sales to maintain profits as they prepare for a sustained period of weaker defense budgets.

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (12)	11/8/2012 5:31:13 PM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 16547

MN Dairy Plant Closure to Result in 130 Layoffs Following the sale of its business that produces shelf-stable cheese sauces and puddings, Associated Milk Producers will shutter its plant in the small west central Minnesota city of Dawson, laying off 130 workers. by Jake Anderson November 7, 2012 tcbmag.com New Ulm-based Associated Milk Producers, Inc. (AMPI) recently informed the 130 employees at its Dawson plant that the facility will close and their positions will be eliminated. Communications Director Sarah Schmidt told Twin Cities Business on Wednesday that the plant closure stems from the company’s sale of its “aseptic” business, which makes shelf-stable cheese sauces and puddings. The sale of the business to Illinois-based Bay Valley Foods is expected to close in December, and production at the Dawson plant will gradually be transferred to Bay Valley Foods’ Illinois facility through that time, Schmidt said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the plant will officially close sometime after January 1, she added. AMPI, a dairy marketing cooperative that is owned by 3,000 Upper Midwest dairy farmers, reported $2 billion in sales in 2011 and currently employs about 1,400. In addition to the plant in the small west central Minnesota city of Dawson, which is located about 150 miles west of Minneapolis, AMPI operates 11 facilities throughout the Midwest, including plants in Paynesville, New Ulm, and Rochester. The company will conduct one-on-one meetings with its Dawson employees to inform them of available “transition packages” and to encourage them to apply for open positions at other AMPI facilities, Schmidt said. Most affected employees work in food manufacturing jobs, although the Dawson plant also houses a small administrative staff, according to Schmidt. The Dawson plant was the only AMPI facility that produced aseptic dairy products; the others focus on cheese, butter, and powdered dairy products. The sale of its aseptic business will allow AMPI “to focus assets and resources on our growing area of consumer packed cheese and butter”—for which sales have climbed roughly 40 percent during the past five years, Schmidt said. According to a report by the West Central Tribune, AMPI purchased the Dawson plant in November 1982, and news of the planned closure came as a shock to employees, as the aseptic line has been running at full speed and workers believed it was profitable. AMPI is a significant employer in the small town, which has a population of roughly 1,500. Bay Valley Foods considered continuing operations in Dawson but decided against it due to the plant’s distance from Illinois, where its only other cheese sauce and pudding plant is located, the West Central Tribune reported.