Kickstart: A time for 'deft company management'

Trying to control the economic future depends on looking in the mirror at where data says the country was a few months ago and hoping you make the right adjustments, PN Economics Editor Bill Wood says.

In the April 25 Numbers That Matter Live webinar, Bill noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented changes in the economy, such as the rapid rise in job openings that followed shutdowns in 2020. Economic policy decisions usually rely on incremental changes, but so far in the 2020s, it hasn't been "incremental; it's been dramatic," he said.

"This is going to be a time for deft company management, and it's going to be case by case," he said. "You have to identify what market you're in and what region you're in."

If your company is a medical supplier, then you'll need to make different decisions than if you were in residential construction, he said. And even within one industry, you may need to adjust depending on what sector you supply.

"We are on the cusp of a switchover in the auto industry," he said. "Which one of the parts are you making? Are you making one of the parts that's easily converted to an EV? Or a part that relies on internal combustion as a power plant? … Those are two very different subsectors in the economy."

Speaking of EVs, our sister paper Automotive News has a package of stories this week looking at big investments needed to create a nationwide EV charging network and how much cooperation will be needed to make it happen.

It is, AN reporter Hannah Lutz wrote, "like linking pieces of a broken puzzle. It's a disjointed process that needs to be streamlined for drivers to be confident in finding a place to power up."

Rogers Corp., the Arizona-based maker of polyurethane and elastomers, said it expects "powerful tailwinds" for growth from EVs and chargers, European Rubber Journal writes.

Brian Larabee, vice president and general manager of Rogers' Elastomeric Material Solutions, said his division is projecting a six- to seven-fold increase in industrywide investments in battery technology between now and 2030.

Rogers' elastomers are used in EVs for seals, battery pack cell pads and cooling plate pads.

One of the prom dresses at the Antigo High School prom this weekend in Antigo, Wis., will have a pop of color courtesy of recycled soft drink caps.

The Antigo Daily Journal says members of the Antigo High School Art Club and the Recycled Art Committee of Antigo Visual Arts collaborated on the project — one of several completed at the school using plastic caps that are dropped off by area residents at collection points throughout the community. (You can see the dress on the link above.)

The art and environmental clubs have collaborated on other projects including art at the local library, Olivia Lemke, Antigo High School art club director, told the Daily Journal.