The official bulletin of the Rotary Club
of Ithaca, N.Y. |
| January 7, 2004 |
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- New Member Proposal
The Ithaca Rotary Club Board of Directors will be considering the membership application(s) from the person(s) listed below. Any concerns about these membership proposals should be made in writing to the Secretary of the Club by January 16, 2004.
Name: Joanne S. Farbman
Position: Executive Director
Company: Advocacy Center of Tompkins County
Classification: Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Victim Advocacy
Sponsor: Nancy Potter
- Notes from President Jeff
Thanks and congratulations to Siu-ling for her excellent service to our club acting as the collector of funds for most of our fundraisers (Pancake Day and BBQ). This year's Pancake Day has now collected over $9,200. In recognition of her service to the club, President Jeff presented her with a special CFO mug from Dynamic Patterns. Thanks Siu-ling! Also thanks to Heidi Goldstein for another excellent program last week and to Mary-Lynn Cummings for setting up and maintaining our new Rotary Calendar. The calendar will be displayed at the meetings each week and will give everyone a chance to see what is coming up at our club.
- Share the Warmth Review
Dick Page gave us a summary of this year's very successful Share the Warmth campaign. 285 needy families were provided with warm clothing this year thanks to this award-winning project.
Of course, there were many companies and people involved in this success and Dick asked us all to thank our corporate partners Cornell University, Ithaca College, Pyramid Mall, Center Ithaca, Kendal, Wegmans, Tops @ Triphammer, P&C @ East Hill and Trumansburg, NYSEG, Borg-Warner, and Trumansburg Sure Save.
The people are what make this project truly work and Dick thanked Kelly Page (Cornell coordinator), Debra Muhlenhof (Ithaca College coordinator); Ben Curtis and Tom Overbaugh (Trumansburg Rotary); Theresa Olaf-Bennett (Samaritan Center of Catholic Charities); the entire Community Service Committee - Sue Munson, chair; Casey Stevens for his exceptional work promoting the program on his radio show and preparing PSA's featuring the presidents of Cornell and Ithaca College; Rotarians who collected the clothing - Tim Ainslie, Simonetta Antenucci, Dave Barnes (who collected for 19 straight days from the Center Ithaca location!), Becky Bilderback, Dalene Covert, Mary-Lynn Cummings, Dave Dunlop, Dave Flaccus, Tony Fraboni, Ralph Jones, Joanne Lamoreaux, June Losurdo, Jean McPheeters, Sue Munson, Elayne Nicholas, Nancy Pringle, Larry Robinson, Barbara Romano, Nancy Rosen, Scott Russell, Dave Singley, President Jeff, and Jim Vorp; clothes sorter - Jessie Ripple; and distribution helpers Heidi Goldstein, Jeff True, and Barbara Romano for all of their efforts. Also special thanks to the Southside Community Center for serving as the storage, sorting, and distribution center and to the Samaritan Center of Catholic Charities for overseeing the sorting and distribution efforts.
Our thanks to Dick, all of the participants and volunteers, and his committee for making this project so successful! Congratulations!
- Pride of Workmanship Nominations
Tom Sanford announced the opening of the nomination period for this year's Pride of Workmanship Awards presentation. For the 10th year of the program, there will be 10 awards given to deserving employees from around the county who excel in their work place. Over 700 invitations for nominations are being sent out this year, including a massive e-mail effort. President Jeff signed the original of the nomination letter and then he and Tom presented the first letter to go out to Barbara Thuesen. Tom and his committee will also be looking for an extra special employee who will receive a special "Lend A Hand" award this year. If you receive one of the nomination invitations, please consider whether or not you have an employee who deserves this special recognition or whether you know a business with such an employee. If you have any questions or need a nomination form, please contact Tom Sanford (pricelog@twcny.rr.com) who will be happy to help you out. This year's presentation will take place on February 11.
- DUES were Due
Dues ($85.00 + $40.00 Fair Share) were due by December 31 and any payments received after that date must include a $10.00 late payment fee. Dues notices, which have been mailed out to members who did not pick them up at the meetings, also include a line for a tax-deductible donation to the Ithaca Rotary Charitable Trust. The Charitable Trust funds the James Gibbs Scholarship among other things in the community, so please consider adding a donation to your dues payment. Please get your dues payments to secretary Scott Russell as soon as possible. Thank you.
- Ithaca Rotary Community Grants
Once again the Ithaca Rotary club will be presenting worthwhile organizations in the community with small grants to help them achieve their goals. Requests for Rotary Grants are now being accepted and any organization with a need can apply simply by making a request to the Small Grants Committee. A letter detailing the request should be sent to either President Jeff True or Secretary Scott Russell care of the Ithaca Rotary Club, P.O. Box 306, Ithaca, N.Y. 14851. Letters may also be addressed directly to the committee via chair Jessie Ripple, 57 Highgate Circle, Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 If you have any questions about the Small Grants Program you may also call Jessie at 257-6454 or 254-2372. Deadline for requests will be January 31, 2004.
- Donations to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund
The Rotary Foundation Annual Fund Committee recently sent letters to all members of the club requesting donations to the Rotary Foundation. If you are looking for something to perk up your day and don't know where to turn, look in the Rotarian magazine or on-line at www.rotary.org and you will find numerous stories about the great works of the Rotary Foundation throughout the world. Through your contributions to the Rotary Foundation, you become part of those great works -whether it is a well for a dry village or volunteers administering polio vaccine, the Rotary Foundation is helping people all over the world every day. Without your help, the Foundation could not continue its mission. Please consider this request for your help and give whatever you feel you can. Every dollar helps and no gift is too small. Thank you.
- Rotary Centennial Project Update
Our Rotary club will be donating a total of 190 trees to the City of Ithaca (one for each year since Rotary was founded and one for each year since our club was founded - 100 and 90 respectively) over the next year and a half as our Rotary Centennial Tree Project. In cooperation with the City Forester, a map showing the location of all the future plantings and describing the types of trees to be planted has been created and Rotarians can purchase a tree as a gift or memorial and choose where it will be planted. Trees are $79.00 each and make great gifts. Please contact Beverly Baker if you would like to purchase a tree and help support this wonderful project.
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- John Bailey Steps Forward
John Bailey took a few moments to speak to us as he will be leaving us for a while. John will be attending the University of Rochester for the next two years as he works on attaining a master's degree in counseling. As he will be spending so much time in Rochester, John has resigned his position at the Youth Bureau and with our club for the time being. He is already looking forward to coming back to Ithaca and to our club in a couple of years, but for now he will be concentrating fully on his schooling.
While he originally joined our club because he felt that the Ithaca Youth Bureau and Big Brothers/Big Sisters needed a presence in an organization that is so well connected to the community and contributes to the life of the community. What he found as well was the satisfaction and pride of being a part of all the great things our club does in the community and beyond and a great group of friends. John thanked us all and then introduced us to his successor at Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Katey Foley, who is a wonderful, dynamic person who will do a wonderful job taking his place. We will surely miss John, but we wish him all the best and look forward to seeing him once in a while for updates on his progress.
- January Birthdays
(Bob Miller presenting)
1/6: John Barradas, Charlie Trautmann
1/9: Kelly Damm
1/10: Dave Dunlop
1/12: Nancy Loncto
1/13: Stan Shepardson
1/18: Judy Pastel
1/20: Jean McPheeters
1/21: Steve Garner, John Hays
1/23: Barlow Ware, Scott Whitham
1/25: Simonetta Antenucci
1/27: John Dietershagen
1/28: Chuck Bartosch
1/29: Michael Sykora
1/30: Rod Ghearing
1/31: Siu-ling Chaloemtiarana |
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| Congratulations and Happy Birthday to our January babies! |
- Rotarian Ambassadors
12/9: Barbara Caldwell (Ithaca-Cayuga)
- Visiting Rotarians
Paul Banfield (Ithaca Sunrise)
Barry Downing (Endwell)
Robert Wood (Livingston Manor, NY)
- Visiting Exchange Students
Esteban Campos-Hernandez (Costa Rica)
Michal Sykora (Slovakia)
Jose Salcedo-Martin "Pepe" (Mexico)
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 "Emerson and Local Economic Development"
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Gene Yarussi
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John Vineyard introduced our guest speaker this week, Gene Yarussi, Chairman and CEO of Emerson Power Transmission here in Ithaca. Gene gave us a quick view of who Emerson is and how they fit into the new global economy, and shared with us some of his views on the problems that manufacturers in the U.S. face today and into the future.
For those of you with an extra $30 billion laying around, you could probably acquire Emerson Power Transmission (based on a current market cap of $25 billion) and it would probably be a sound investment. As for their current situation, EPT (founded in 1890) is a profitable, global manufacturer of component parts for a variety of industries with facilities around the world, 100,000 employees worldwide, $14 billion in sales, and $1.1 billion in net earnings. About half of their sales are in the U.S.
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Gene Yarussi, Chairman and CEO of Emerson Power Transmission |
| The many companies that comprise Emerson produce everything from roller bearings and chains to process management solutions that help industrial clients predict when problems will occur in their production systems. Some of the things you might recognize in your home that come from Emerson are Whirlpool appliances, In Sink Erator garbage disposals, and Ridgid power tools sold in Home Depot stores. They also make compressors for heating and air conditioning units for small and large industrial applications. Gene's division generates about $500 million in sale and has about 3,600 employees. EPT is also a leader in electronic business applications as they spent 5 years and $12 million creating their web-based ordering/tracking/information system which now accounts for more than 50% of all their orders. In Ithaca, EPT produces chain and clutch products, roller bearings, and the Roll Way product line.
They have 320 hourly employees, 73 salaried personnel, and 45 corporate salaried personnel. Payroll is $17 million, utilities are $3.2 million, and nearly $1 million (2% of sales) in workmen's compensation is paid out annually - the highest workmen's comp bill at any of their plants worldwide. Medical costs per employee are about $6,600 dollars per year with the employees paying 25% of their annual premiums. These costs continue to rise at astronomical rates each year and the company's annual price increases can only barely cover the increase in medical costs, leaving nothing to account for salary and wage increases, supply cost increases, etc.
Gene's view of the future of manufacturing is not very positive. The high cost of medical care is a large part of the problem, but not the only problem companies are facing. Labor costs are also a large problem, one that we hear about almost every day. Markets are also important as Gene pointed out using the recent shift of jobs by Carrier Corp. from Syracuse to China. While labor costs were certainly a part of that decision, there is also the consideration that a huge part of Carrier's business is now centered in the Pacific Rim. Most of the construction of skyscrapers in the world today is taking place in that part of the world and, even if labor costs were equal, delivering the finished product from a local plant versus one half way around the world still represents a tremendous cost savings. It is very hard to compete in a global market today and stay in the United States. It can be done, as shown by Emerson's recent decision to keep its facility in Ithaca rather than consolidate at one of its other plants. Our thanks to Gene for his very interesting presentation and his great view into the workings of one of our hometown companies.
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- Please
view the calendar posted on the main page of this website
for the most up-to-date information. [View
Rotary Calendar]
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Program
Chair: Jeff True
Kettle Watch: Bob Young
Greeter: David Squires
Thought: Rob MacKenzie
Introductions: PP Bob Gravani
Music: Don Hinman and Siu-ling
Photography: John Ziegler
Setup: John Hays
Editor: Dale Flinn
Website: Matthew Dearing
- Please
address all correspondence to the club to:
Ithaca Rotary Club P.O. Box 306
Ithaca, N.Y. 14851
Attn.: Scott Russell, Secretary
- For eNewsletter comments, questions or corrections, and subscription requests please contact the Editor at bigd@starflinn.com.
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