Restore The Roar: Farm To Fork, Chapter Three

Can-Do Does

Dan Lennon is an agricultural entrepreneur who has founded and is now running an established company. He is at one end of the spectrum. However, new companies are being born every day often by people who are new to the world of business. I spoke with two new entrepreneurs in the “farm to fork” space in 2012, based in the Kalamazoo, Michigan area.

∞

Best friends since they attended Sturgis High School in Southwest Michigan, Kelli Eaton and Sara Main are launching Fizzy Bread & Dips Co., and doing it while they are holding down full-time jobs.

  They were doing it all, at home, under Michigan’s Cottage Food Law which exempts a “cottage food operation” from the licensing and inspection provisions of the Michigan Food Law of 2000, until Sara and Kelli realized that they had to make their dip inside a licensed kitchen because it is a dairy product.

  That is when they found Fair Food Matters Can-Do Kitchen in Kalamazoo, an incubator for businesses like Fizzy Bread & Dips, a place where people like Kelli and Sara can build their businesses without putting out tens of thousands of dollars to set up their own commercial kitchens.

   Fizzy Bread – a bread mix that is combined with any 12 oz. carbonated beverage like soda pop or beer as the leavening agent—is still being made at home but the dip is being created at Can-Do Kitchens, and Sara said the resources offered by Can-Do are more than just a stove, range and refrigerator.

  “It is a teaching tool that is helping our business grow,” she wrote in an email. “Of course, it has also allowed us to make our product and sample it to our customer base without incurring the large costs of owning a licensed kitchen.”

  Can-Do Kitchen Program Manager Lucy Bland told me that Kelli and Sara are building their home-based business the right way, doing their research, taking small steps toward their ultimate goal of selling their products in stores, and doing it all around their full-time jobs.

  They are not the first to do this, Bland said, and she is sure Kelli and Sara will not be the last. 

  “Some people do want to keep their business as a Cottage Law or hobby business,” Bland said. “But as more incubators (like Can-Do) pop up, the people who are really committed will go to them. And I think there is a lot of room in the market for these businesses. More of us really want to know who is making our food.”

  One of the provisions of the Cottage Food Law makes sure of that, prohibiting a third party from getting between the producer and the customer. In other words, Cottage Food producers, by law, have to talk to the people buying their food.

  The growth of the farmers’ market movement in Michigan is fueling interest in Cottage Food Law operations, according to Bland.  People who go to the events see others, like themselves, setting up food stands and selling the pies, cakes, breads and jams they have made at home. This law also allows farmers to offer new products at the markets that are made in their home kitchens.

  The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development sees the Cottage Food Law as “a great opportunity for many who have been thinking of starting a food business but have been reluctant to spent the money needed to establish or rent commercial kitchen space,” according to an MDRAD explanation of the law.

  The law also relieves the burden of compliance with rules and regulations that were set up to govern large food corporations that are not appropriate for Mom or even Pop working out of their home kitchen.

  However, Cottage Law producers must still comply with the labeling, adulteration, and other provisions found in the Michigan Food Law, as well as other state or federal laws, or local ordinances that might apply. And, they can’t sell more than $15,000 worth of products annually.

  Can-Do Kitchen opened in 2008, two years before Michigan’s Cottage Food Law went into effect. Under that law, foods that are classified as “non-potentially hazardous” because they don’t require time and/or temperature control for safety, can be produced at home and then sold at farmers’ markets, road side stands or other direct markets. The food can’t be sold over the Internet, in stores or restaurants.

  Bland said starting a Cottage Food Law operation at home can be a great way for someone dreaming of launching their own company to figure out “how committed you are to the business. Do you really want this to be your job? Some people find they really don’t.”

  She added that starting at home and then expanding to an incubator like Can-Do is a great way to not only test yourself and your commitment, but also to test your recipes. “You need to get advice,” said Bland. “Don’t operate in a bubble. And go beyond your friends. They are going to tell you they love your product. They love you too.”

    Managing your expectations is another key piece of advice from Bland. “Don’t think ‘I am going to be in Meijer tomorrow.’”

   Kelli and Sara are closer to getting their product on a shelf at Meijer. They have their MDARD license to sell in stores now and see that as the next step in the development of Fizzy Bread & Dips.  So far, it is still fun for them.

  “We have to see where this goes but so far, yes, it is still fun,” Kelli said. “We were best friends in high school and we still are. It doesn’t feel like work to be doing this together.”

(c) 2012 Lyons Circle Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

More By Rod Kackley

Fiction 

Sometimes Things Break is the first novella in the St. Isidore Collection series. It tells the story of one young lover and one middle-aged lover, one with love in his heart, one with murder in her soul. 

Bree wants her parents dead. Tim wants Bree. You can see where this is going, right?

Sometimes Things Break is available wherever books are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and your favorite indie book store.

Non-Fiction

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells the stories of the people of Grand Rapids who created a cluster of prosperity, the Medical Mile, while the rest of Michigan was collapsing around them.

Last Chance Mile is available wherever books are sold online including Abbott Press, and can also be ordered from your favorite brick-and-mortar bookseller.

Restore The Roar: Farm To Fork tells the stories of West Michigan's agricultural entrepreneurs from farm to food processing to the fork on your dining room table. 

Restore The Roar: Farm To Fork is  is available wherever ebooks are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes.

Right To Work: Outrage in Michigan tells the story of how Big Labor and Michigan Democrats were blindsided by a Michigan Chamber of Commerce drive to make Right To Work the law of the land in Michigan.

Right To Work: Outrage in Michigan is available wherever ebooks are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes.

Quenching The Thirst tells the stories of the entrepreneurs who are creating the 

craft brewing industry in Michigan. Quenching The Thirst is part of the Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance series of ebooks, available wherever ebooks are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and

Where Are The Workers? is another of the ebooks in the Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance series examines the problems manufacturers are having find qualified workers and what one community is doing about it.

Where Are The Workers? is available wherever ebooks are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes.

For more books, essays, and articles by Rod Kackley please to go www.rodkackley.com, or download the free Rod Kackley app through Google Play or the App Store.

And feel free to contact Rod at rod@rodkackley.com

Restore The Roar: Farm To Fork, Chapter Two by Rod Kackley

Everything But The Gobble

The way Dan Lennon tells the story of Michigan Turkey Producers Cooperative; he leaves you wondering how this company could have wound up with a top line on its P&L of more than $200 million 13 years after its launch.

∞

Lennon told his audience at the MiFOOD 2012 Michigan Food Processing & Agribusiness Summit that MTPC started without a business plan, without a computer, and without a banker who would even talk to them.

“Banks all asked, ‘who are you guys?’” Lennon said. “We spent more than a year just trying to get a bank to talk to us.” Entrepreneurs are often advised to seek out ‘friends, family and fools’ for financing in their opening days. Lennon struck out with them too. “One potential investor said he could double his money in the stock market and it would safe there. So, he wouldn’t invest with us and we didn’t fit into any of the government programs.”

The outlook was grim. However, they were able to start construction of the MTPC facility in Wyoming in 1999 without financing. The project was finished in eight months, but that high point was followed by some rough years. Lennon said they lost money in 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008 because of the volatility of corn prices. MTPC couldn’t raise its prices fast enough to compensate.

What a difference a decade can make. When the MTPC-Wyoming plant on Chicago Drive opened, it took workers all day to kill 200 turkeys. Now they can process 200-thousand birds a day. “We processed 4.8 million turkeys last year and we have the ability to double that,” he explained. “But to do that we would have to double the farms we work with and that is not inexpensive.”

Lennon foresees continued growth, however he described it as “slow, but moderate” telling his audience that the improvements being made to the MTPC facilities on Hall Street in Grand Rapids and Chicago Drive in Wyoming would be the company’s last major expansion projects.

The Hall Street, Grand Rapids location is slated to get $2.3 million worth of improvements. The Chicago Drive facility in Wyoming will get a $1.44 million upgrade. The projects will increase MTPC’s capacity by about 5.3 million birds and they are being done for two reasons. The first is to serve a new “large customer” that isn’t onboard yet. The other reason is “that it’s kind of a Star Trek thing. It starts to fulfill our destiny a little bit so the plants will be able to produce about double what we currently produce,” said Lennon.

Like any CEO, Lennon has two sing two songs at the same time. While extolling the virtues of MTPC and expressing optimism for the future; Lennon also told his audience about the challenges that are on the horizon.

One of the most troublesome hurdles that MTPC has to leap over is one that many West Michigan companies involved in heavy metal manufacturing are dealing with, a lack of skilled workers.

Lennon said MTPC is “very lean” at the executive and sales levels of the company. “When you find good people it is tough to get them to re-locate,” he explained. 

MTPC is also having trouble getting good people to work on the plant floor. It isn’t a hesitancy to relocate that is causing the problem in this case, according to Lennon. His company just can’t find enough people who want to work.

“Unemployed people are making almost as much sitting home as we would be able to pay them,” he said. “We are struggling to find people who are willing to come in, work hard, and advance to a position where they can make more money.”

∞

Lennon also addressed a question that was on the minds of everyone at MiFood 2012 who wanted to be a little closer to where he was in 2012, when they all get back together in 2013. How do you get shelf space for your products?

“We have our own sales person who calls on Costco and Meijer,” he explained. “You want to have someone there all the time.”

Lennon also warned his audience that this is a complicated proposition. Costco is broken into regions or divisions. It is very common for a representative to have the Northwest, the Southeast and nothing in between. 

“A lot of times they do limited time offers where your product will be out there for a period of time and then it will come off,” he said. “Then they want you to demo it, and the way they do that is very, very expensive. If you have ever been to Costco you know you can’t want 30 feet without seeing a demo.  They demo aggressively and that sells a lot of product but they want the packer and the supplier to pay for it.”

MTPC has an “in” at Costco, a private label, the Kirkland Signature roasted turkey product that Lennon’s company produces exclusively for the chain.  “There was a mandate from corporate to put that in all of the stores. We sold that as a Golden Legacy product for years, but they said it was a very good product, the president of Costco endorsed it, they put the SKU mandate in all of the stores and “boom, the volumes took off,” said Lennon.

So what is the secret for shelf space at Costco, Meijer and all of the rest?

“We made great product. We deliver it on time. They keep buying the heck out of it. The customers seem to love it. I think this is going to go on for quite a while.”

Describing his company as entering its “teenage years,” he also warned that puberty will not be easy for MTPC if only because a flat consumption market will “complicate the future. We need to make more value-added products with higher price points. We need to do more cooking.”

The main sales target for the immediate future: national chain restaurants that already have turkey on their menus. The way Lennon sees it, turkey cold cuts don’t make it. MTPC’s future will be built on turkey served hot. That is the way turkey tastes best, Lennon explained and he wants to find restaurants that agree with him.

“National chain restaurants love turkey,” he said. “We could probably chase McDonald’s or Burger King or Wendy’s until we are blue in the face and not get anywhere. We are going to go after restaurants that have turkey on the menu. Arby’s does a nice job. We are talking to them, but that may take a few more years.”

Michigan Turkey Producers Cooperative is also working on another new revenue stream in partnership with the people building a bio-digester in Howard City.  Lennon said the project is moving along and soon, MTPC will be “able to sell everything but the gobble.”

(c) 2012 Lyons Circle Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

More By Rod Kackley

Fiction 

More By Rod Kackley

Fiction 

Sometimes Things Break is the first novella in the St. Isidore Collection series. It tells the story of one young lover and one middle-aged lover, one with love in his heart, one with murder in her soul. 

Bree wants her parents dead. Tim wants Bree. You can see where this is going, right?

Sometimes Things Break is available wherever books are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and your favorite indie book store.

Non-Fiction

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells the stories of the people of Grand Rapids who created a cluster of prosperity, the Medical Mile, while the rest of Michigan was collapsing around them.

Last Chance Mile is available wherever books are sold online including Abbott Press, and can also be ordered from your favorite brick-and-mortar bookseller.

Farm To Fork tells the stories of one of the most under-appreciated sectors in the manufacturing economy, agricultural entrepreneurs from farm to food processing to fork. 

Farm to Fork  is available wherever ebooks are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes.

Right To Work: Outrage in Michigan tells the story of how Big Labor and Michigan Democrats were blindsided by a Michigan Chamber of Commerce drive to make Right To Work the law of the land in Michigan.

Right To Work: Outrage in Michigan is available wherever ebooks are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes.

Quenching The Thirst tells the stories of the entrepreneurs who are creating the 

craft brewing industry in Michigan. Quenching The Thirst is part of the Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance series of ebooks, available wherever ebooks are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes.

Where Are The Workers? is another of the ebooks in the Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance series examines the problems manufacturers are having find qualified workers and what one community is doing about it.

Where Are The Workers? is available wherever ebooks are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes.

For more books, essays, and articles by Rod Kackley please to go www.rodkackley.com, or download the free Rod Kackley app through Google Play or the App Store.

And feel free to contact Rod at rod@rodkackley.com

Restore The Roar: Farm To Fork by Rod Kackley

Restore the Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance

Farm to Fork

By Rod Kackley

All Rights Reserved ©2012 Rod Kackley Lyons Circle Publishing 

Preface

This book is part of the Restore The Roar series focusing on the entrepreneurs of Michigan.

This series was inspired by a quote from Paul Graham in Randal Stross’ book, "Launch Pad.” Graham was discussing the idea that the United States is “better” than Europe because the U.S. has more entrepreneurs, more people. He dismissed the concept by saying Europeans are not less entrepreneurial because “they have less balls than Americans. They just don't have the examples of entrepreneurs that we have.” 

Graham is exactly right.  We do have more examples of entrepreneurship. And we can be led by those examples into what I think is a new era of self-reliance and entrepreneurship. I am going to explore that by presenting just a few of the entrepreneurs I talked with in 2012.

In Restore The Roar: Farm to Fork, we are going to look at the entrepreneurs of agriculture, not just farming but also food processing. It is a tremendous growth industry in Michigan.

Start Reading Chapter One >>

The Restore The Roar series of ebook essays -- beginning with The Great Collapse -- is available wherever ebooks are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes.

Kia Rocks The Motor City With The Rear-Drive GT-4 Stinger Concept Vehicle

High-Powered Sports Car Focused on Connection Between Driver and Machine Makes World Debut at 2014 North American International Auto Show

- 2+2 seating configuration, 315 turbocharged horsepower and six-speed manual transmission make GT4 Stinger a true enthusiast's machine

- GT4 Stinger was conceived by the "gearheads" in Kia's Irvine, Calif., design studio, birthplace of iconic concept vehicles such as the Track'ster and Cross GT

DETROIT, Jan. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Hearkening back to the glory days of purebred, affordable sports cars, Kia Motors America (KMA) today unveiled the brand's most aggressive concept car ever when wraps came off the GT4 Stinger at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).  Kia's eye-catching design language moves in a bold new direction with the introduction of the GT4 Stinger. The concept pushes the boundaries of performance with a rear-drive 2+2 sports car that places man and machine in harmony on the road or track.  It comes as no surprise that the GT4 Stinger is the wild style child of Kia's California design team, home to its 2012 predecessor, the Track'ster concept.  And like the Track'ster, the GT4 Stinger's racy appeal is more than skin deep.

"Driving enjoyment was the number one priority in designing the GT4 Stinger," said Tom Kearns, chief designer, Kia Design Center America (KDCA).  "It's an authentic 2+2 sports car that can turn heads as a daily driver while also being right at home on the track.  It's about purity, simplicity and timelessness. The GT4 Stinger is a throwback to days when driving a car was a visceral experience that wasn't muted by electronic gimmickry."

Emboldened by the brand's on-track success in the Pirelli World Challenge racing series with a pair of turbocharged, GTS-class Optimas, Kia's U.S. design team approached the GT4 Stinger project with an eye toward weight reduction, functionality and pure driving enjoyment.  

The concept shuns the luxury trappings of a traditional Grand Touring car and embraces the elemental experience of truly engaging with the vehicle.  "If anyone were to ask if Kia has the credibility to build a car like the GT4 Stinger," noted Kearns. "I would simply point out that Kia races – and wins – against some of the world's most legendary performance brands."

Kia Racing and partner Kinetic Motorsports captured the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Drivers and Team Championships in 2012 with the Forte Koup and are currently preparing the turbocharged Optimas for their third season of duty in the Pirelli World Challenge in 2014 following a second-place finish in the Manufacturer's Championship last year.

Power, Poise and Proven Performance

Beneath the low wedge of the GT4 Stinger's hood resides a tuned version of Kia's proven 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline direct injected (T-GDI) four-cylinder engine putting out an impressive 315 horsepower.  "Our Optima racecars use the same engine and can produce more than 400 horsepower," said Kearns.  "So why not infuse our concept with the kind of power that will make people take notice?"  

That power is put to the ground via a close-ratio six-speed manual transmission driving the rear wheels, which are wrapped in 275/35R-20 Pirelli P-Zero performance tires.  Staggered 235/35R-20 Pirelli P-Zeros nestle beneath the front fenders, ensuring loads of corner-carving grip.  

Custom 20-inch aluminum center-lock wheels feature carbon fiber inserts for strength and weight reduction.  Tucked inside the massive wheels are Brembo Gran Turismo two-piece 15-inch cross-drilled rotors and four-piston calipers with plenty of stopping power.

Underpinning the GT4 Stinger's sculpted "Ignition Yellow" body is a custom chassis with independent double wishbone suspension.  With a shorter wheelbase (103.1 inches) and overall length (169.7 inches) than a Forte sedan, a width (74.4 inches) greater than a Cadenza, and a swooping roofline nearly nine inches lower (49.2 inches) than a Rio subcompact, the GT4 Stinger cuts a menacing figure. 

 It tips the scales at a scant 2,874 pounds, and weight distribution is spread nearly perfectly at 52 percent up front and 48 percent at the rear.  The GT4 Stinger also features a quick-ratio steering rack for direct feedback and uncompromised control.

Simplicity By Design

Fans of Kia's design language, set by Kia Motors Corporation president and chief design officer Peter Schreyer, will immediately recognize key styling elements of the GT4 Stinger.  "We gave the car a shrink-wrapped appearance," says Kearns. "It's as if the body panels were formed around the chassis instead of merely welded to it."  In silhouette, the GT4 Stinger is simple yet powerful. The latest iteration of the signature Kia grille rests low to the ground for maximum engine cooling and cold-air induction.  

The grille surround glows white and features a multi-layered, satin-black border, a theme found throughout the car.  Flanking the grille on both sides are vertical LED headlamps, and front-brake cooling vents intricately molded into the bumper provide a clean, smooth appearance.  A carbon fiber front splitter mounted below the bumper provides added down force for the car at high speed to keep the GT4 Stinger's front tires firmly planted to the tarmac.

The long hood gently rises to meet the cowl. Two chrome accent pieces add visual interest to the otherwise ripple-less pond of Ignition Yellow sheet metal.  The hood closely embraces the front wheel arches, creating two protruding muscular fenders above the front tires.  The result is a pronounced edge at the vehicle's shoulders that eventually becomes the belt line.

Continuing around the car, the transparent A-pillars provide a more than 270-degree view from the driver's seat. The layered slots cut into the pillars reduce weight while improving outward visibility.  Paying homage to the iconic Soul, the greenhouse design provides an aggressive side profile. "It's as if the GT4 Stinger is wearing wrap-around sunglasses," notes Kearns. Similar to the Soul, the roof of the GT4 Stinger appears to "float" from the C-pillars.  Along the rocker panels are satin black accent pieces with integrated functional cooling ducts to enhance air flow to the rear brakes.

Around back, the body widens to cover the large 275-series Pirelli rubber. The glass hatch opens to reveal a built-in storage compartment and rear strut-tower brace.  The LED taillights illuminate from inside the outer edge of a blacked-out panel just above the dual exhaust ports in the rear bumper.

The interior is purposeful in design and practical in nature.  A pull of the billet-aluminum door handles reveals incredibly lightweight doors, but their generous width makes dropping into the molded leather race-inspired bucket seats a breeze.  

There is no carpet, only a rubber floor mat underneath the billet-aluminum pedals.  Front and center to the driver is a thick D-shaped steering wheel and red LED-illuminated instrument panel with large tachometer and gear indicator.  In keeping with the track theme and taking inspiration from sports and competition cars of the past, interior door handles have been replaced by red-stitched pull straps.  In fact, the GT4 Stinger makes due without the luxury of a stereo.  "The audio system starts under the hood and the speakers are the exhaust pipes," said Kearns.  Underway, the GT4 Stinger's free-flow exhaust burbles and blurts unabashedly and is music to the ears of driving enthusiasts everywhere.

While there are currently no plans to bring the concept to production, Kia has a history of delivering production vehicles that bear a strong resemblance to the concept that preceded them, and the GT4 Stinger provides a possible and highly provocative glimpse into Kia's future.  When asked who the GT4 Stinger is intended for, Kearns quips, "It's a totally selfish design. The design team at KCDA is full of gearheads and enthusiasts, and the GT4 Stinger is the perfect car for that kind of crowd."

Sometimes Things Break by Rod Kackley is a novella that tells the story of a middle-age man who is old enough to know better and a teenage girl who is young enough to think she can have it all.

Sometimes Things Break will be released in the first quarter of 2014. To start reading the preview chapters, please click here, or download the free Rod Kackley app through Google Play or the App Store.

Primed For Personalization: Mopar Products Available To Customize The 2015 Chrysler 200 Shown At NAIAS

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Jan. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

• Modified 2015 Chrysler 200 on display at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) demonstrates how Mopar products can personalize the beautiful all-new mid-size sedan
• Mopar parts and accessories will be available at launch to complement the exhilarating driving experience of the all-new 2015 Chrysler 200
• Mopar products, including wheels, graphics packages, Wi-Fi, in-vehicle wireless charging and more, available for the 2015 Chrysler 200
• Owners can customize the beautifully crafted sedan right at the factory, thanks to the Mopar Custom Shop

The all-new 2015 Chrysler 200 transforms what customers expect in a mid-size sedan. Thanks to Mopar, customers will have the power to transform the Chrysler 200 even more – right when it arrives in showrooms. To highlight a few of the more than 45 Mopar parts and accessories available right at launch to enhance the sedan, the Mopar brand will showcase a modified 2015 Chrysler 200 in its expanded display at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Mich., January 13–26.

"The all-new 2015 Chrysler 200 is a revolutionary vehicle for Chrysler Group, and for the segment as well, so we created a vehicle that complements the soul of the 2015 Chrysler 200, while also showcasing how Mopar parts and accessories can help owners personalize and customize the new sedan to truly make it their own," said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO — Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC's service, parts and customer-care brand. "The modified 2015 Chrysler 200 on exhibit in the Mopar NAIAS display demonstrates our commitment to working with all Chrysler Group brands to offer Mopar products that let customers personalize their ride right when it arrives in the showroom, or even before through the Mopar Custom Shop."

The Mopar-modified 2015 Chrysler 200 exhibited at the NAIAS uses the Chrysler 200S as its starting point, then adds from there to make the vehicle even more original and unique. The exterior of the modified Chrysler 200 stands out and shines bright, thanks to a striking Lunar White Pearl Tri-coat color. The customized Chrysler 200 on display is powered by a 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine that puts best-in-class 295 horsepower as well as 262 lb.-ft. of torque to the satin carbon, 19-inch multi-spoke wheels.

Heading inside the Mopar-modified 2015 Chrysler 200, the interior is enriched with premium white leather seats accented with bronze stitching, with bronze accents also highlighting the bezels and the steering wheel. Mopar floor mats also augment the interior.

In addition to the Mopar products featured on the customized 2015 Chrysler 200 displayed at the NAIAS, a menu of additional Mopar parts and accessories will be available for the all-new Chrysler 200 upon launch, with nearly 90 products available by the end of the calendar year.

Available products include:

EXTERIOR

• Mopar Electronic Vehicle Tracking System
• Wheels 
• Wheel locks
• Locking fuel cap
• Graphics Package
• Bicycle hitch receiver
• Mopar wheel center caps
• Emblem Kits
• Vehicle covers
• Production turn signal mirrors
• Engine block heater, 2.4-liter
• Master shield

INTERIOR

• Ambient lighting
• Autonet Wi-Fi
• Roadside Safety Kit
• Emergency Kit/Tire repair
• Collapsible tote
• Cargo trunk net
• Molded cargo tray
• Door sill guards
• In-Vehicle wireless charging
• Premium floor mats
• Slush floor mats
• Rear backup camera/mirror
   

Customers will have the option of personalizing the all-new 2015 Chrysler 200 right at the factory. Through the Mopar Custom Shop, parts and accessories requested by the customer during the order process are added at the factory before the vehicle arrives at the dealership, with the installed Mopar products listed on the vehicle's Monroney sticker.

Quenching The Thirst, part of the five-part ebook series, Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance by Rod Kackley, tells the story of the creation of the Grand Rapids and Detroit craft brewing industries. Buy now through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Vook.

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community by Rod Kackley, tells the story of how the people of Grand Rapids changed the way the world sees their community, and the way they see the world. 

Last Chance Mile is available wherever books are sold including Amazon, Abbott Press, Barnes & Noble and iTunes.

Auto Industry Is Entering a Golden Age of Innovation, Says Boston Consulting Group

Regulatory Mandates, Changing Consumer Expectations, and Technological Advances Are Driving Increasing Innovation, According to New Research by The Boston Consulting Group

DETROIT, Jan. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --The global automobile industry is entering a new golden era of innovation and advancement, and the ability to innovate in four key areas—power train, lightweight materials, connectivity, and active safety and assisted driving—will be a major factor in individual carmakers' success in the years ahead, according to new research by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The research, released today during the press preview of the North American International Auto Show inDetroit, draws on several sources, including the results of a new U.S. consumer survey, an analysis of patent filings, BCG's annual study of the world's most innovative companies, and the firm's experience working with major automotive companies around the world. The findings will be published in a BCG report later this month. Here are a few highlights:

Innovation in the global automotive industry is intensifying.

• Fourteen automakers are among the top 50 most innovative companies in BCG's 2013 survey, compared with 10 carmakers in 2012 and only five in 2005. Three companies (Toyota, Ford, and BMW) rank in the top 10, and nine automakers are in the top 20. For the first time since BCG began conducting this survey nine years ago, there are more auto manufacturers than consumer companies in the top 50 and more carmakers than technology companies in the top 20.
• R&D spending at these 14 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) increased at an annual rate of 8 percent since 2009, while spending at leading tier-one suppliers[1] rose by 5 percent a year.¹
• From 1995 through 2011, the number of patent applications filed by OEMs increased by only 3 percent annually, while the number of filings by tier-one suppliers rose 6 percent a year. A recovery from the 2008 crisis has resulted in the number of applications by tier-one suppliers leaping 37 percent, while the number by OEMs has jumped by 28 percent.

The focus on innovation has been in four areas: power train, lightweight materials, connectivity, andactive safety and assisted driving.

• The four areas had patent application growth rates of 6 to 15 percent from 1995 through 2011, compared with an average growth rate for all patent filings by OEMs and tier-one suppliers of only 4 percent.
• Filings in all four areas showed only an 8 percent decline from 2008 through 2009, compared with an average drop in the number of applications of 25 percent.
• Filings increased 10 percent faster than the average growth rate in the bounce-back years from 2010 through 2011.

Consumers value the introduction of new technologies and features.

• New BCG research on U.S. consumers shows that most car buyers want to purchase a car from a company seen as innovative—almost 60 percent say this is a very or somewhat important consideration.
• A key characteristic of an innovative automaker, according to car buyers, is being the first to introduce new technologies.
• U.S. consumers see features related to connectivity, safety, and fuel economy as the most innovative in today's vehicles. Most U.S. consumers rank connectivity and safety features in the top 5 of some 20 new features in vehicles today (see exhibit).

"Innovation in the automotive industry is retaking center stage," said Xavier Mosquet, a BCG senior partner and coauthor of the study. "Consumers want to buy cars from companies that bring new technologies to market, and connectivity, safety, and fuel efficiency are three of their top priorities. The ability to innovate in these areas will be a major factor in individual automakers' success in the coming years."

Regulatory and marketplace demands with respect to fuel efficiency, connectivity, and safety, as well as technological advances that are making new features possible and reducing their cost, are driving the renewed focus on innovation.

Mosquet, who coleads BCG's global Automotive practice, and his coauthors say that OEMs and tier-one suppliers need to address three areas with a sense of urgency:

• T he shift from mechanical to software-driven vehicles . Cars are no longer primarily mechanical devices. Rather, automobiles are increasingly becoming software driven (literally, as well as in other ways). Given the rise of electronics and the fact that software features reduce tooling cost, as well as allow for configuration later in the product development cycle, the shift to more software in cars will continue. This shift requires auto executives to think about product life cycles—and the involvement of their companies with them—in new terms.
• The quickening pace of product development. Consumer electronics and technology companies have taught consumers to expect a rapid pace of innovation. This expectation will make it more and more difficult for automakers and their suppliers to adhere to the current three- to five-year product design and development process. Car manufacturers will need to experiment with alternative design processes, new development models, and in the longer term, advanced manufacturing techniques. The ability to discern early what consumers see as the most valuable innovations will also create an advantage.
• The increasingly prominent role of tier-one suppliers in innovation and technological development. The importance of tier-one suppliers in innovation and product development will escalate. These companies are already playing a bigger role in innovation in the areas of power train, interior design, and chassis components—historically the R&D domains of carmakers. In addition, the determinants for differentiation are shifting toward connectivity and active-safety features, in which tier-one suppliers have substantial expertise. Those manufacturers that construct the most effective collaboration models, encouraging and rewarding supplier R&D investment, will build a long-term advantage.

"Other areas of innovation loom large as well, such as alternative fuels and assisted driving," said Massimo Russo, a BCG senior partner and coauthor of the study. "Those automakers that determine how to organize themselves to harness and direct fast-moving developments in power train, lightweight materials, and, most critically, software, electronic components, and connectivity will establish a decided advantage over competitors in the near and longer term."

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells the stories of the people who changed the way Grand Rapids, Michigan is seen by the world. Buy Now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes or Abbott Press.

Last Chance Mile can also be ordered from your favorite bookseller, and is on the shelves of Barnes & Noble-Woodland Mall, Schuler Books & Music-28th Street and West Coast Coffee-Monroe Center, Grand Rapids.

What Is Manufacturing's Problem?

What Is Manufacturing’s Problem?

By Rod Kackley

Manufacturing drives Michigan. Every job created in manufacturing leads to 2.5 new jobs in the state, according to George Erickcek, a senior economist at the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

He told his audience at the 17th Annual West Michigan Economic Outlook event in Grand Rapids all of the job growth in Michigan in 2013 was due to manufacturing.

However, manufacturing employment is still 24,000 jobs below the number of people working in that sector in 2000, and is 3,800 less than 2008. 

Still, there are jobs to be filled in Michigan’s factories. Skilled workers are in high demand. Where are the workers? Where is Michigan manufacturing’s lost generation?

Erickcek believes manufacturing is having so much trouble finding young workers to fill jobs that are being created by the resurgence of the auto industry and the retirements of seasoned manufacturing employees because it has such a bad reputation.

One generation told another factory life was not for them. And for once, their kids believed them.

“Manufacturing’s track record doesn’t look that good to eighteen-year olds,” Erickcek said during The Right Place Inc. event inside the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, December 12, 2013.

Yet, he believes manufacturing is going to continue to fuel Michigan’s economy. 

The strength of Michigan’s leading economic sector could actually be a blessing in disguise for those eighteen-year olds looking for work, and their parents who want them to stay in Michigan even if the teens have no desire to turn a wrench.

Erickcek pointed to 2014 auto sales forecasts of more than 16 million vehicles, and said, “The car industry is going to give Michigan the breathing room to diversify and no be such a one-horse town.”


Grand Rapids, Michigan has its own talent issues, which are an example of why diversifying is so important. Click here for that story.

Where Are The Workers, the second book in the five-part ebook series, Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance by Rod Kackley, is available wherever ebooks are sold, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and vook.com.

Scientists, artists, zombies and two of the richest families in the world helped Grand Rapids, Michigan change the way it is seen by the world, and the way the world sees this American community.

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells their stories, and is available wherever books are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes, as well as Barnes & Noble-Woodland Mall, Schuler Books & Music-28th Street and West Coast Coffee on Monroe Center.

To order an autographed hardcover or softcover edition of Last Chance Mile, please go to www.rodkackley.com

For more books, articles, and essays written by Rod Kackley, please download his free app through Google Play or the App Store, or go to www.rodkackley.com.