5 on Friday: Fuel for Thought December 15, 2017
posted on Sunday, December 17, 2017 in Blog
by Steve Dust, CEO, Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber
Remember: 5 on Friday is a two-way street: please send me recommendations on books, reports, articles, blogs, videos, or anything you're reading or watching that impacts business and the economy.
ONE: HowFactory.com – Manufacturer's New Bestie
As a new part of 5 on Friday, I'm going to highlight a Cedar Valley product or firm from time to time. There's no better place to start than HowFactory.
HowFactory should be the best friend of any process dependent enterprise. The brainchild of IT guru Trace Steffen, How Factory is blossoming into one of the Cedar Valley's top new and scaling products. You may remember the HowFactory's team won a 2016 Howard Brock Innovation Award from the Alliance & Chamber.
Trace and his team of knowledge documentation warriors describe HowFactory's capabilities this way: HowFactory is the simple platform that allows users to manage the knowledge critical to your team’s success and growth. The company's tagline: “We’re not your father’s How-To Manual.” I encourage you to take the HowFactory suggestion and sign up for a 14-day test drive of the platform at www.HowFactory.com. Give Trace and his team a call to get a better idea how to align your firm's knowledge base with an exciting, visual way of communicating and monitoring. #CedarValleyMade
Start your 14 day free trial
TWO: What's Next for 3D in Manufacturing
Additive manufacturing – 3D printing – is a big deal in the Cedar Valley. If you have not yet seen the Additive Manufacturing and Design Lab on the first floor of TechWorks Tech 1, you need to! We made a big deal in 2013 out of the first big sand casting machine that was delivered, but several more production scale printers and scanners have been delivered since then. The design lab is in Tech 1, too. This asset has brought business and attention to the Cedar Valley. What's next for this technology? This article charts a probable course for industrial applications of 3D printing.
New frontier: Here’s where 3D printing is headed next in industrial manufacturing, Christine LaFave Grace, Plant Services (Putman Media), December 7, 2017
THREE: Pass-through Entities and the Tax Bill
This is an informative, brief piece on the potential impacts of the Fed Tax Reform on the important pass-through structure for business.
Pass-Through Rate In Focus As Congress Gears Up For Tax Vote, Patrick Gorman, Chief Executive, December 14, 2017
FOUR: Sales Growth Hacks
It's all about knowing your customer.
10 Growth Hacking Strategies to Triple Your Sales, R.L. Adams, Entrepreneur, December 5, 2017
FIVE: George Friedman Forecasts 2018
There are many forecasts for 2018 from many different directions. Here's one you need to read, from George Friedman of Geopolitical Futures. He's one of the best informed, objective observers out there.
[PDF] 2018: A Year of Tenuous Stability, Geopolitical Futures, 2017