November 2024 Volume 6

PRESIDENT'S NOTE

PRESIDENT'S NOTE

W ith the U.S. election behind us, here is to four years of expected restraint of new regulations for manufacturers; reinstatement of R&D expensing legislation critical for capital expenditure planning and continued favorable taxation rates of our members’ businesses. Many economists have suggested plan ning for a sluggish Q1 and Q2 for

Most of these funds will filter down to members and industry in the form of forging improvement contracts. Some of the funds will benefit the FIERF Forging Competitions, the ICON (a casting, forging and machining RFQ database) development which the mili tary uses, and finally some funds to assist with FIA administrative costs to manage these projects and member contracts. To that end, we are fortunate to have a very capable Technical Director on the FIA Team (Dekland Barnum) with the skill set and technical back ground to help us grow the DOD effort at FIA. Dekland has fit right in with the organization and made immediate positive impacts in his first year. The Year Ahead 2025 brings us another FIA offering - Forge Fair and the excitement and expectation of 150+ exhibitors and 2,000 attendees. In 2024 we have been at some attendance record setting shows (AISTech, Automate) and heard of other's shows setting attendance records. We expect the same for Forge Fair 2025, which again returns to Cleveland. Our Forging Lightweight Alloys event returns to the schedule in Long Beach, CA with some exciting presentations and tours planned. With the great success of our combined FIA Fall Meeting & Marketing Seminar in 2024, we expect to continue this approach. As we look at FIA standing committees, our newest efforts – Women in Forging and Next Gen – are very popular and growing and offer several opportunities to meet throughout the year. The Public Policy Committee continues to grow with members, and we continue our quest to initiate a closed-die trade case with the USTR/USITC to address foreign forgers who dump forgings or are subsidized by their governments. There is continued harm to a sizable portion of our membership, and we will never give up on addressing this to protect our members and demand a level playing field. On behalf of FIA and FIERF’s boards and our staff, we wish you a wonderful holiday season with your family and look forward to a successful year in 2025.

the year’s start. With such an election mandate delivered by voters, perhaps we can be optimistic that businesses and consumers will react positively with their spending, and we will get back to improved forging levels sooner than the mid-year mark. A Quick Look Back We are in the home stretch for closing out the year with Thanks giving and December holidays right around the corner -- such a valuable time to celebrate and reconnect with family, and also an important time to relax and recharge ourselves for the next year. It was a momentous year for FIA and I’m so proud of our FIA and FIERF Boards for their leadership and our incredibly capable staff for delivering some impressive wins. Membership: Continues to grow with several more forging producers added in 2024. Looking back at the last 30 years, we are at a high water mark with overall members at 230. When asked ‘what attracted you to FIA,’ new members often mention our training (live and Forging University), our Government Affairs visibility, and our overall visibility as an association which amplifies our number one mentioned benefit – networking. Forging Foundation: New initiatives including Forging Clubs, Forge the Future Summer Camps, the FIERF Forging Competi tion, and the Forging with Freddy childrens’ book series continue to grow as we focus on developing the workforce at a younger age. DOD and Government Affairs: Starting with a modest DOD five year award in 2020 of $485k to support our Forging University upgrade, the FIA Board and our members who support our lobbying efforts, our lobby firms and staff to date have secured an additional $5.6 million (FY24) with an additional $5 million for FY25 with approval expected 12/31/24. (Note: look for an FIA project call in the Spring 2025).

James R. Warren President and CEO Forging Industry Association

PUBLISHER James R. Warren jwarren@forging.org MANAGING EDITOR Angela Gibian angela@forging.org Editorial Staff

Board of Directors

Antonio Alvarez Robert Brodhead Robert Dimitrieff

Chelsea Lantto Louis Philippe Lapierre Jose Lozano Mike Morgus Matt Natale

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Amanda Dureiko amanda@forging.org DESIGN Lorean Crowder lorean@forging.org

CHAIRPERSON Jim Kravec VICE CHAIRPERSON Joe Schwegman

Bret Halley Jeff Krueger

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2024 1