Welcome to e-Connections, the weekly AFS email newsletter. In this March 31, 2009, edition:
Changes to Net Operating Loss Carryback Impact Metalcasters
Thanks to the economic stimulus package enacted last month, owners of smaller metalcasting facilities that had net operating losses (NOLs) in 2008 may be able to get back some of the taxes they paid on profits in better years.
A five-year NOL carryback period was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed by President Obama in February. To qualify for the five year carryback, a small business must have no more than an average of $15 million in gross receipts over a three-year period ending with the tax year of the NOL. Small businesses with more than $15 million in gross receipts still qualify for the two-year carryback. Before the law was enacted, small businesses were only permitted to offset losses against income for two years. Efforts are underway in Congress to expand the NOL carryback to larger companies with more than $15 million in receipts.
For more information, contact Stephanie Salmon, Metalcasting Industry Government Affairs Office, at 202/884-4864 or ss@wafed.com, or visit www.afsinc.org.
U.S. Department of Labor Issues Model COBRA Notices
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law in February 2009, provides a government subsidy for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) for individuals who have lost group health plan coverage due to an involuntary termination of employment from Sept. 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2009. Employers are required to provide notice of the newly available premium assistance.
Last week, the Department of Labor issued model notices for the COBRA premium assistance under the recovery act. S separate model notices covering general, second chance, subsidy only and alternative are included.
The Labor Department has posted the model notices and a frequently asked questions document for employers and employees at www.dol.gov/COBRA. For more information, contact Stephanie Salmon, Metalcasting Industry Government Affairs Office, at 202/842-4864 or ss@wafed.com.
MetalcastingDesign.com’s Video Library Grows
The library of metalcasting facility video tours on MetalcastingDesign.com has grown to include four plants since launching at the beginning of the year.
With approximately one facility tour added per month, the list now includes permanent mold aluminum job shop Corbitt Manufacturing Co., St. Charles, Mo., sand caster AlumAlloy Co. Inc., Ontario, Calif., multi-process job shop U.S. Aluminum Castings, Entiat, Wash., and short run ferrous plant St. Louis Precision Casting Co., St. Louis.
The tours are designed to take metal casting designers and purchasers through the nation’s metalcasting facilities to give them an insider’s look at the way they operate. Click over to www.metalcastingdesign.com, and come along as our editors continue to tour the industry.
AFS British Columbia Chapter Leads the CMI Course Competition
The annual Cast Metals Institute (CMI) chapter course competition will be ending June 30, and several AFS Chapters have stepped up to the challenge. The competition runs from July 1 through June 30 each year, and any AFS chapter that co-sponsors a course is eligible, as long as a minimum of 10 students are from the chapter area.
Currently, the AFS British Columbia Chapter is in first place, the AFS Plains States Chapter is in second and the AFS Penn-York and AFS Northeast Indiana Chapters are tied for third.
Co-sponsoring a CMI course is a great way to bring training to your local companies, especially now, when cost cutting has become necessary. Course requests should be submitted to CMI no less than six months prior to the requested date. For information about how to sponsor a course, contact Jennifer Head, CMI course coordinator, at 800-537-4237 x 244.
CMI Offers Gating & Riser Design Internet Course
CMI will be offering a Gating & Riser Design internet course May 26-June 29. This course will include information on fluid flow, gating design, heat transfer, solidification and riser design. Gating and riser sizing will be demonstrated using an Excel spreadsheet, which is included in the course materials. This course is applicable to both horizontally and vertically parted molds and will cover methods for gating and risering cast iron, steel, aluminum, magnesium and copper-base alloys. Special methods for ductile iron also will be discussed.
For more information or to attend this course, contact AFS customer service at 800/537-4237, or click here to register.
