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March 21, 2006 |
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 TERRY
S. LISENBYNucor By Julius Melton The contributions UNCC has made to our region, over its several decades here, were brought clearly to our attention by the visit and comments of today's speaker. A 1976 UNCC graduate, he has risen to be Chief Financial Officer of America's largest steel company, Nucor. Terry S. Lisenby is also its Treasurer and Executive Vice President. Our member Natalie English introduced him, informing us that Lisenby joined Nucor in fall, 1985 as Manager of Financial Accounting at Nucor's Charlotte Corporate Headquarters. Six years later he was named Vice President and Corporate Controller. He became CFO at the start of 2000. Prior to joining Nucor, Lisenby held accounting and management positions at Seidman and Seidman, Harper Corporation of America, and Concept Development, Inc. It was good to hear from a leader of our nationally-known steel manufacturer, and to consider with him global threats to America's manufacturing industries. Nucor is currently conducting "town hall" type meetings in its plant neighborhoods throughout the country. Nine have occurred so far. Starting small, they have now attained attendance levels of 3,500 in tiny Norfolk, Nebraska, and 5,000 in Darlington, SC. The purpose is to get out the warning that certain public policies and business/shopping practices in the U. S. may spell disaster for the manufacturing segment of America's economy, unless things change. Mr. Lisenby has made available the exact text of his comments. If you email our Rotary Club's office, at chltrot@bellsouth.net, and ask Sandy for his text, she can email it back to you. We'll try here to give the gist of his message. Nucor is an impressive operation. The Charlotte Nucor contingent is solely its headquarters personnel, 65; in number. Nationwide there are 11,000 Nucor employees. It is these workers of theirs, and others like them in U. S. industries that the company worries about. It views with alarm what's happening with "globalization," as it is being practiced currently, and unfairly, by some nations among America's trading partners. At stake is America's future as a manufacturing nation. Numerically, millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost to nations that often appear to disregard environmental concerns and worker welfare issues. Economically, we Americans find ourselves moving toward a time when we will be overly dependent for manufactured goods on possibly unstable sources, as is now the case with oil. Some Americans hold some unsound views of the situation, assuming, wrongly, that our nation's massive trade deficits are brought on by our labor pool being underproductive, or overpaid, or underskilled-"manufacturing is too expensive over here." Others may feel that our economy will flourish even without the muscle of manufacturing-becoming a "post-industrial" economy. But he warns that reliance on what could be almost entirely a service economy could leave us ultimately as a country that the emerging manufacturing giants of Asia can turn to as a place to which they outsource menial work. The unfair practices that he feels are being accepted too readily by our national leaders and the World Trade Organization include currency manipulation by some foreign nations, tariff discrimination, clever barriers to our trading in their nations, and government subsidies in some countries that are aiming to out-compete the U. S. At home, he feels, we often hamper and hamstring our own manufacturers. We should seek to have more pressure applied on the emerging producers of manufactured goods like China and India, to see that they attend to environmental and worker-welfare issues. But, at the same time, the people of the U. S. should take into account the detriment to our communities, schools, and even service industries, which can occur, if manufacturers are damaged by excessive new regulations and pressures. Foreign bootlegging of American products and intellectual property was cited as another example of what might be called playing dirty. "It is important," Lisenby concluded, to "take action to support measures that enforce our trade laws and level the playing field for U. S. workers and companies." He has hope that a "comprehensive manufacturing agenda" will be developed in the U. S. before it is too late. Included would be "an energy policy that makes sense," and the elimination of "distortions in our transportation systems," that sometimes make it 'cheaper to move products 10,000 miles than 500 miles." Regrettably, Nucor's leaders seem to find fewer industrial allies in promoting this agenda than one might expect. That is because the multi-national companies, that are so influential in America, have foreign branches that reap benefits from the existing system, even though their American branches would benefit from the steps Lisenby is advocating. Support is clearly needed for his position from average American workers/consumers, if it is to make any real headway. Head Table: Bob Freeman, Al Allison, Herb Harriss, Natalie English, Ed Turner, Kurt Waldthausen; Invocation: Mac McCarley Visitors & Guests: Carol Jordan; Health & Happiness: Randall Groves; Song: Richard Early; Piano: Thomas Moore
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Revised: January 24, 2008.