Representing the interests of more than 3,000 members across Pennsylvania, the Manufacturer & Business Association's Government Affairs is your voice on local, state and federal issues.

ISSUES SHARED - JV Manufacturing Company, Inc., Ryan Vecchi

STATE - Will the boom in Artificial Intelligence Increase Consumer and Small Business Electricity Rates?

STATE - Trade Opportunity for You - NWPA & SWPA

FEDERAL - White House Releases AI Action Plan

FEDERAL - Key Benefits of Tax Bill

WHAT - Tariff Update 

Q. When will PA have a state budget for 2025-2026?

A. No one knows!

Governor Shapiro’s 2025-26 Budget by the Numbers

Governor Josh Shapiro’s 2025-26 State Budget proposal calls for $51.474 billion in public expenditures and sizable increases in Education, Human Services to name a few. His proposal would increase state spending by $3.6 billion, an increase of 7.5% compared to the current year’s budget. To balance the budget the Governor seeks $1.6 Billion in new revenue and $2.8 Billion from the state surplus.

Complex issues still in discussion in private include education topics, potential new gaming regulations, and funding for mass transit and road and bridge projects.

Will the boom in Artificial Intelligence Increase Consumer and Small Business Electricity Rates?

This is an important question that MBA will pursue. This question was recently addressed in an opinion piece. “Duquesne Light’s three proposals to protect consumers from AI increases” BY Kevin Walker. President & CEO of Duquesne Light, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/30/25 READ

Excerpts are below:

“…Encourage "Bring Your Own Generation" (BYOG): Promote policies that incentivize data centers and other large energy users to generate some or all of their own electricity onsite, thereby reducing the reliance on the existing grid and limiting the potential for cost increases or instability for existing customers…

…Ensure Fair Cost Sharing from Data Centers: Advocate for mechanisms that guarantee large energy users, such as data centers, bear their fair share of infrastructure investment costs (e.g., upgrades to the grid) both upfront and through appropriate long-term rate structures, avoiding cost-shifting to residential and smaller commercial customers…

Embrace an "All-of-the-Above" Energy Strategy: Emphasize the necessity of a diverse energy mix, including natural gas as a short-term solution alongside investments in cleaner energy sources like nuclear, hydro, battery storage, wind, and solar, to ensure grid stability and affordability for all customers while meeting the burgeoning energy demands of the AI economy…” 

Editor’s note: All-of-the-Above" Energy Strategy is a core element of MBA’s Energy policy.

Trade Opportunity for You

Bringing the World TO PA Southwest PA

Welcome PA International Representatives to Pittsburgh

Carnegie Mellon University / Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship

Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC)

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to meet with Pennsylvania’s Authorized Trade Representatives to learn about business opportunities, discuss export-related issues, and follow up with on-going projects. 30 minutes one-on-one meetings will be scheduled at first come first serve basis.

https://www.spcregion.org/get-involved/

>Events

>September

>September 12

>Bringing the World to PA 2025 – description

To REGISTER Contact jpacheco@spcregion.org Jackie Pacheco

Countries represented.

• Australia – Australia, New Zealand
• Central & Eastern Europe -  Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Ukraine
• China - China
• Germany – Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland
• India - India
• Middle East Region – Israel, Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Turkey
• Mexico – Mexico
• Netherlands - Belgium, Netherlands
• Singapore - ASEAN – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
• South Korea – South Korea
• Taiwan - Taiwan
• United Kingdom – Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom

Trade Opportunity for You - Bringing the World TO PA - Erie

Penn State Behrend | REED Union Building | McGarvey Commons Penn State Behrend | REED Union Building | McGarvey Commons 

4701 College Drive, Erie, PA

September 15, 2025

8:00 am - 3:00 pm

For additional information please contact:

Dorte Heffernan, CGBP, ECoP, International Trade Manager

dorteh@northwestpa.org

Business Delegation to Ireland Opportunity

The Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh is sponsoring a business delegation to Ireland 9/23/25 through 9/28/25 in Dublin. The delegation will tour Ireland’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre of Excellence in Dundalk. Business to business matching and other presentations will take place in Belfast, Newry, and Dublin. This is a great opportunity for Western PA companies to explore business opportunities in both the EU and UK markets, and beyond. Contact Jim Lamb, President, Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh, 412-708-2184, jlamb@iiofpitt.org

Annual Reports in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Business Owners: You must file an Annual Report starting in 2025. Know the requirements and deadlines. Beginning in 2025, most domestic and foreign filing associations are required to file an Annual Report [DSCB:15-146]. These associations include:

Annual Reports / Department of State / Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

The U.S. Senate and U.S. House are on recess and will return in September.

Q. What will they face when they return? A.  A bitter spending battle

For most of September they will be working on spending bills for the coming budget year which begins October 1.

They will need to pass a short-term spending measure to keep the government funded while they work on the longer-term spending measure for the rest of the year.

Year to date, the House has approved two of the twelve annual spending bills. The Senate has passed three of the annual spending bills. The House is pursuing steep, non-defense spending cuts – the Senate is not in favor. The final bill will need some Democratic support to reach sixty votes necessary to get a spending measure over the finish line.

REVIEW - Benefits of the Tax Bill

 • Section 179 - Businesses can now expense up to $2.5 million in qualified equipment and software each year. That cap used to be lower, and now it’s indexed for inflation going forward. The deduction grows with your business.

• Bonus depreciation is back to 100%. If your business doesn’t qualify under 179, or you expenses are over the cap, bonus depreciation kicks in. Businesses  can fully write off the cost of machinery, tools, and other tangible assets the year you place them in service.

White House Releases AI Action Plan

The White House released the “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan,” which lays out a comprehensive policy framework to guide AI adoption across industries, including health care.

Key Pillars Include

·       Accelerating AI Innovation: A commitment to open-source AI models, reducing regulatory friction, expansion of AI applications in health care, investing in AI workforce training; prioritizing AI safety, interoperability, and evaluations.

·       Building American AI Infrastructure: Federal investment in domestic chip manufacturing, securing government-owned data centers, new cybersecurity protocols, and the creation of a federal AI incident-response capability.

·       Leading in International AI Diplomacy and Security: Expanding American AI exports to partner nations, strategies to mitigate adversarial influence, tighter export controls, and continued focus on AI risks in biosecurity threats.

…Highmark’s Weekly Capitol Hill Report for the week ending July 25, 2025

“JV Manufacturing designs and produces high-speed, high-production carbide progressive dies and precision components for customers world-wide. Since 1975, our dies and components have been used to make products for aerospace, appliance, automotive, consumer products, cosmetics, green products, medical and nuclear power applications.”

When interviewing a member for Issues & Innovations I always have a suggestion or two in my pocket to get the conversation started. This time it was AI and workforce. Immediately the conversation took off in regard to electricity, both the lack of it at times and the cost.

I said that MBA’s number one priority is energy and the PJM electricity grid due to the enormous increase in power required for data centers, crypto mining and everything that’s powered by electricity. Supply decreases while demand increases as fossil fuel generators are taken offline.

JV has one hundred and three employees and two facilities. Ryan Vecchi said they continually have massive shortages and extended power outages. JV’s energy costs have risen 35% over the past two years. They had a contract for 2021-2024 but when it expired, they had a significant rate change.

In Vecchi’s search for resources he located RISE PA where he has applied to get a grant for solar panels on at least one facility. JV uses lots of electricity, over 185,000 KwH per month on average. They have lots of machine tools per square foot and a significant amount of stamping equipment. Not only that but both facilities require strict environmental control: 70 degrees must be maintained year-round.

Vecchi noted he has a phase-out and upgrade plan for HVAC, and they are cycling out of older technology from the 1990’s.

I wondered why maintaining 70 degrees was so critical. JV ‘s tooling has very tight clearances. A simple analogy is the dies they produce are the very high-quality Ferrari type, not the Ford type. That’s driven by the number of parts with tight tolerance and specifications needed to create a very precise tool set. Metals used include titanium, aluminum, carbide, and stainless steel. By maintaining a constant temperature expansion and contraction differences are minimized or non-existent.

Two to three ten thousandths of an inch is clearance needed for punch and die components for power generation. We came around again to the subject of electricity but from a different angle. JV Manufacturing makes power generation components for nuclear energy, fuel cells and batteries.

That part of the business is growing and will continue to grow. Vecchi has some space left to expand. JV is also looking at some automation solutions for pick-and place and a loading operation.

Melissa Vecchi gave an update on the workforce. JV since its early days has been noted for very fair treatment of their employees. To continue that tradition Melissa asked employees what they wanted. The resounding answer was apprenticeships. JV works with both Catalyst Connection and National Tool and Machining Association to conduct those programs. They utilize both two-year and four-year tracks.

Melissa Vecchi does lots of programs (20 plus!) to educate students at middle schools, highs schools and colleges. She works manufacturing into a class discussion in unique ways. For instance, if the topic is economics, she explains how that plays into a career opportunity for manufacturing.

Melissa also noted that the workforce is changing. They have their share of long-serving employees but as the new generation of workers come on board they are not as interested in attending company events or the benefits. JV pays for 96% of the cost for their employees’ health insurance - no co-pays – no-deductibles.

What the new, younger generation wants is ways to contribute to the world and continuous learning.

Thank you to JV Manufacturing for sharing their issues and how they work on solutions.

The search is on now to understand how to attract the new, younger generation. If you have solutions to share let me know. eileenanderson@mbausa.org. 

Where things stand with tariffs on key U.S. trade partners as of 8/4/25

Materials

• Steel 50%
• Aluminum, 50%
• Copper 50%

Countries’ Specific Tariffs  

• Canada 35%
• China 30% but some products are exempt - computers, Apple watches, and other electronics.
• European Union 15%
• India 50%
• Japan 15%
• Mexico 25South Korea 15%, cars 15%
• Taiwan 20%, semiconductors exempt.
• United Kingdom 10%, steel, and aluminum exempt from 25%, first 100,000 cars 10%, thereafter 25%
• Vietnam 20%