Sacramento, CA—On February 1-2, a handful of PCB industry stalwarts took time to participate in the IPC/CCA’s third-annual Sacramento Day 2005. Approximately 23 people turned out to lobby their state representatives regarding key issues facing printed circuit fabricators across California. The absence of business-friendly bills before the legislature did not deter attendees from addressing the rising rates of unemployment insurance, tax relief on manufacturing equipment, and creeping health care costs.

Organized by IPC and its sister-organization CCA, Sacramento Day attracted more PCB suppliers (12) than fabricators (6). According to FabFile Network, there are 164 printed circuit manufacturers in California, down from 177 a year ago. Those PCB manufacturers responsible enough to attend included Ambitech International’s (Hunter Operations) Joe O’Neil, Bay Area Circuits’ Rudy and Stephen Garcia, Hallmark Circuits’ Tom White and Donna Olsen, R Squared Circuits’ Gary Ford, Sprig Circuits’ Joe Grondona, and Ultima Circuits’ Greg Gerdes.

Despite the amount of consternation and turmoil expressed by California manufacturers when it comes to global competition and California’s unfriendly business environment, it is all the more remarkable that only a few choose to put their words into action. As Rudy Garcia of Bay Area Circuits (Redwood City, CA) put it, "It’s much easier to complain than to do something about it."

Lead-Free and Workers’ Comp Challenge Businesses

On the first day of the two-day event, attendees enjoyed an executive overview of the lead-free and RoHs issue, presented by Douglass Dixon, a marketing manager with Henkel Technologies. Henkel explained that despite the fact that lead-free electronics are soon to become a reality, a significant amount of manufacturers remain unprepared for the massive changes ahead.

The second presentation was given by Charles Bacchi, a legislative advocate for the California Chamber of Commerce. He discussed the tough business environment many PCB makers face when confronting the issue of workers’ compensation. In the last four years, workers’ compensation insurance pure premium rates had climbed nearly 70 percent.

On Wednesday, before visiting their representatives, attendees were briefed by IPC’s government relations director John Kania regarding how to effectively lobby one’s senator or assemblyperson. The meetings went well, if not a bit predictably, with strong support from Republican representatives and their aides vs. tepid support from the state’s Democrats.

During lunch, attendees were treated to a speech given by Tom McClintock, one of California’s senior state senators. "California is a great place to build a small business...provided that you started with a large business," he quipped. McClintock, who has aspirations to become California’s next lieutenant governor, educated attendees on California’s gross mismanagement of funds in the last three decades. He said that the state’s spending can only be reigned in if we address the root cause of over-spending which includes intrusive government regulation.

Despite the low-turnout, all agreed that IPC/CCA did a fine job organizing the event, and promised to be back next year. Stephen Garcia of Bay Area Circuits (Redwood City, CA) was one of those looking forward to next year. Having graduated from college recently, Stephen is excited to be part of the family business, and looks forward to learn about the business he might one day inherit. "This being my first Sacramento Day, I truly enjoyed my overall experience," he said. "The speakers were incredibly informative and our lobby sessions went very well." Still, Garcia was disappointed in the low attendance, puzzled why more fabricators didn’t turn out to support the event. "It is just a shame that there are 164 PCB manufactures in this state and only six showed up. Overall, it is nice to know some of us care about the future of our industry in this state."