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Press Room & Newsletters >> Newsletters >> National News

AeA Monthly News, October 2007
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"AeA gives us more to offer to our employees."

Joe Crowley, CEO & Co-Founder, CerkiTek

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In This Issue
From the Desk of...William T. Archey, President & CEO, AeA
New AeA President & CEO and Other Announcements from the Board of Directors Meeting
State, Federal, and International Lobbying
2007 California Legislative Session Comes to an End – AeA Has Yet Another Successful Year
AeA Hosts Global Trade Compliance Best Practices Conference at Google Headquarters
AeA Seeking Full Funding for America Competes Act
State Policy Updates:  Georgia and Oregon Telework Laws; RFID Legislation in the States
AeA Releases Three New Reports:  U.S. Tech Employment, Florida Cybercities, & EU Energy Efficiency
Monthly CyberSTAT:  U.S. Tech Industry Adds 118,500 Jobs in First Half of 2007
Government Procurement
Sold-out Government-Industry Executive Interchange Draws 50+ Execs
Insurance Programs
Online Insurance Claims and Fully Verified Claims Within Seconds –
Offered by the AeAHealth! Program in Partnership with UnitedHealthcare
Access to Investors
AeA Capital Conference -- Develop and Maintain Important Industry Relationships
AeA Classic Financial Conferences - Featuring up to 200 Publicly Traded High-Tech Companies
Select Business Services
High-Tech Industry Specific Salary Data At Your Fingertips
Business Networking
Calendar of October Events
Events Photo Gallery
Additional Resources
Working for You:  Meet Your AeA Staffer
Linda Klose, Executive Director, AeA New Jersey-Pennsylvania Council
Contact Information / About AeA / Find Your Local Council

From the Desk of...William T. Archey, President & CEO, AeA

New AeA President & CEO and Other Announcements from the Board of Directors Meeting

From October 1 - 3, I attended my last Board of Directors meeting for AeA.  As announced in June and in planning for the last two years, I will be retiring from my post as President and CEO of the association after 13 very rewarding years. 

Two very important votes took place at this board meeting:  first, the Board of Directors approved Christopher W. Hansen to succeed me as AeA's new Chief Executive Officer and President; and secondly, AeA confirmed Deirdre Hanford, Senior Vice President, Global Technical Services, Synopsys, Inc., as the Fiscal Year 2008 Chairperson of the Board.

Tim Guertin, the President and CEO of Varian Medical Systems, Inc. in Palo Alto, California, the Immediate Past Chairman of the AeA Board and Chair of the CEO Selection Committee stated “we are delighted to have Chris join AeA as its new President and CEO.  Chris is the Group Executive Officer for the AARP where he directs all of the association's advocacy initiatives and programs nationwide.  He also manages 53 AARP offices and 675 staff located in Washington and throughout the country.  This background alone makes Chris the ideal leader for AeA.  While AeA has a strong presence in Washington, the predominance of its resources is located in its 17 local councils as well as two offices overseas.  The experience and success that Chris has had in managing a large field organization will be invaluable in his position at AeA.  But in addition to that experience Chris also spent sixteen years directing the Boeing Corporation’s government relations functions in Washington and in the states.  For three years he was the Senior Vice President of Government Relations for Boeing.”

Prior to working at Boeing Chris Hansen also directed the Washington operations for General Dynamics.  Mr. Guertin further stated “Chris has managed a large field force and is intimately familiar with advanced technologies particularly in the aerospace sector, a combination that is ideal for leading AeA’s 2500 member companies who in turn represent 1.8 million employees.”

Mr. Hansen received his Bachelors Degree at the University of Denver and his Masters in International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona. He is also a member of the New York Stock Exchange’s Individual Investors Advisory Committee.

Mr. Hansen will start on November 15 at AeA. He and I will overlap until February 2008 which will ensure a smooth transition to this new era.

Deirdre Hanford is Senior Vice President, Global Technical Services at Synopsys, Inc.  Her organization’s mission is to ensure the successful adoption of the company's technology into customers' demanding environments.  Having earned a BSEE from Brown University and an MSEE from U.C. Berkeley, Ms. Hanford joined Synopsys in 1987 and has held a variety of positions, including leadership roles in applications engineering, sales & marketing.  In 2001, Ms. Hanford was a recipient of the YWCA Tribute to Women and Industry (TWIN) Award.  That year she also received the Marie R. Pistilli Women in EDA Achievement Award.  She currently sits on the Technical Advisory Board for the University of California at Berkeley College of Engineering.

Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA) software for semiconductor design.  The company delivers technology-leading system and semiconductor design and verification platforms, IC manufacturing and yield optimization solutions, semiconductor intellectual property and design services to the global electronics market.  These solutions enable the development and production of complex integrated circuits and electronic systems.  Through its comprehensive solutions, Synopsys addresses the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, including power management, accelerated time to yield and system-to-silicon verification.  Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has more than 60 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Asia.

In addition to these two important announcements, the Board met to discuss AeA's top policy priorities for the year and heard presentations from Ken Shachmut, Senior Vice President and executive officer at Safeway, Inc., on health care reform and Michael R. Splinter, President & CEO, Applied Materials, Inc., on developments in solar technology.

Sincerely,


William T. Archey
President & CEO
AeA

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2007 California Legislative Session Comes to an End – AeA Has Yet Another Successful Year

At around 4:00 AM on September 13th State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez “gaveled down” the Assembly, which called this year’s legislative season to a close.  As many of you know, what happens in the California Legislature often replicates itself across the remaining 49 states.  This is why the activity of the California State Legislature is so important to AeA and our member companies.  This year we saw a myriad of bills that would both positively and negatively impact tech companies that do business in California; these bills include tax incentives, attempts to streamline California’s complicated procurement process, proposals to strengthen math and science education, attempts to create additional environmental regulations, and even bills to ban and/or limit a specific technology.

This year’s legislative session began like one I’ve never seen before – due in large part to two key factors:  our celebrity Governor, and having to work in an environment which is so heavily impacted by term limits.  With California’s strict term limits law, which allows an individual to serve only 6 years in the state Assembly and 8 years in the state Senate, we saw a massive turn over in members of both houses of the legislature in our last election.  This past December 36 brand new assemblymembers were sworn into office – this is nearly half of the house!  This created a new dilemma for me and my staff because most of these members have very little understanding of technology.  It became our job to educate these new members on the importance and value of technology.

All of that being said, AeA is proud to report yet another successful year defending and promoting technology in California’s Legislature!  Many of the bills that would hurt your company’s bottom line were stopped before they reached the Governor’s desk and many of the bills that would help promote tech and tech businesses in California were either passed or have made positive strides and increased the likelihood of passage in the future.

The following is a quick snapshot regarding some of our priority issue areas:

RFID
This year 6 bills were introduced that would limit or ban the use of Radio Frequency Technology in ID documents.  AeA was opposed to 5 of the 6 bills, and all of the measures that we opposed failed passage this year.  The one bill that we did not oppose was SB 362 (Simitian) was the only measure to pass.  This bill would make it illegal to force a human to be implanted with an RFID chip.  The other 5 bills limited the technology in one form or another, be it in private third party documents (such as a credit card) or in drivers licenses or school IDs.

Environmental Regulation
This year California saw over 50 bills introduced that addressed either specific chemicals or the use of chemicals in specific products.  While AeA did not take a position on all of these bills we did take positions on those that impacted our company’s ability to manufacture their products.  Again, our efforts paid off out of all these bills only one remains active and is likely to be vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.  In addition to chemical-use policy AeA took positions and actively lobbied against various bills to make changes to California’s E-Waste Law, issues surrounding extended producer responsibility, and labeling requirements for energy efficiency standards.

Tax/Fiscal Issues
This year AeA was proud to support an ambitious Tax Package which included a bill that would bring California’s R&D Tax Credit into conformity with the federal standard.  In addition to our R&D Tax efforts we actively supported an Elective Sales Factor proposal.  Both of these proposals seemed to have had more of a chance of passage than ever before.  Both the R&D and Elective Sales Factor tax incentives were put into the Assembly’s economic stimulus package that was a part of the Assembly budget compromise.  Unfortunately, at the end of our very long budget standoff the stimulus package did not survive.

These are just a few examples of the issues AeA worked on here in Sacramento.  Stay tuned for our “California 2007 End of Session Recap” which will becoming out in the next few weeks. If you have any questions on any of these issues, or any of the issues AeA works on in California, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 916.443-9059 x 101.

Roxanne Gould (bio)
Senior Vice President, California Legislative and Public Affairs

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AeA Hosts Global Trade Compliance Best Practices Conference at Google Headquarters

On Tuesday, September 18, 2007, AeA hosted the first annual Global Trade Compliance: Best Practices Conference in Mountain View, CA. The event was sponsored by Google and Export Strategies LLC. Over 100 global trade compliance professionals from across the U.S. attended the event which sold out in the second week of August and featured panels on Customs, Export and China trade compliance.

Government speakers included officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce. Industry speakers represented AMD, Applied Materials, Cymer, Hewlett-Packard Company, Hitachi Data Systems Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Plantronics Incorporated, and QUALCOMM Incorporated. Attendees also heard information on the legal aspects of global trade compliance from Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe. The government and industry speakers offered attendees guidance and experiences and resulting “best practices” in a format enabling the attendees to easily integrate or implement into their own company policies and procedures.

Panel topics included Customs classification, rules of origin, C-TPAT, ACE, encryption, deemed exports, the China export regulation and VEU program, and compliance practices and training for Chinese subsidiaries. A question and answer session was provided at the end of each panel in order for attendees to ask specific questions on topics of interest to their company. A detailed program agenda with all topics and speakers can be viewed on the following webpage.

For more information on the program contact Ken Montgomery at ken_montgomery@aeanet.org or to learn more about all of AeA’s International committees contact Rob Mulligan at rob_mulligan@aeanet.org.  


Export Controls Panel

Event Speakers

Customs Panel

Rob Mulligan (bio)
Senior Vice President, International


For more information on the International Issues affecting your company, visit:

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AeA Seeking Full Funding for America Competes Act

After the successful passage of America Competes Act, AeA is striving to ensure that the programs in this act are funded.  Consequently, AeA’s focus is on the appropriations process, which dictates what programs and agencies important to the high-tech industry receive funding.

As part of this mission and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the launching of Sputnik on October 4 and the sequential response by the U.S. to spur American innovation, AeA has hosted Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) as part of our Cyberseries programs that bring Government leaders to AeA's DC headquarters to speak directly to the tech industry. 

Both representatives sit on the powerful appropriations committee and most importantly sit on the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies subcommittee, which oversee the budget requests for many of the federal research and development agencies like the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Standards and Technology.  In October, AeA will continue to use its Cyberseries programs to advocate for full funding of the America Competes Act.  As part of this ongoing initiative, on October 10 AeA will be hosting Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and on October 17 Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) is also scheduled to speak at our DC office to member companies.  AeA is working on scheduling several more representatives in the coming weeks to advocate for full-funding of the America Competes Act.  We hope that you can attend these events.

If you would like more information about AeA's work on competitiveness, please contact Alan Vazquez, Manager/Counsel, Domestic Policy, at 202.682.4439.

John Palafoutas (bio)
Senior Vice President for Domestic Policy & Congressional Affairs


Event sponsor Frank Orlendella, Agilent,
and Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA).

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)
and John Palafoutas, AeA (L-R)

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State Issues Affecting Your Bottom Line

State Policy Updates: Georgia and Oregon Telework Laws; RFID Legislation in the States
Telework
On September 21 AeA and its Georgia Technology Leadership Coalition, with several partners, hosted an event and webinar to educate HR and business executives about the new state Telework Tax Credit, which will go into effect in 2008.  Over 100 companies attended the event and nearly 50 more attended online to learn about the credit and the impending application deadline of October 31. 

The Georgia General Assembly has allotted up to $2 million annually in credits for the 2008 and 2009 tax years for qualified employers.  Employers can receive up to a $20,000 tax credit for planning, consulting, training and/or raw labor costs associated with starting or expanding a telework program in the state.  Additionally, they can receive a $1,200 credit per new teleworker.

With this law, Georgia joins a growing number of states that provide various forms of tax incentives to employers who implement telework projects or provide mass transit and carpool subsidies to their workers.  Oregon, for instance, provides a 35% offset against corporate taxes for employer costs of telework programs and other energy saving expenses.

For more information on the Georgia Tax Credit contact Mike Levin, Executive Director, AeA Southeast Council, at 678.352.9469, and for information on the Oregon credit contact Jim Craven, Public and Legislative Affairs Director, AeA Oregon Council, at 503.624.6050.

RFID
For the last several years, AeA has been leading industry efforts to educate policymakers about Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in order to dispel myths surrounding the technology.  In support of this initiative, on September 19, Ben Aderson delivered a keynote address at the RFID World Conference in Boston.  He spoke to an audience of RFID experts about how policy could directly impact their businesses.

For more information on activity across the states or to get involved with AeA's State Government Affairs contact Ben Aderson.

Ben Aderson (bio)
Manager/Counsel, State Government Affairs and Technology Policy

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Sold-out Government-Industry Executive Interchange Draws 50+ Execs

On September 19, AeA conducted its Government-Industry Executive Interchange in the Association’s newly remodeled, state-of-the-art David Packard Conference Center.  This forum was held for Government and Industry executives to discuss their similar experiences, share insights, and exchange best practices.  Topics discussed were Health IT, Data Sharing, and Enterprise Architecture.

“These quarterly sessions have been very successful and are viewed as important must-attend events by top Government and Industry executives,” said Goldy Kamali, Director of AeA’s Government and Commercial Markets Group.  “Due to the format and intimate size of these meetings, senior executives have a true opportunity to exchange best practices and network with each other effectively.”

AeA's Government-Industry Executive Interchanges are DC's premier executive networking events that bring Federal CIOs, Program Managers, and Procurement Officials together with the leaders of the high-tech industry.  These gatherings attract a wide array of VIP attendees and sponsors.  Today’s session was sponsored by Cisco, Motorola, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Adobe, Apple, Citrix, HP, Microsoft, and UHC.

Speakers included:

  • Karen M. Bell, M.D., M.M.S., Director, Office of Health IT Adoption, HHS;
  • Vernon Bettencourt, Acting CIO and current Deputy CIO, ARMY;
  • Linda Boles, Business Development Manager, Federal Healthcare, Cisco Systems, Inc.;
  • Robert Burton, Deputy Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy, Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget;
  • Bobby Caudill, Group Manager, Global Government Solutions, Adobe;
  • Teresa Carlson, Executive Director, Microsoft Federal;
  • Alec Chalmers, Director of Sales for State and Local Government, and Education, Symantec;
  • Soraya Correa, Director, Office of Procurement Operations, DHS;
  • Casey Coleman, CIO of GSA;
  • Jean Edwards, Architecture Manager, Sun Microsystems;
  • Bill Hartwell, Vice President of Federal Area, Motorola;
  • Mark E. Krzysko, Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense, Business Transformation, DoD;
  • Georgia K. Marsh, Identity Management Division, Office of Governmentwide Policy, GSA;
  • Adair Martinez, Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Information Protection, Veterans Affairs;
  • Helen Schmitz, Acting Chief IT Architect, NIH; and
  • Marc Wine, Special Advisor to Director of TATRC, DoD.

For more information or to attend the next Interchange, planned for November 8, please contact Goldy Kamali, Director, Federal Government Market Group at 202.682.4432.

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Online Insurance Claims and Fully Verified Claims Within Seconds–
Offered by UnitedHealthcare in collaboration with the
AeA Health! Program

Doctor’s offices may now submit their claims online through the UnitedHealthcare physician Web site, UnitedHealthcareOnline.com. Instead of submitting claims in bulk or after patients’ visits, doctor’s offices can now submit and receive an approved, fully verified claim in less than 10 seconds. Previously, this process could have taken days or weeks. The new process provides access to the actual cost of care, at the point of care.

What does this mean for AeA members and the AeAHealth! Program?

AeAHealth! participants will know exactly how much their doctor visits cost before leaving the office which includes the total allowed cost of the procedure under contract, the amount to be reimbursed through health insurance and any amount the patient may owe.
Lower costs and speeds processing for consumers and physicians, while reducing one of the most significant hassles in health care: the billing, collection and settlement of a health care transaction.
You and your employees will better understand the financial aspects of health care decisions.

For more information about AeAHealth! and its offerings that are provided by UnitedHealthcare, please contact Tiffany Barrett* at 202.682.4459 or tiffany_barrett@aeanet.org.

*This program is only available through licensed brokers.

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Access to Investors

Register Today
Develop and Maintain Important Industry Relationships

October 15-16, 2007
Newport Beach, California

Join your peers at the AeA Technology Capital Conference featuring presentations from middle-market, privately held high-tech companies.  The conference provides an ideal setting to develop and maintain strategic business relationships. The event will include presentations from up to 25 companies with $5-$75 million in revenues and educational workshops led by industry experts.

  • Network and exchange information with company executives, entrepreneurs and investment professionals
  • Identify high potential business opportunities
  • Learn from industry experts during the workshops and keynote speakers

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
 -- Robert E. Grady, Managing Director,
The Carlyle Group
 -- Patrick C. Haden, General Partner,
Riordan, Lewis & Haden

PANEL TOPICS
 -- Funding Strategies For A Liquid Market
 -- Opportunities In A Booming M&A Market

Contact Tina Morais at 408.987.4234 or visit http://www.aeanet.org/CapitalConference for more information.


AeA Classic Logo

November 4-7, 2007 - Monterey, California

Featuring up to 200 Publicly Traded Technology Companies

Register today for the 37th annual AeA Classic Financial Conference held at the Monterey Conference Center, November 4-7.  Showcasing presentations from up to 200 publicly traded AeA member companies with a market cap or revenues of $100 million to $4 billion.   Presenting companies will have an opportunity to gain visibility and develop business contacts with 600+ investors. 

  • Access executives from up to 200 companies and 600+ investors in one location
  • Leverage the small group break out sessions to exchange information and identify new business opportunities
  • Network with investors and peers in a casual setting
  • To register, visit http://www.aeanet.org/Classic or call AeA's Financial Conferences Team at 408.987.4236.
     

    KEYNOTE

    Brian Halla

    The keynote speaker of the conference will be Brian Halla (bio), Chairman & CEO, National Semiconductor Corporation.
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    Access to Investors

    AeA Salary Surveys - Participation Made Easier Banner

    High-Tech Industry Specific Salary Data At Your Fingertips

    In today's business market, it is critical to avoid costly mistakes.  AeA's Salary Survey ensures you have the right information to determine if you are over or under compensating your employees, allowing you to maximize your top and bottom lines.

    AeA offers online, subscription-based access, allowing you to receive fresh data, anytime. Unlike any other survey product on the market, AeA's Salary Survey provides: 

    • Current Data - Updated daily, year-round, provides you the most up-to-date data available
    • Custom Reports - Refine searches based on region, industry or company type at no extra cost
    • Free Access - AeA Members receive complimentary access, just for participating

    Your company's participation in the AeA Salary Survey is critical to maint