Member Briefing August 6, 2026

Manufacturers Are Ahead of the Curve in AI Readiness

A new study conducted by Workera, an AI-powered platform that measures, verifies and develops workforce competency, reveals that manufacturers earn high marks for closing AI skill gaps—and they close them faster than any other major sector. Drawing on more than 88,000 assessments among global manufacturing leaders, the data showed that those who committed to structured upskilling efforts achieved 79% readiness, exceeding the 75% threshold associated with successful skills transformation. Some of the most important hard and soft skills manufacturing teams need to successfully work with—and see value in—AI include:

• Data Analysis and Interpretation: Workers must be able to interpret real-time sensor data generated on the shop floor.
• Robotics and Automation: Employees are increasingly required to safely operate and troubleshoot alongside collaborative robots (cobots) and AI-driven machinery.
• Critical Thinking: While AI can make recommendations based on real-time and accurate data, it cannot fix a jammed line or a misaligned component. Strong problem-solving skills are needed to address unexpected physical and technical challenges.
• AI Literacy: Employees must understand how to effectively interact with systems to extract insights from data and generate relevant reports.
• Continuous Learning: Smart technologies evolve quickly, and teams need to demonstrate an aptitude and willingness to continually learn and upgrade their skills.
• Empathy and Oversight: In an AI-driven environment, uniquely human skills, such as cross-team collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and emotional intelligence will be valued, no matter how good the AI is.

Read more at Advanced Manufacturing

New York’s Electricity Prices Climb to Third Highest in the U.S.

Empire Center’s Energy Data Bulletin shows New York households paid the third-highest residential electricity prices in the country in May 2026, trailing only Hawaii and California. The latest U.S. Energy Information Administration data put New York’s residential electricity prices at 29.93 cents per kilowatt-hour in May 2026. New York’s prices rose 12 percent from a year earlier, twice the rate of increase for the U.S. average.

New York’s prices are 62 percent higher than the national average, nearly double Florida’s and more than 80 percent higher than Texas’s. Households in neighboring New Jersey and Pennsylvania paid lower prices, at 23.27 cents/kWh and 21.55 cents/kWh, respectively. “New York’s energy policy is contributing to the higher costs we have warned about for years,” said Zilvinas Silenas, president of the Empire Center. New York’s average residential natural gas prices were 15 percent above the national average and ranked 19th highest in the U.S.

Read more at The Empire Center

ADP: Private Companies Added Just 44,000 Workers In July, Below Expectations. Mfg Added 2,000 workers

Hiring at private companies slowed considerably in July, with most of the job growth coming from healthcare, payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday. Nonfarm job growth excluding government totaled a seasonally adjusted 44,000 for the month, below the downwardly revised 95,000 in June and less than the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 75,000. On net, all of the gains came from the services sector, which added 47,000 while goods-producing companies saw a decline of 3,000.

• The education and health services sector produced 36,000 of those jobs, continuing a long-standing trend for the industry in leading employment growth.
• Financial activities added 10,000, professional and business services contributed 9,000, and the other services category saw a gain of 6,000.
• Trade, transportation and utilities lost 8,000 while natural resources and mining was off 6,000.
• Manufacturing saw growth of just 2,000 while construction added 1,000.
• Distribution among company size was relatively balanced, with firms employing fewer than 50 people leading with 23,000 new jobs.
• Pay gains held steady at 4.4% annually for those staying in their jobs.
• Job switchers saw a 7% increase, the largest since August 2025.

Read more at CNBC

Iran and the Middle East

• Trump Says Deal To Reopen The Strait Of Hormuz Could Come This Week – AP
• Proposed Hormuz Deal Would Give Iran Control Of Inbound Traffic But Not Tolls, Sources Say - Reuters
• Iran, Oman, US ‘Close’ To Hormuz Deal: What Do They All Want? – Al Jazeera
• Iran Threatens To Hit Gulf States If US Launches New Strikes - Reuters
• Gulf Shipping Traffic Steady Amid Uncertainty Of Peace Talks - Reuters
• Days-Old Hamas Disarmament Deal Is Already in Danger - WSJ
• Israel Launches Strikes On Lebanon In New Flare-Up - FT
• Interactive Map – US and Israeli Attack in Iran – ArcGIS Story Maps
• Map – Conflicts in the Middle East – Live Universal Awareness Map

Ukraine

• Oil Refinery In Russia's Yaroslavl Is On Fire After Ukrainian Drone Attack, Governor Says - Reuters
• Putin Overhauls War Effort In Ukraine As Russia Seeks Momentum – Politico
• Russia Kills 17 In Heavy Ballistic Hit On Ukraine, Destroys Warehouses, Logistics - Reuters
• Kyiv’s Former Top Commander Says NATO Is Too Outdated For Ukraine - Politico
• EU Releases €1.4 Billion To Ukraine From Frozen Russian Asset Profits After Kyiv Attacks - Euronews
• North Korean Missile Unit Deploys In Russia For Ukraine War, Kyiv Says - Reuters
• ‘Black Widows’: Women Accused Of Marrying Russian Army Recruits To Claim Death Payouts - CNN
• US Presses On With Ukraine Patriot Missile Talks, Sources Say, Despite Trump's Doubts - Reuters
• Interactive Map: Assessed Control Of Terrain In Ukraine – Institute For The Study Of War
• Map – Tracking Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine – Live Universal Awareness Map

Other World Headlines

• Ceuta Appeals For Aid As Child Migrant Crisis Becomes 'Unsustainable'– France 24
• Ukraine Becomes Fault Line In Italy’s Next Election - Politico
• Flávio Bolsonaro Announces His Running Mate For Brazil’s October Election In A Bid Against Lula - AP
• German Anti-Terror Police Investigate Explosive Drone Found At Leipzig Airport - Politico
• Portugal Legend Luis Figo Calls For Infantino To Resign, Saying He 'Debased' FIFA Presidency - Euronews
• China Sentences Former Defence Industry Regulator To 10 Years For Graft, Influence Peddling - Reuters
• A Vote on Leaving Canada Is the Gamble of a Lifetime for Alberta’s Leader - WSJ
• Iceland Orders Expulsion And Re-Entry Ban On 21 Anti-Whaling Activists, Police Say – Euronews

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Proposed Data Centers Dividing New Yorkers Even As Moratorium Goes Into Effect

People love their technology, including phones, tablets, computers and more. But with that — especially the growing popularity of artificial intelligence — come challenges, including the massive data centers needed to run that technology. With the growth of AI, companies are rushing to build energy-eating data centers all over the state. People across New York have pushed back. After state lawmakers passed a one-year data center moratorium, Gov. Kathy Hochul recently instead signed an executive order making New York the first state in the nation to hit the brakes on permits for new, large-scale data centers. 

“Millions of people are utilizing AI and requiring access to the cloud simultaneously and around the world and all the time. The data center needs to be running 24/7. Both of those factors drive a stronger demand for more data centers.” said Ke Xu, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. “The main driver, I think, is the desire for profit," said birdwatcher Harold Mills. "Another way to put that is greed. And I don't think that's a good thing.”

Read more at NY State of Politics

America’s Water Systems Are Under Attack. Iran May Be To Blame

A recent wave of cyberattacks on American water systems is raising alarm at all levels of government, with U.S. authorities reportedly suspecting Iran-linked hackers. The FBI reported Thursday that “malicious cyber actors” targeted water and wastewater utility companies in at least seven states over the prior four days, resulting in a “loss of monitoring and control functionality.” Officials in Michigan, Minnesota and New Jersey have reported attacks. Experts told the BBC that the biggest threat of the hacks was not to the water supply itself, but in degrading public confidence in the security of their water.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) is reportedly probing a possible Iranian connection, according to US media. Cisa would not comment. Although US President Donald Trump has not blamed Iran, cyber-experts have told the BBC it is likely the attack was directed by Tehran. Morgan Wright, a former US state department anti-terror adviser, said he expects the number of states impacted to grow and that "no state is immune". The US has 152,000 public drinking water systems and more than 16,000 wastewater treatment facilities.

Read more at The BBC

Pattern for Progress: 42.8% Of The Region’s Households Fall Below The ALICE Threshold

The report examines the 2026 United for ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) data (reflecting 2024 household conditions) for the nine county Hudson Valley region covered by Pattern for Progress: Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester. The data provide new insights into the continued financial challenges faced by ALICE households amid ongoing inflation. Rising costs for essentials such as housing, childcare, food, and transportation have placed additional pressure on household budgets.

398,202 Hudson Valley households struggle to afford essential living costs. This includes 95,500 households living below the federal poverty line and 302,702 ALICE households who earn above the poverty level but may remain ineligible for assistance, despite being unable to cover basic household expenses. The continued growth of ALICE households affects labor force participation, employee retention, housing markets, economic competitiveness, and long-term regional prosperity.

Read more at Pattern for Progress

November Election Headlines

• Abdul El-Sayed Wins Michigan’s Democratic Senate Primary, Notching A Midwest Victory For The Far Left – NBC News
• Democratic Socialists Turn To Hong In Wisconsin With Hopes For Next Big Win – The Hill
• Virginia Democrats Pick Establishment Nominees For 2 US House Seats They Hope To Flip In November - AP
• Rove: Republicans Making Same Mistake That Hurt Democrats In 2024 – The Hill
• Rep. Wesley Bell Defeats Former Rep. Cori Bush In A Missouri Democratic Primary Rematch – NBC News
• North Carolina Republican Edwards Drops Reelection Bid After Sexual Harassment Allegations - Reuters
• Real Clear Politics Generic Congressional Vote Poll Average – Real Clear Politics
• 2026 Senate Election Forecasts – 270 to Win

More Policy and Politics Headlines

• Senate Confirms Dr. Erica Schwartz As CDC Director, Bringing New Leadership To Troubled Agency – WTOP
• Mexican Jalapenos Tied To Salmonella Outbreak In 27 US States - Reuters
• US Unveils Charges Against Five Leaders Of Mexico's CJNG Cartel - Reuters
• Fauci’s Decision To Invoke The Fifth Amendment Tees Up A Legal Debate And A Contempt Vote - AP
• US Has Used 'Virtually All' Of Its Long-Range Precision Missiles During Iran War, Sources Say - Reuters
• OPM Drops ‘Disparate Impact’ Guidelines From Federal Hiring Regulations – Federal News Network
• Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Has Detained More Than 50 Military Spouses And Parents - AP
• Washington Holds Up Approval For France’s US Ambassador Pick Amid Human Rights Spat - Politico
• Nassau BOCES Gets $5 Million In SBA Funding To Grow Defense Manufacturing On Long Island – Newsday

Could A Change In Diet Improve Mental Health? Metabolic Psychiatry, Explained

Chemical imbalances in neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin have long been posited as the primary drivers of many mental illness, but that is an incomplete picture, says Georgia Ede, a psychiatrist in Newburyport, Massachusetts, who has treated hundreds of patients with the keto diet, supplemented with medication when required. Psychiatric research as far back as the 1920s linked impaired brain-energy metabolism with mental illness, Sethi and her colleagues wrote earlier this year in the journal Nature Mental Health. The link was long downplayed, the article states, but newer research supports the idea that “systemic and central metabolic abnormalities influence brain function and behavior.”

Part of the intrigue with metabolic psychiatry is how it works both ways. People with major psychiatric disorders have higher rates of metabolic disease, while those with metabolic conditions are more prone to mental illness. In fact, people with insulin resistance, where the body can’t properly regulate blood sugar, are twice as likely to develop major depressive disorder as those without, according to a study tracking people in the Netherlands for nearly a decade. When a doctor suggested the keto diet to an overweight patient with diabetes and treatment-resistant schizophrenia to control her weight and blood sugar. Both doctor and patient were surprised to find it also improved the psychiatric symptoms that no medications had previously curbed.

Read more at National Geographic 

Upcoming Council Programs

Events

SOLD OUT! TEE SIGNS STILL AVAILABLE Council of Industry Golf Outing - Monday August 24th 11:30 AM - 7:30 PM. The Powelton Club, Newburgh.

Insight Exchange - On Demand Webinars

C3POA - Key Perpectives on your CMMC Compiance Journey - Presented by Nick DeLena, PKF O'Connor Davies.

CMMC for Legacy Equipment: Securing Specialized Assets with Zero Trust Micro-Enclaves - Presented by Marc Hoover, Trout Software.

See previous episodes here!

Training

Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership (CML), In Person at Orange Community College , Newburgh.  Sept 16 - Dec 9. 8:30 - 4:30. (7 Courses)

Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, In Person at DCC Fishkill.  October 13, 14, and 15. 8:30 - 4:30.

Trade Wars

• Trump Admin Refunds $100 Billion In ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs – CNBC
• China Hits Back At US With Barrage Of Sanctions, Drone Industry Curbs - AP
• Vegas Workers Say They Have Been Hit By Tourism Slump Fueled By Trump-Era Tariffs And High Costs - Reuters
• Carney Wants Broader Tariff Relief as Trump’s New 50% Levy Looms - Bloomberg

Eli Lilly Sees Strong Demand For Weight-Loss Drugs

Eli Lilly, the American drug giant, had another record-breaking quarter. The weight-loss injection Zepbound saw sales soar 46% in the second quarter to $4.9 billion. The FactSet consensus was $4.7 billion. Mounjaro, the same drug, but approved for Type 2 diabetes, brought in $9.9 billion in revenue, against a FactSet estimate of $8.9 billion. Mounjaro is the world’s top-selling drug. Foundayo, its new GLP-1 pill, brought in $98 million in sales in its first full quarter since launching in April, coming in lower than the FactSet consensus of $103 million.

Lilly’s GLP-1 franchise, which includes Zepbound/Mounjaro and Foundayo, comprises 65% of its sales. Lilly is also gearing up to expand its weight-loss options. It plans to submit retatrutide, a weight-loss injection drug that helps people lose up to 28% of their body weight at the highest dose, to the U.S. regulators in the first quarter of 2027, aiming for approval later that year or in early 2028.  Lilly’s total revenue climbed 48% to $23.0 billion, up from $15.6 billion in the same three months a year ago, and handily beating a FactSet estimate of $20.7 billion.

Read more at MarketWatch

PDW, DOD Sign $820M Conditional Loan Boosting Drone Part Production

Component maker Performance Drone Works signed a $820 million conditional loan commitment with the Department of Defense to ramp up domestic manufacturing capacity, according to a July 31 press release. PDW plans to use the funds to grow its manufacturing capabilities, physical footprint and workforce to “deliver critical components and systems at the scale and speed required,” CEO James Slider said in an email statement

The company is not able to disclose additional information, but the loan will fund a “specific mix” of facility improvements, manufacturing infrastructure, and equipment as well as improve its production capabilities “as the overarching effort progresses,” Slider added. The parts being made will support Group 1 and Group 2 unmanned aircraft systems made by PDW and other domestic manufacturers. The drones under the groups listed weigh up to 55 pounds, have an altitude of up to 3,500 above ground level and a speed of about 288 miles per hour, per the military’s Joint Air Operations guidance.

Read more at Manfuacturing Dive

BMW To Shed 8,000 Roles, Following Volkswagen And Mercedes-Benz Cuts

BMW presented a voluntary redundancy plan in Munich after six weeks of talks with its works council, Euronews reported, citing German media. The program is expected to save about €1 billion a year from 2028, with severance pay based on salary and tenure. Reuters said Germany’s automotive industry is facing a structural downturn driven by the EV transition, U.S. tariffs and intense competition from Chinese rivals, highlighting that BMW’s restructuring is part of a sector-wide pattern rather than a company-specific problem.

BMW’s offers go out starting in October, according to Euronews. Whether the company hits its 8,000 target through voluntary uptake alone, or has to revisit the structure, will be a signal for how much appetite German white-collar auto workers have for exit packages at this scale. BMW’s announcement follows the same pattern set by Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, both of which have already reached agreements with unions to cut tens of thousands of positions, Reuters reported. Volkswagen is weighing layoffs of up to 100,000 workers and the closure of four German plants. Porsche, part of the Volkswagen Group, expanded its restructuring plans this week to cut about 20% of staff by 2035.

Read more at HR Executive

Toyota Boosts Guidance, Announces $6 Billion Share Buyback As Fiscal Q1 Results Shine

Toyota reported fiscal first quarter results on Tuesday that topped estimates for revenue and net income, and the world's largest automaker raised its full-year profit forecast and announced a share buyback even as US tariffs and softer sales hit operating profit. Toyota now sees full-year operating income at 3.4 trillion yen ($21.3 billion) for the financial year ending March 2027, up from a previous forecast of 3 trillion yen ($18.8 billion). This follows last quarter's 20% cut to its outlook. The boost also comes after US rivals GM and Ford lifted their yearly guidance too.

Toyota also announced a share repurchase authorization of up to 1 trillion yen ($6 billion). The guidance boost and share repurchase plan come on the back of strong results. Toyota reported adjusted sales revenue of 13.53 trillion yen ($84.5 billion) for fiscal Q1 vs. 13.06 trillion yen ($81.6 billion) per Bloomberg consensus, up 10% compared to a year ago. Toyota posted net income of 1.48 trillion yen ($9.2 billion), well above the consensus of 1.04 trillion yen ($6.5 billion), and up 76% from last year. Toyota cited factors such as other income and a much weaker yen, which averaged 160 per dollar in the quarter, versus 145 a year earlier.

Read more at Yahoo Finance

US Steel Emerges As Growth Driver One Year After Nippon Steel Deal

U.S. Steel has emerged as a major growth driver for Nippon Steel following its acquisition last summer. Higher domestic steel prices and operational improvements last quarter helped the segment partially offset sluggish demand overseas and market uncertainty in the Middle East. U.S. Steel generated 32.2 billion yen ($204.5 million) of underlying business profit during the three months that ended June 30. That represented nearly 30% of Nippon Steel’s underlying business profit. The segment is expected to continue driving earnings growth through next year.

Nippon Steel on Tuesday raised U.S. Steel’s fiscal year 2026 business profit guidance to 180 billion yen ($1.14 billion) compared to a previous forecast of 100 billion yen. The Japan-based company attributed the revision to the full benefits of a blast furnace restart and market recovery in the United States. Despite cost and export challenges, the company is bullish on its full-year guidance driven by investments in Europe and the U.S. Nippon Steel updated its full-year forecast to surpass 700 billion yen ($4.45 billion) in underlying business profit, citing U.S. Steel as a major growth driver. That is up from 650.4 billion yen last year.

Read more at Manufacturing Dive

Caterpillar Lifts 2026 Sales Growth Target On Strong Data Center Demand After Quarterly Profit Beat

Caterpillar raised its annual revenue growth forecast after beating second-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday, benefiting from a buildout of AI data centers that has spurred demand for its power-generation and construction equipment. Overall revenue grew 24% to $20.54 billion in the quarter ending June 30. Core construction segment revenue grew 35% in that period on strong retail sales, particularly in top market North America, where it recorded a 50% jump. The company cut its full-year tariff costs forecast to around $2.2 billion from the previously expected $2.2 billion to $2.6 billion.

Over the last few quarters, the equipment giant has seen a surge in orders for construction equipment amid a nationwide buildout of data centers as well as the backup power equipment needed for such buildings. The power and energy arm, meanwhile, posted 17% revenue growth. The two segments accounted for a combined 81% of Caterpillar’s total revenue. The company builds power generators and backup power equipment under its power & energy segment, while its construction industries segment manufactures excavators and bulldozers.

Read more at CNBC

GE Expanding Power Transmission Plant

GE Vernova is increasing capacity for manufacturing some electrical grid components at its power transmission plant in Charleroi, Penn., to shorten lead-times amid heavy demand - including data centers, it noted. U.S. utilities are investing and estimated $1.4 trillion through 2030 to modernize and expand the electric grid, to meet rising power demand, including the needs of A.I. engines.

When GE Vernova announced its Charleroi expansion plans in 2025, they included new production lines and manufacturing assets for high-voltage switchgear, circuit breakers, and instrument transformers to meet accelerating demand driven by grid modernization, AI data centers, and electrification. The Charleroi plant expansion is expected to result in approximately 275 new manufacturing jobs through 2028. The new jobs include wiring technicians, mechanics, test technicians, logistics coordinators, and supply-chain specialists.

Read more at American Machinist

Musk Says SpaceX Will Exclusively Use Nvidia Chips

Elon Musk told investors during the company's first-ever earnings call that going forward, SpaceX will build its AI services exclusively on Nvidia's systems. Nvidia stock rose more than 4% on the news on Wednesday. SpaceX stock, meanwhile, fell more than 10% before rising off the lows. "We think the Vera Rubin architecture is the best architecture. We think it's the best AI computer, and we greatly value our close cooperation and partnership on many levels with Nvidia," Musk said. "So we're exclusive to Nvidia."

According to the CEO, SpaceX expects to end the year with more than 2 gigawatts of compute and anticipates having close to 10 gigawatts of computing capacity by the end of next year. Musk also said that the company plans to launch Nvidia's Vera Rubin NVL72 rackscale system both on the ground and in space as part of its Starmind satellite program.

Read more at Yahoo Finance

New Images Of The Sun Show Its Surface In The Finest Detail Yet

Scientists have captured images of the sun’s surface in the finest detail yet, revealing a strange and dynamic facade. It’s dangerous to look directly at the sun without proper eye protection. But researchers were able to peek at its scorching surface with the help of the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, located on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Scientists originally took the images for a different reason: to fine-tune and test the limits of the telescope. But when they looked at the results, they realized they’d photographed the sun’s bright outer shell at higher resolution than ever before.

Researchers saw ripples of instability on the sun’s surface caused by bits of magnetized plasma moving past each other at different speeds — similar to waves that stir when a gust of wind blows over water. It’s a well-known phenomenon that guides how fluids move. This has been glimpsed on Earth and other planets like Jupiter and Saturn, but “it has not been observed ever at that level on the solar surface,” according to study co-author Friedrich Wöger with the National Solar Observatory.

Read more, see the images, at Nature

Daily Market Update August 5, 2026

The September ’26 natural gas contract is trading up $0.01 at $2.69. The September ‘26 crude oil contract is up $0.43 at $76.20. 

Read more at NRG

Learn more about the Council of Industry Energy Buying Group

Quote of the Day

“Though much is taken, much abides; and though

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

Alfred Lord Tennyson - English Poet from his Poem Ulysses. He was born on this day in 1809.

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