We would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a warm and happy holiday season. Thank you for all your support in 2014, and we look forward to another year dedicated to helping U.S. Manufacturers thrive and succeed. This will be the last weekly e-blast issued in calendar year 2014. Look for the next one to come on Friday, January 9, 2015. We hope you enjoy some winter festivities and we’ll see you again in 2015!

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Gary Yakimov, Manager of NIST MEP's Policy and Research team will be leaving MEP effective January 9, 2015. Gary has taken a Senior Executive position elsewhere in the federal government. Ken Voytek will serve as the Acting Manager for the team. If you would like to reach out to Gary and wish him well please contact him at gary.yakimov@nist.gov.

Dan Lilley, Regional Manager of MEP's Southeast Region,is retiring from NIST at the end December. Following a successful career as a Director for the North Carolina MEP, Dan completed seven years as a Regional Manager at NIST MEP. Dan’s official last day is December 26th, 2014. During this time, Mike Simpson and Wiza Lequin will be responsible for the day to day management and oversight of the Southeastern region. Please join us in wishing him all the best in the future. If you would like to reach out to Dan you can contact him at daniel.lilley@nist.gov.

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The next MEP Advisory Board meeting will take place on the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, MD on Wednesday, January 21st from 8:30 – 2:00pm. The meeting topics will include an update to the board on current MEP activities, as well as an update from the two Advisory Board Committees – Technology Acceleration and Board Governance. The MEP Advisory Board meeting is open to the public, and if you are interested in attending, please email Monica Claussen at monica.claussen@nist.gov so that she can ensure you have access to the NIST campus.

If you have any questions about the MEP Advisory Board meeting, please contact Kari Reidy at kari.reidy@nist.gov or 301-975-4919.

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NIST Small Business Information Security reference guide is open for public comments.

Recently NIST's Computer Security Division Released a reference guide titled, "Small Business Information Security: The Fundamentals" which is now available for public comments. NIST, along with the Small Business Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation -in an effort to inform small businesses about security awareness- have developed a reference guideline for small businesses to present the fundamentals of a small business information security program in non-technical language. Comments will be accepted through February 9, 2015. Please send comments / questions to: smallbizsecurity@nist.gov.

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Gain a competitive advantage by identifying export opportunities and best prospects in Guatemala’s market. The United States is Guatemala’s main trading partner whereas Guatemala ranks as the 40th largest export market for U.S. exports.

U.S. products and services enjoy strong name recognition in Guatemala, and U.S. firms have a good reputation in the Guatemalan marketplace. U.S. goods exports to Guatemala in 2013 were $5.5 billion. Guatemala is at the center of a large regional market for U.S. goods and services. The leading sectors for U.S. exports and investment are: Automotive Accessories, Auto Parts and Service Equipment; Security and Safety Equipment; Forestry and Woodworking Machinery.

Click here for more information and to register.

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An objective of all organizations is to quickly train associates to do a job correctly, safely, and conscientiously. Job Instruction (JI) is designed to develop basic stability of your processes (standard work). This program teaches the method to instruct a person how to perform a job – any job.
For further details click here.

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Learn how Additive manufacturing is becoming more cost-efficient to introduce and easier to implement and operate, and learn about R&D tax incentives in our information-packed live web event.

Bruce Bradshaw, VP of Marketing in North America for Stratasys which is one of the major manufacturers of 3D printing systems, will share his unique perspectives on trends in affordability and applications in additive manufacturing.

Click here  for more information.Webinar Information to follow. If you have any questions please contact Doug Devereaux at doug.devereaux@nist.gov.

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Are you prepared to respond to the urgent need to work with the dramatic number of companies that will change ownership in the next 5-10 years? Family Business Advisors bring focus and helps owners realize successful transitions, business growth and innovation. This program can expand your market and easily move you to C-Level conversations about long-term growth.

This Certification program prepares advisors to work with owners on strategies for the future of their business! Participants receive program materials and access to online assessment and delivery tools. Certification cost for the two-day training is $1695. Questions or for further information contact lstewart@galliardgroup.com or go to the Galliard website to learn more and register.

There will also be Certification February 24-25,2015 in Little Rock Arkansas.

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Join us for a "learn, share and do" opportunity as we explore how Ingersoll Rand Southern Pines has utilized MDI (Managing for Daily Improvement) as part of their Lean Journey and participate in our one day Toyota Kata workshop to gain an understanding of how the Improvement and Coaching Kata methodologies are being implemented. Click here to register or for more information.

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Calling all Improvement Kata / Coaching Kata practitioners and those who would like to be to attend the first-ever Improvement Kata / Coaching Kata Summit. This event brings together the rapidly growing world of Improvement Kata / Coaching Kata users and emphasizes experiential learning so practitioners, trainers and consultants can integrate practice of the Improvement Kata / Coaching Kata routines into their teams and organizations.

For more information and registration, please visit www.katasummit.com.

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During a 2 Day Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Basics class you will learn the equipment related techniques for a successful & sustainable TPM program. For further details click here.

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