MADE Conversations: Innovation and workplace culture

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — In the second episode of MADE Conversations, News 8's Mike Cerulli and WICC's Melissa Sheketoff talked about innovation, workplace culture, hiring and entertaining employees.
Connecticut's Chief Marketing Officer Anthony Anthony, Public Policy Associate at Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) Jenna Grasso and Managing Director at the Connecticut Office of Innovation Jessica Dodge were guests on the show.
Watch the episode in the video above.
The first event of the MADE series, a quarterly business leadership series designed to support Connecticut's industry professionals and entrepreneurs, took place in April at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
Upcoming MADE events include:
Reputation MADE | October 2025 in the greater Fairfield County area, addressing how businesses can differentiate themselves and stand out in a crowded media ecosystem with authentic and strong brands.
Learn more at https://connecticut-made.com/.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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USA Today

20 hours ago

• USA Today

Israel may run low on missile interceptors, putting US in a 'bind'

If the U.S. chooses to replenish Israel's missile interceptors, it may have to draw them from other stockpiles. As Israel downs incoming volleys of Iranian missiles, a shortage of its missile interceptors could put both the United States and Israel in a bind. After a week of its aerial war with Iran, Israel's long-range Arrow interceptors are running low, the Wall Street Journal reported on June 18. In addition to Arrow interceptors, which are Israeli-made, Israel also has U.S.-made THAAD systems, which intercept medium-range ballistic missiles. If the United States chooses to replenish Israel's missile interceptors, it would mean drawing from other stockpiles, since Congress wouldn't have time to surge U.S. defense production of more, according to Brandan Buck, a research fellow at the Cato Institute. That could include siphoning off interceptors marked off for delivery to Ukraine, to Taiwan in a possible future conflict, or from the U.S.'s own national stock, Buck said. "If they truly do run out... that's going to put us in a position in which we have to make some serious decisions," Buck said. "It's going to put the U.S. and Israel in a bit of a bind," he added. The U.S. could also position some naval ships off the coast to "augment some of their capacity," according to Buck. The USS Nimitz, a massive aircraft carrier, is en route to the region and will arrive in less than a week, USA TODAY previously reported. It will join the USS Carl Vinson, which moved to the Middle East in April. When Iran launched a volley of ballistic missiles at Israel in October, the U.S. helped to intercept its attacks using interceptors fired from two other U.S. warships. The U.S. spends $3.4 billion to bolster Israel's missile defense every year, including $1.3 billion for its Iron Dome, according to the State Department. Iran could still have thousands of missiles in its arsenal Israel keeps information about its missile interceptor stockpiles tightly under wraps. Its military said on June 16 that it had taken out a third of Iran's missile launchers. Israel says its missile defense success rate stands at greater than 90% against Iran's attacks in the ongoing aerial war. Still, some have evaded Israel's defenses, including the missile that struck a hospital in southern Israel on Thursday. It's also unclear exactly how many missiles Iran has left. The Pentagon estimated in 2021 that Iran just under 3,000 missiles of different ranges. Since Israel attacked Iran on June 12 through June 16, Iran had fired around 370 missiles, meaning thousands could remain. Israel's multilayered air defense system is designed to take down incoming missives from a variety of ranges. The Iron Dome intercepts missiles and rockets fired from a short range of up to around 45 miles, and David's Sling intercepts cruise missiles and rockets at a range of up to about 125 miles. The longer-range missiles fired by Iran are picked up by the Israeli-made Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems, which intercept ballistic missiles at a range of up to around 60 miles and 1,500 miles, respectively. In October, the United States sent Israel a THAAD system – capable of intercepting missiles inside and outside of the atmosphere – including American personnel to operate it. According to news reports, the United States sent a second THAAD to Israel in April, although the Pentagon has not publicly confirmed the transfer. The U.S. Army has just seven THAAD batteries in total – it will get an eighth later this summer.

USA Today

a day ago

• USA Today

Ford's leadership team studies China's auto industry for competitive edge

In late May, Ford Motor Co.'s executive leadership team went to China with an agenda: To study every aspect of how Chinese auto companies operate, then apply those learnings across Ford in its other markets. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker has been studying China's car companies for years now; that's not new. But in recent years, Ford's leaders have intensified their examination of its Chinese rivals, viewing Chinese automakers as the top competition to learn from — and beat. Ford CEO Jim Farley started taking his leadership team to Shanghai and other big markets in China a couple times a year starting about two years ago. The sojourns last about a week, said Mark Truby, Ford's chief communications officer who has been on a couple of the trips. Truby said the team drives China-made vehicles, talks to the experts in China, studies the technology and the customer service all with the purpose of learning "with a humble approach" and to ensure Ford has the right partnerships and strategy to succeed. Auto sales in 2025: Ford sales surge 16.3% in May amid employee pricing and tariff concerns "It's not just a copy and paste because the markets are so different," Andrew Frick, Ford's president of Ford Blue and Model-e divisions, told investors on June 11. "China is different from the U.S., different from Europe, et cetera. What we're trying to do is really replicate the intellectual approach, the speed that they do business on, and learn from our (joint venture) partners and then transfer that knowledge to the company." Ford's ultimate goal is to lead in every global market Ford is in, knowing that one day the Chinese will bring their cars to the United States. When they do, Ford has to be competitive if the 121-year-old automaker is to survive another century. Consider what Ford Vice Chair John Lawler recently told Wall Street analysts about the Chinese automakers. "They're going to continue to be a force to be reckoned with, given their speed, their cost structure, their nimbleness and their ability to iterate very quickly," Lawler said at the Bernstein 41st Annual Strategic Decisions Conference in New York on May 28. "When they've established themselves, they'll be looking to come to the U.S. So is that five years? Ten years down the road? I don't know. But eventually, they'll come, just like the Japanese did and the Koreans did." When China's automakers do enter this market, Lawler said, consumers will gravitate to the lowest cost, highest quality products, not caring if those products are made by a foreign rival. "That's eventually going to happen," Lawler said. China's growth to world dominance Dan Ives, managing director of Wedbush Securities, applauds Ford's strategy to study China car companies. "This is a smart move as the innovation and supply chain from BYD and other China automakers is stunning," Ives told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. "(CEO) Jim Farley and team using this as rebirth of Ford to expand globally is a smart pivot." But Morningstar's autos analyst David Whiston warns that "everyone is a formidable competitor these days." "The Chinese have come on strong and I suspect executives feel it's a matter of time before they are selling in the U.S.," Whiston said. "The Koreans are no longer the cheap bargain substitute brand they were 15-20 years ago. Then there's EV startups like Rivian and Lucid floating out there and continued premium competition from the German three and Porsche." But China is now the largest new vehicle sales market in the world. A total of 31.4 million vehicles, including buses and trucks, were sold last year there, a 4.5% jump compared with a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported. Growth in sales outpaced production, which rose 3.7%. By comparison, about 16 million new vehicles were sold in the United States last year, up 2.7% from the previous year. China has expanded in other markets, too. Exports of Chinese-made passenger cars soared nearly 20% in 2024, to about 5 million vehicles, according to an Associated Press report. Exports of what China calls 'new energy vehicles," which are battery electric vehicles, fuel-cell cars and plug-in hybrids, reached 1.28 million in 2024, a 6.7% increase from 2023. Trump tariff turmoil: How Ford is navigating rare earth mineral supply chain disruptions, tariffs and more The U.S. government has a 100% tariff on China-made electric cars and the European Union also hit China-based EV makers with high tariffs, saying the Chinese automakers have benefited from unfair government subsidies. The tariffs have kept all Chinese-made cars from being sold in the States so far. But to say American automakers are not alarmed by the rapid expansion of the Chinese automakers around the world, would be an understatement. "I would say it is pretty serious," Mike Wall, executive director of Automotive Analysis at S&P Global Mobility, said of the Chinese threat to U.S. car companies. "While the Chinese are not directly competing in the U.S. yet, I think there is an expectation that they eventually will be and for a global automaker like Ford (and others), the threat the Chinese present in other markets is already there." Ford's use of China as an export hub Ford and General Motors have both faced an increasingly tough market in China in recent years as Chinese automakers, including the giant BYD, and EV-leader Tesla, have dominated domestic sales there. Both automakers have worked to reverse slumping sales in China. GM shut down facilities last year as it spent $5 billion to restructure there. Ford shifted focus to use the country as an export hub. Last year, Ford made $900 million in earnings before interest and taxes in China for the year and much of that was based on exports, Frick said. "Take a vehicle like Territory with our JV partner. We are now exporting Territory all around the world," Frick said of the compact SUV Ford makes with Jiangling Motors Corp. "It's doing quite well in Mexico. Actually, in Mexico, Territory is now our best-selling vehicle. We sell more Territorys than we do F-150s in Mexico, where there's a big Chinese influence." China automakers comprise about a third of all new vehicle sales in Mexico, he said. Frick, who made the comments at Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference 2025, said Ford's business in China is "very profitable business" and "it's capital light" because of Ford's joint ventures. Ford has partnerships with Changan Automobile, Jiangling Motors Corp. Group and Changan Ford New Energy. "It's a really good, investable business there," Frick said. The only vehicle Ford assembles in China and sells in the United States is the Lincoln Nautilus. It sold 36,544 Nautilus SUVs in the United States last year, a 50% increase from the prior year. Ford is still exporting the Nautilus to the States despite a new 25% U.S. tariff on all imported vehicles, Truby said. Ford's learnings out of China so far Frick noted that Ford has an edge on Chinese automakers with its Ford Pro business, its commercial vehicle division. Frick called it a "long-term advantage" for Ford because the Chinese are not investing in commercial vehicles and the subscription services to the extent Ford has. In April, Ford reported its Ford Pro Intelligence software platform has nearly 674,000 active subscriptions, based on end of first quarter estimates, up 20% year-over-year. As to Ford's executive team's learnings out of its most recent visit to China, Frick provided a high-level outline to investors. "Speed, the way they're integrating AI into their vehicles and into their customer experience and their digital experience is really impressive," Frick said. "How we leverage the learnings out of there, not only from the actual customer experience that they're going through, but the development plans, the processes, we're taking a lot of that knowledge and trying to transfer it." He said Ford is also learning a lot from Chinese automakers' new energy vehicles, which he believes could help Ford best determine its future electrification strategy such as where the natural consumer demands for electric vehicles and other electrification technology will land. "That will likely inform, plus or minus government subsidies and incentives, that will inform where natural customer demand may be in other parts of the world," Frick said. "So there's a lot to learn in China.' Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@ Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.

Yahoo

a day ago

• Yahoo

EU imposes medical device procurement restrictions on Chinese firms

The European Commission (EC) will restrict Chinese companies from EU government purchases of medical devices exceeding €5m ($5.7m). The move comes after a report found that 87% of public procurement contracts for medical devices in China were subject to 'exclusionary and discriminatory measures' and practices against EU-made medical devices and EU suppliers. In addition, Chinese entities will now be restricted from around 60% of annual spending within the medical device field, with EU contracting authorities now ordered to ensure that up to 50% of a contract's value is subcontracted to Chinese entities or includes Chinese-origin medical devices. Initiated in April 2024 with the findings published in January 2025, the report guiding the EU's decision marked the first investigation under the EU's International Procurement Instrument (IPI) regulation of 2022, a law created to promote reciprocity in access to international public procurement markets. China is the second-largest medtech market worldwide. The EU's investigation concluded that Chinese policies, including its 'Made in China 2025' economic roadmap, favoured domestic medical devices over imported ones by design. The EC also observed that China's volume-based procurement of medical devices forces bidders to offer the lowest possible price, and that the contracting authorities set a maximum reference price and maximum price margins for bid selection. The commission stated that the European procurement market is still one of the most open in the world, highlighting that Chinese medical device exports to the EU more than doubled between 2015 and 2023. The EC stated that it had made repeated efforts to engage with Chinese authorities regarding the lack of reciprocity and to seek a constructive and fair solution that would enable EU companies to access the Chinese market on terms comparable to those enjoyed by Chinese firms in the EU. However, the EC stated that China had 'so far not offered specific commitments that would address the discriminatory measures and practices identified'. The EC backed the restrictions earlier this month. Writing in state news outlet Xinhua, China's Ministry of Commerce (MoC) opposed the plans, branding the EU's move 'protectionist'. The ministry wrote: 'As responsible major economies, China and the EU should adhere to WTO [World Trade Organization] rules, uphold the principles of fairness, transparency and non-discrimination, address challenges through mutual openness, and resolve differences through cooperative dialogue to jointly safeguard the healthy development of China-EU economic and trade relations.' The EC stated that should China offer 'concrete, verifiable, and satisfactory solutions that effectively address the concerns identified', the IPI framework allows for the suspension or withdrawal of measures. Maroš Šefčovič, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency, commented: 'Our aim with these measures is to level the playing field for EU businesses. We remain committed to dialogue with China to resolve these issues.' "EU imposes medical device procurement restrictions on Chinese firms" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data