Beer Biz Fends Off The Big Box

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, beer brewers and distributors meet for their annual legislative conference. One thousand of them will rub elbows, drink beer and charge up to Capitol Hill to call on their elected representatives.

“This is the time when we tell the industry story,” says Craig Purser, president of the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).

That story has plenty of positives to it, as any aficionado of brews will tell you. American brewers, 2,400 of them, make the U.S. the world’s No. 1 beer producer. According to NBWA, the industry is responsible for 1.8 million jobs and chips in $30 billion to state and federal tax coffers annually.

But it won’t be all happy talk from the beer crowd to Congress this week. On the top of the agenda: warding off challenges to the regulatory status quo. “There’s an erosion of the ability of states to regulate licensed beverages,” says Purser.

Full story at Forbes.com

Medical Devices: Building A Beltway Brand

WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s branding time for AdvaMed. The trade group, standard bearer for U.S. makers of medical devices and equipment, will soon roll out a print, outdoor and online campaign aimed at the wonk set here in Washington. The message? Their devices deliver good bang for the buck.

“We’re developing 25 patient case studies around medical technologies that have improved life and also have demonstrable savings associated with them,” says Stephen Ubl, AdvaMed’s chief executive.

One of the first profiles will be Michael Deaver, former communications adviser to Ronald Reagan and present owner of two artificial knees. “[Deaver] is going to talk about what those knees have meant to his everyday life,” Ubl says.

Full story at Forbes.com

Fighting Hackers, Viruses, Bureaucracy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Search the exact phrase “National Computer Security Survey” on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Web site, and you won’t find a thing.

That’s surprising, because the Department of Homeland Security is a co-sponsor of a study titled “National Computer Security Survey.” At the end of next month, it will be sent by Rand to thousands of businesses in 37 sectors. A DHS rep says there are no plans to issue a press release on the subject until after the survey is completed.

Who’s more interested in getting the word out now? Lobbyists. “This is a pretty important survey,” explains Paul Kurtz, executive director of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance.

Full story at Forbes.com

Nanobiz To Congress: This Isn’t Asbestos

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Internet businesses haven’t been the only high-tech concerns drawing attention on Capitol Hill. It was standing room only for a recent Senate Commerce Committee hearing on nanotechnology.

The mood from the Senators? Glowing, for the most part. “This is likely to be a $1 trillion industry,” said Oregon Republican Gordon Smith. “Mind-boggling to say the least,” added Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry.

There was plenty at the hearing to boggle the mind. Bryant Linares, chief of closely held Apollo Diamond, told Senators how his company uses nanotechnology, which works on the scale of atoms or molecules, to “grow” diamonds for use in jewelry, semiconductors and other applications. Timothy Swager, professor of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, detailed efforts of his MIT research center–along with corporate partners like Honeywell, Raytheon and W. L. Gore & Associates–to create fabric for U.S. soldiers that can monitor health or detect explosives.

But business interests at the hearing weren’t just strutting their stuff for Congress. They also took the opportunity to press their case for keeping nanotech regulation at bay.

Full story at Forbes.com

Looking Down The Highway

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. interstate highway system will turn 50 this year, on June 29.

President Dwight Eisenhower signed the law creating the system and the Highway Trust Fund to finance it in 1956.

So when the Transportation Research Board held its 85th annual meeting in Washington, D.C., recently, a panel of academic and private sector experts took stock of the half-century gone by and gazed down the road ahead for our car-centric nation.

Like the Internet, the interstate has affected the American economy in ways its creators couldn’t and didn’t imagine. Bruce Seeley, professor of history and chair of the social sciences department at Michigan Technological University, reminded would-be seers that planners didn’t anticipate how the interstate would affect freight movement. “The idea of trucks replacing railroads in so many areas was not envisioned,” he said. Nor did planners foresee the economic importance of logistics hubs so prevalent outside such cities as Chattanooga, Tenn., and Indianapolis.

Full story at Forbes.com

Bush’s Budget: Stock Bets?

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The $2.8 trillion budget that President George W. Bush submitted yesterday for fiscal 2007 is a nonbinding first step in the budget process. Spending won’t be determined until Congress gets around to appropriations bills later this year.

Still, certain industries come out better than others in the 352-page document. In this sense, you can think of the Bush Administration’s budget as an indicator, a sign that some sectors enjoy a tailwind blowing out of Washington. The tables below show a few industries that look like budget winners, according to analysts and industry groups, along with notable stocks within them.

Full story at Forbes.com

State Of The Border Security Business

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A prediction for tonight’s State of the Union address: President George W. Bush will get a standing ovation when he talks tough on stopping the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S.

If our prediction holds, another group will have reason to clap: defense and technology contractors doing business in homeland security. Last week, a few hundred of their reps heard from the Administration on technology needed for an ambitious border security proposal, one that could be worth billions.

“This issue is clearly one of the most important public-policy priorities for the Administration as well as for the Congress,” Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson told the crowd.

Full story at Forbes.com

Tech’s Christmas Wish

Washington, D.C. – Way back in July, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the creation of a new underling: assistant secretary for Cyber and Telecommunications Security. Tech industry reps are now eagerly awaiting the (supposedly imminent) appointment of a living, breathing person to fill that crucial job.

“Whether that person’s name is about to pop or whether the champagne is going to be kept on ice for a few more weeks, I don’t know,” says Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America, an organization representing the likes of Accenture, IBM, Electronic Data Systems and Symantec among others.

Full story at Forbes.com

Don’t Tread On Us

Washington, D.C. – Since its enactment in August, the $287 billion U.S. transportation-spending law has been a target. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita prompted calls for partial repeal of some of the spending, namely the 6,000 projects, or earmarks, that lawmakers set aside for their constituents. High gas prices have led some to suggest suspending or eliminating the wellspring of transportation funding: the federal gas tax. And now House conservatives are sharpening their budget-cutting knives.

But none of that will stop the powerful highway lobby.

Instead, officials from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association are watching their rear as they move on to their next big project: reauthorization of the highway bill in 2009. “Those are two sides of the same coin,” says David Bauer, ARTBA’s senior vice president for government relations.

Full Story at Forbes.com

Escape Red Tape

Washington, D.C. – A week ago, the World Bank and its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation, released “Doing Business in 2006: Creating Jobs.” The annual survey, now in its third year, sizes up 155 countries to find the best and worst in the world when it comes to regulation on starting a business, hiring and firing workers, getting credit, registering property and other activities essential to free enterprise.

Last November, we argued that data from the World Bank’s report, then titled “Doing Business in 2005,” was a useful starting point in an international stock search. We singled out the five countries, excluding the U.S., that scored above average in all the “Doing Business” criteria. Then we mined our databases for ten reasonably valued, U.S.-listed stocks issued by companies hailing from those countries.

Full story at Forbes.com