Jim Connors, our new neighbor, has established a summer residence and weekend getaway on Owasco Lake. His primary residence and business is in Syracuse but he has discovered, as have many others, that relaxation and recreation in one of the more beautiful spots on the planet is but 45 minutes away from home or office.
Jim is in the growing health care industry and his company, Emerald Resources, manufactures and distributes products to hospitals and nursing homes. He has developed and patented some unique products including an inflatable air cushion for transferring patients from bed to gurney and a wheelchair with automatic brakes.
Emerald Resources manufactures most of its products in China.
Outsourcing is a sore subject these days as is doing business with China. Many think that the Chinese Dragon will engulf us some day. We discussed this with Jim and his associate, Frank Famulare, who directs Chinese manufacturing for Emerald Resources and maintains an office in China. He says it is necessary to have offices in China in order to do business there.
China is emerging from its parochial past with frightful speed, and there is a lot of misconception about its present and future relationship with the world in general and the United States in particular.
The land mass of China is approximately the same as the United States, but it has 1.4 billion people (five times our population) jammed into one half of its country. The western half of China is a desert, which backs up to the Himalayas.
Shanghai, is on the same latitude as Washington D.C. so its climate is much like ours. China has 50 cities with populations of more than 20 million.
The United States is mostly responsible for China's development. President Nixon traveled to China in the late 1970s to hold unilateral talks with its prime minister and the trade agreements they forged triggered a landslide of growth and development.
Contrary to popular belief, China's relationship with America is very strong, and its quest for American trade and tourism is paramount to its strategy.
The Chinese government is Communist in name only. In reality, it is becoming one of the strongest capitalistic countries in the world and, according to Famulare, “they are far easier to do business with than Russia or India.” Today, China imports about as many goods from our country as they export.
In the year 2000, the Chinese government fired 50 percent of its employees who were mired in the past and not co-operating with their modernization plan. At about the same time, they allowed foreign companies to own 100 percent of any business established in China. These moves further accelerated the country's rapid economic growth.
According to Famulare, the reason that we need not fear that China will damage our economy is because they are not in a position to usurp our dominate technology. For the most part, they are content to concentrate on manufacturing and agriculture for the bulk of their exports.
This does not mean that we don't have trade issues with China. They unashamedly copy products and circumvent patents with many of the products they export. Hopefully time will mitigate this problem.
The reason that Jim Connors has his goods manufactured in China is because it saves almost two thirds of his manufacturing costs, and the quality of the products produced is outstanding.
We have always believed that economic interdependence among the countries of the world will finally establish peace among all nations. This theory is working well in the case of China today.
Harold Miller is a businessman and Auburn native. He may be reached at hmillermod@aol.com
Emerald Resources manufactures most of its products in China.
Outsourcing is a sore subject these days as is doing business with China. Many think that the Chinese Dragon will engulf us some day. We discussed this with Jim and his associate, Frank Famulare, who directs Chinese manufacturing for Emerald Resources and maintains an office in China. He says it is necessary to have offices in China in order to do business there.
China is emerging from its parochial past with frightful speed, and there is a lot of misconception about its present and future relationship with the world in general and the United States in particular.
The land mass of China is approximately the same as the United States, but it has 1.4 billion people (five times our population) jammed into one half of its country. The western half of China is a desert, which backs up to the Himalayas.
Shanghai, is on the same latitude as Washington D.C. so its climate is much like ours. China has 50 cities with populations of more than 20 million.
The United States is mostly responsible for China's development. President Nixon traveled to China in the late 1970s to hold unilateral talks with its prime minister and the trade agreements they forged triggered a landslide of growth and development.
Contrary to popular belief, China's relationship with America is very strong, and its quest for American trade and tourism is paramount to its strategy.
The Chinese government is Communist in name only. In reality, it is becoming one of the strongest capitalistic countries in the world and, according to Famulare, “they are far easier to do business with than Russia or India.” Today, China imports about as many goods from our country as they export.
In the year 2000, the Chinese government fired 50 percent of its employees who were mired in the past and not co-operating with their modernization plan. At about the same time, they allowed foreign companies to own 100 percent of any business established in China. These moves further accelerated the country's rapid economic growth.
According to Famulare, the reason that we need not fear that China will damage our economy is because they are not in a position to usurp our dominate technology. For the most part, they are content to concentrate on manufacturing and agriculture for the bulk of their exports.
This does not mean that we don't have trade issues with China. They unashamedly copy products and circumvent patents with many of the products they export. Hopefully time will mitigate this problem.
The reason that Jim Connors has his goods manufactured in China is because it saves almost two thirds of his manufacturing costs, and the quality of the products produced is outstanding.
We have always believed that economic interdependence among the countries of the world will finally establish peace among all nations. This theory is working well in the case of China today.
Harold Miller is a businessman and Auburn native. He may be reached at hmillermod@aol.com
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