Business View Magazine - September 2015

68 Business View - September 2015 Business View - September 2015 69 to promote fair and equitable competition. In response to the legislation, representatives of 13 aluminum companies met to form the Association of Manufacturers in the Aluminum Indus- try. Even though NIRA was repealed the following year, industry leaders decided to continue the organization, renaming it “The Aluminum Association.” Its mandate was to promote the gen- eral welfare of the aluminum industry and its members. Today, the Aluminum Association continues to represent the in- terests of the aluminum industry by developing technical stan- dards and data; collecting and publishing industry statistics; promoting plant safety and health; monitoring and promoting technological developments that advance the metal’s use across a wide range of application; and increasing its market capabilities in the U.S. and around the world. According to Matt Meenan, Director of Communications, the Association currently has just over 100 members, split evenly between producers which make and fabricate the metal, such as Alcoa, Novelis, and Aleris, and associate members, which are the companies that supply goods or services to the produc- ers. The main reason that companies join the Association says Meenan, is that they “value the networking opportunities we provide, so they can talk about and share issues of common interest. Whether it’s statistics, policy, standards, or sustain- ability – one or more may be very valuable to them. We have committees and divisions that are focused on either particular product market areas, or parts of the supply chain.” When asked about the current state of affairs in the indus- try, Meenan replies: “One of the big things that’s really been a massive trend the last five to ten years, and has really ramped up in the last couple of years in particular, is the growth in the automotive market. The real big news for us in the last year was Ford moving the Ford F-150 into an all-aluminum body. . . It’s allowed us to expand in a way that a lot of heavy manu- facturing industries are not doing right now. We’ve got about $2 billion dollars committed for domestic plant expansion over Manufacturing Manufacturing