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At Milo’s Tea, every element of the company’s delicious beverages is scrutinized for sustainability opportunities—from bottle-sourcing to the water and tea leaves that go into each gallon.

The bottles: The Bessemer, Alabama–based business recently opened a new, one-gallon bottle-blowing facility in its hometown, right next to its distribution center.

• The new facility will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 metric tons per year, since it will eliminate the need for trucks to travel from farther-off bottling locations to the Bessemer distribution facility.

• “We’re still family-held, and sustainability is a family value, too,” said Chief Operating Officer Chris Droney. “When you have a project like this, that has a positive environmental impact and allows us to reinvest in our company growth, that’s a win–win.”

The water: The 78-year-old Milo’s Tea—which in 2022 became the top-selling refrigerated tea brand in the U.S. and is the fastest-growing refrigerated lemonade brand—has a strong track record of environmental resource preservation, starting with its water conservation.

• Since 2019, Milo’s has conserved nearly 37 million gallons of water, an achievement that has helped earn the certified woman-owned business two Platinum TRUE Zero Waste certifications (one for its Bessemer plant and another for its Tulsa, Oklahoma, facility).
• Among other measures, the company has invested in new, more water-efficient line-cleaning (clean-in-place) technology, which it uses between production runs to clean the brew, blend and filler equipment. “If we’re going from making sweet tea to zero-calorie tea, for example, it’s very important to make sure there’s no residue” in the lines, Droney explained.
• The enhanced equipment reduces energy, water and cleaning agent consumption, while also improving the effectiveness of the cleaning cycle. Milo’s made additional improvements to the production scheduling process, which decreased the total number of cleaning cycles required and further reduced energy, water and cleaning agent consumption.
• Milo’s was also able to reduce the amount of excess product the company had in its tanks during those flavor switchovers, further reducing waste and water use.

The tea: Milo’s earned its Oklahoma Zero Waste certification in part through “re-earthing” its tea leaves—“the largest waste stream we have”—in partnership with GEM Dirt, Droney said.

• The topsoil company takes Milo’s spent tea leaves and turns them into compost that it blends with dirt to create nutrient-rich soils. In 2023, Milo’s re-earthed more than 10,000 tons of used tea leaves from all facilities.

The packaging: When it comes to packaging, Milo’s doesn’t let dents stand in its way. The firm has installed compressed air stations on its lines to un-dent damaged bottles before they’re filled, so that none are thrown away.

• “At our flagship facility in Bessemer, if bottles can’t be undented, we send them back to the manufacturer and they can be reground and made into new bottles,” Droney continued. “A recycled bottle uses less resin than a new one.”

The production process: Milo’s has also recycled and diverted more than 148,000 tons of waste since 2019, another reason it has been so highly certified. On top of that, it has prioritized renewable energy sources at its facilities.

• Solar panels went live at the Bessemer plant in 2023, and this past summer, the business commissioned a rooftop solar farm at its Tulsa facility.
• The panels offset from 5% to 10% of each site’s total annual energy consumption, Droney told us. More solar panels are scheduled for other Milo’s sites, he added.

Advice for other manufacturers: Careful environmental stewardship can pay dividends for manufacturers, according to Droney.

• Profitability and sustainability “go hand in hand; we really believe that,” he said. “Solar power, onsite bottle blowing—there’s a cost to it, but there’s also a benefit. When you combine those, not only are you doing the right thing, but you’re generating fuel for future growth. We all have a responsibility to drive sustainability.”

New orders for manufactured goods rose 0.2% in October, after falling the previous two months. When excluding transportation, new orders edged up 0.1%. Orders for durable goods rose 0.3% after falling 0.4% in September. Year to date, durable goods orders are down 0.8%. Nondurable goods ticked up 0.1% in October after declining 0.1% in September. Nonetheless, nondurable goods orders are up 1.5% year to date.

New orders for mining, oil field and gas field machinery experienced the greatest increase of any industry at 17.4%, while metalworking machinery had the largest over-the-month decrease of 5.9%. After falling 23.0% in September, defense aircraft and parts orders are rose 16.6% in October. The largest over-the-year changes occurred in nondefense aircraft and parts (down 30.2%) and computers (up 21.5%).

Factory shipments decreased 0.2% in October, after falling 0.4% in September. Shipments excluding transportation edged up 0.1%, the same increase as the previous month. Shipments for durable goods declined 0.5% in October but are up 1.8% year to date. Meanwhile, nondurable goods shipments inched up 0.1% in October and are up 1.5% year to date.

Unfilled orders for all manufacturing and durable goods industries rose 0.4% in October, following a 0.3% increase in September. The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio for durable goods increased to 7.03 from 6.97 in September. Inventories saw a slight decrease of 0.1%, while the inventories-to-shipments ratio remained unchanged at 1.46.

In November, U.S. manufacturing remained in contraction but at the slowest pace of the past five months. The S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.7 in November from 48.5 in October, barely below the 50 threshold that indicates a contraction in the sector. This suggests manufacturing conditions continued to deteriorate but to a lesser extent than the previous month.

While the rate of decline in new orders slowed sharply, output continued to be scaled back. In addition, production levels fell for a fourth consecutive month to the fastest rate in more than a year. However, rising confidence encouraged manufacturers to increase employment. The rise in employment despite a slowdown in new orders meant firms were able to reduce their backlogs of work.

New export orders also declined and at the fastest pace since June 2023, as international demand weakness worsened. Nevertheless, the downturn in domestic demand for goods is easing, which could improve conditions for manufacturers in 2025. Respondents’ optimism about the year ahead strengthened to the highest level in two and a half years, boosted by the pre-election uncertainty ending.

The pace of input cost inflation eased slightly. On the other hand, output prices increased at a slightly faster pace and was above the pre-pandemic average. As a result of tariff threats, one in four companies reported higher input purchases in November, underlying manufacturers’ concern for how tariffs may impact input prices.

In November, the global manufacturing sector stabilized at 50.0 after contracting for four consecutive months. Three of the five PMI components were at levels consistent with expansion, as output and new orders registered meager growth, and average vendor lead times lengthened. On the other hand, employment and stocks of purchases both declined but at slower rates than the month prior.

The shift from contraction to stabilization is reflective of improvement of operating conditions in China and the rest of Asia and easing of conditions in the U.S. On the other hand, this improvement in business conditions was contrasted by a deep downturn in the Eurozone and Germany in particular. Growth was fastest in India, the Philippines, Kazakhstan, Colombia and Spain compared to other surveyed countries.

Data broken down by sector exhibited that output growth of consumer and intermediate goods producers more than offset a further downturn in the investment goods category. Increased production was due to new orders stabilizing and clearing backlogs of work.

In November, manufacturing employment declined for the fourth consecutive month but at a slightly slower rate than the prior month. Job cuts were reported in the Eurozone, China, the U.K. and Japan, while the U.S., India and Brazil registered employment growth. Nevertheless, confidence rose to a six-month high, with optimism improving across the consumer, intermediate and investment goods industries. On the other hand, inflationary pressures picked up, with both input prices and output charges rising.

In November, the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted for the eighth consecutive month, with the ISM Manufacturing^® PMI rising to a five-month high at 48.4% from 46.5% the prior month, indicating activity contracted at a slower pace. The New Orders Index returned to expansion after seven months of contraction, registering 50.4%. Meanwhile, production (46.8%), inventories (48.1%) and backlog of orders (41.8%) remained in contraction, with production and inventories at slower rates of decline. The Inventories Index, although still low, rose 5.5 percentage points, the largest gain of the report. While there is not yet a concerted stockpiling effort, the increase in the index may be a reflection of companies being more willing to invest in inventory as a response to tariff threats. Supplier deliveries are no longer slowing, and although demand continues to be weak, companies have the benefit of some increased certainty with the election cycle ending.

Although the New Orders Index grew and is up 3.3 percentage points from October, the index hasn’t shown consistent growth since a 24-month streak of expansion ended in May 2022. Despite the slight upswing, respondents continue to note ongoing uncertainty and concern about a lack of new order activity, with three major sectors—computer and electronic products; machinery; and food, beverage and tobacco products—reporting an increase in new orders.

The Production Index remained in contraction in November but inched up 0.6 percentage points from October. Of the six largest manufacturing sectors, only two (computer and electronic products and food, beverage and tobacco products) reported increased production. While new order rates expanded somewhat, backlog levels continued to decline, leading to manufacturers reducing output.

The Employment Index is up 3.7 percentage points from October, contracting for the sixth consecutive month but at a slower pace. Companies continued to reduce headcounts through layoffs, attrition and hiring freezes, with only the food, beverage and tobacco products sector expanding employment in November.

The Prices Index fell 4.5 percentage points to 50.3%, indicating raw materials prices increased in November but at a slower pace than the month before. Aluminum, copper and natural gas registered slight increases, offset by steel, plastic resins and crude oil falling in price. Slightly more than 12% of companies reported paying higher prices, compared to nearly 20% in October.

In October, job openings for manufacturing dropped by 13,000 to 465,000, decreasing in both durable and nondurable goods by 4,000 and 8,000 job openings, The manufacturing job openings rate fell 0.1% to 3.5% in October and declined from 4.3% the previous year. The rate for durable goods manufacturing stayed the same at 3.8%, while it decreased from 3.1% to 3.0% for nondurable goods.

In the larger economy, the number of job openings rose to 7.7 million, an increase of 372,000 from the previous month but a decrease of 941,000 from the previous year. The job openings rate increased to 4.6%, up from 4.4% in September, but declined from 5.2% last year. While this data reflects an overall labor market that remains solid despite cooling over the past year, it also exhibits continued weakness for the manufacturing industry.

The number of hires in the overall economy fell to 5.3 million from 5.6 million in September and dropped 501,000 from the previous year. The hires rate decreased 0.2% to 3.3%. Meanwhile, the hires rate for manufacturing declined 0.2% to 2.6%. The hires rate for durable goods fell to 2.2%, while it stayed the same for nondurable goods at 3.3%.

Total separations, which includes quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, rose 65,000 from September to 5.3 million but dropped 369,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate stayed the same at 3.3% but fell to 2.6% from 2.9% for manufacturing. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges declined in October, while quits rose. The quit and layoff rates continue to remain lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 227,000 in November, recovering from the measly job gain the prior month and beating the expectation of 214,000. October’s job gain, which was revised upward to 36,000 from 12,000, was impacted heavily by hurricanes and strike activity. The 12-month average stands at 186,000 job gains per month. The unemployment rate ticked up 0.1% to 4.2%, while the labor force participation rate dipped 0.1% to 62.5%.

Manufacturing employment rose by 22,000, not fully recouping the 48,000 jobs lost the prior month. Meanwhile, employment in transportation equipment manufacturing increased by 32,000 in November, reflecting the end of the Boeing worker strike. The most significant losses in manufacturing in November occurred in computer and electronic products, which shed 4,000 jobs over the month.

The employment-population ratio fell slightly to 59.8% and is down 0.6 percentage points from a year ago. Employed persons who are part-time workers for economic reasons decreased by 100,000 to 4.46 million but are up from 3.99 million in November 2023. Native born employment is down 215,000 over the month and 1,094,000 over the year. Meanwhile, foreign born employment is also down over the month but up 401,000 over the year.

Average hourly earnings for all private nonfarm payroll employees rose 0.4%, or 13 cents, reaching $35.61. Over the past year, earnings have grown 4.0%. The average workweek for all employees edged up 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours in November.

The regulatory onslaught facing manufacturers has “reached a fever pitch” over the past four years, but the incoming administration can turn things around, the NAM and more than 100 other manufacturing associations told President-elect Trump and his Cabinet today.

What’s going on: “You have the opportunity to tackle this challenge by addressing burdensome regulations that are stifling investment, making us less competitive in the world, limiting innovation and threatening the very jobs we are all working to create right here in America,” the groups wrote to the president-elect.

What they said: The letter outlines a pro-manufacturing regulatory agenda based on more than three dozen regulatory actions the administration can take starting on Day One. Key highlights include the following:

• Instituting a “regulatory reset”: The NAM and its partners are calling on the incoming administration to “stop the trend of overreaching regulations that seek to expand agencies’ authority” and instead focus on tailored rulemakings based on robust collaboration with the industry.
• Lifting the LNG export ban: President-elect Trump should undo the Biden administration’s January moratorium on liquefied natural gas export permits. A protracted pause would jeopardize 900,000 jobs and $250 billion in U.S. gross domestic product, according to a recent NAM study.
• Easing the permitting burden: “The United States’ out-of-date permitting laws and procedures are holding back progress and restricting manufacturers’ ability to compete globally,” says the letter. The Trump administration should accelerate the permitting process for critical energy infrastructure, create enforceable deadlines and provide regulatory certainty to manufacturers.
• Reconsidering NAAQS PM2.5 and maintaining the existing NAAQS ozone standard: In February, the Environmental Protection Agency announced an unworkably stringent National Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The Trump administration should relax the PM2.5 rule and maintain the existing NAAQS for ozone—a standard the European Union has set more than 70% above the current U.S. threshold—when it comes up for review in 2025.
• Replacing unbalanced power plant rules: The Trump administration should replace the EPA’s new rules for existing coal-fired and new natural gas–fired power plants with workable standards.
• Depoliticizing the proxy process: In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission has taken steps to empower activist investors and proxy advisory firms. The incoming administration should rescind damaging standards, such as Staff Legal Bulletin 14L, which requires companies to include activist proposals on their proxy ballots, while preserving and protecting much-needed reforms from the first Trump administration, including the landmark 2020 proxy firm rule.

Other asks: The group also urged the new administration to:

• Reverse the trend of overly burdensome and unworkable chemicals regulations, such as the Biden administration’s PFAS rules;
• Take decisive measures to protect manufacturers’ intellectual property rights;
• Narrow the scope of proposed cyber incident reporting requirements; and
• Reconsider the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s damaging “walkaround” rule and more.

Ready to move forward: America’s manufacturers are committed to a regulatory environment that “truly supports manufacturing, innovation and American prosperity”—and they are “ready to move forward” with the president-elect to “make America’s manufacturing sector unstoppable.” 

Pharmacy benefit managers are driving up health care costs for employers and employees alike—and they must be reformed as soon as possible, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and other members of Congress said at a bicameral, bipartisan Capitol Hill press conference Wednesday.

What’s going on: Rep. Carter, Sen. Lankford and other lawmakers—including Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Nanette Barragan (D-CA)—are calling on House and Senate leadership to advance PBM reform legislation in Congress’ year-end lame-duck session.

• The House passed a bipartisan PBM reform bill last December, and seven congressional committees—in both the House and Senate—have approved PBM bills during this Congress.
• The NAM, long a champion of commonsense PBM reform, offered manufacturers’ strong support for the lawmakers’ efforts.

What they said: “Democrats and Republicans [alike] … recognize that PBMs are decreasing the accessibility, the affordability and therefore the quality of health care in America,” said Rep. Carter, who showed the crowd photos of real patients facing difficulties accessing medications due to PBMs.

• “Congress must act before the end of the year to save our constituents’ lives. That’s why I’m leading a bipartisan letter to the House and Senate leadership urging them to prioritize PBM reform during end-of-year negotiations and ensure that the bipartisan efforts we have worked on through the 118th Congress are enacted into law.”
• Added Rep. Miller-Meeks, sponsor of the NAM-backed DRUG Act: “Every American who utilizes prescription medications experiences the impact that PBMs … have on our health care system. Patients everywhere—and our independent pharmacists—deserve a health care system where patients always come first.”

Why it’s important: PBMs often dictate the prices that patients pay at the pharmacy counter—and their business model incentivizes them to increase those prices for their own benefit.

• PBMs take a cut of a drug’s list price and pocket a large portion of rebate savings that are supposed to go back to patients and employers.
• In addition, they operate without transparency into their pricing decisions, making it more difficult for employers to reduce prices or access savings.

Now’s the time: “We want leadership to be able to take [PBM reform legislation] up in the end-of-the-year package,” Sen. Lankford said at the press conference. “We don’t want to tell … patients, ‘Wait another two years and maybe we’ll get into it in the next session.’ Let’s actually get into it in this session.”  

NAM advocacy: The NAM has been at the forefront of the fight for PBM reform. Last month, it launched a seven-figure ad campaign urging the passage of reforms during the lame-duck session.    

The last word: “Manufacturers and manufacturing workers are facing increasing and unsustainable health care costs as a direct result of PBMs,” said NAM Managing Vice President of Policy Chris Netram. “Manufacturers agree with Rep. Carter and the bipartisan, bicameral members of Congress calling for reform: Congress must act urgently—in the lame-duck session—to increase transparency, lower health care costs and protect manufacturing workers.”

FAME USA is revitalizing the manufacturing workforce with its global-best model of on-the-job training combined with classroom education. 

Created in 2010 by Toyota, the program was entrusted to the Manufacturing Institute, the NAM’s workforce development and education affiliate, in 2019. Since then, it has grown enormously, almost doubling in size under the MI’s stewardship.   

The past five years: FAME has scaled to more than 45 chapters across 16 states since the MI took over stewardship of the initiative—up from 20 chapters in 9 states. Employer support has grown, too, from 220 manufacturers to nearly 500 today.

• As a result of this growth, FAME boasts more than 1,300 enrolled students, 2,200 graduates and an impressive 90% employment rate upon graduation.
• And there’s much more coming soon: FAME plans to add eight more chapters by the beginning of the 2026 school year.  

Working with manufacturers: FAME offers two options for manufacturers looking for skilled workers.

• They can join an existing FAME chapter and benefit from the established employer collaborative. Or in locations where FAME doesn’t already have a presence or where the companies are building new facilities or undertaking large expansions, they can initiate a new FAME chapter to meet their greater need for talent.

General Mills: The food manufacturer was searching for more skilled workers for its Hannibal, Missouri, facility when it learned of FAME. In 2024, General Mills joined the Great River chapter in Illinois, which crosses state lines into Missouri, and committed to sponsoring five students.

• “We want the best talent at our manufacturing facilities, and we know that there’s tremendous talent in our communities. Partnering with FAME allows us to harness the talent in our local communities and get candidates excited about building a career with General Mills,” said Becky Crane, vice president, manufacturing & engineering at General Mills, during a recent panel discussion highlighting FAME.

Novelis: The leading producer of flat-rolled aluminum products and the world’s largest recycler of aluminum first partnered with FAME in 2015 through joint venture Logan Aluminum in Kentucky, as part of the SKY FAME chapter.

• “FAME provides an excellent forum for manufacturing companies in the same region to work together on providing the necessary exposure and skills to our future workforce,” said Dev Ahuja, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Novelis.
• Approximately 40 employees at Novelis are FAME graduates, and the company expects this number to grow as it expands participation across states.
• Novelis has also found success with FAME during greenfield projects. The Novelis plant in Guthrie, Kentucky, began partnering with the HOPFAME chapter in 2018 during construction of its new facility, and the company is now a founding employer of the FAME chapter in Bay Minette, Alabama, where it is constructing an aluminum plant that will create up to 1,000 jobs.

The bottom line: “FAME is not just a training program; it’s a transformative solution for employers looking to cultivate a skilled workforce that meets their specific needs. By engaging with FAME, companies can tap into local talent, foster economic growth and build a sustainable pipeline of skilled workers,” said MI President and Executive Director Carolyn Lee.

• “We encourage employers to join this collaborative effort—together, we can empower our communities and ensure the future of manufacturing is in America.”

Get involved: Learn more here about FAME and how you can tap into this global-best training resource. And don’t forget to follow FAME USA on LinkedIn.