Another plug for tonight’s CNBC program, “Meeting of the Minds: Rebuilding America,” scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern. Here’s CNBC’s summary of the issues addressed in the discussions, moderated by Maria Bartiromo. NAM President John Engler is a panelist.

Manufacturing led the United States to become the richest nation in the world and has been the foundation of the middle class. But times have changed and today’s economy values innovation and design over manual labor — emphasizing mind over matter. This sea of change has spurred many questions: Are the manufacturing jobs in the US gone forever? Does an economy that doesn’t produce anything have any real value and has ‘Made in the USA’ died, taking with it the soul of our country? CNBC’s gathers some of the most influential leaders in manufacturing for a Meeting of the Minds at Carnegie Mellon University to answer those questions and plan for the industry’s future.

Leo W. Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers International, gives his report on the discussions taped Monday evening in Pittsburgh at the Huffington Post, a post, “CEOs, Union Leader Agree: Manufacturing Strategy Crucial.” Sure. But once you get past process — the manufacturing strategy — agreement’s harder to find. In opposing free trade agreements, organized labor turns its back on jobs in dynamic, export-intensive industries.

Others panelists: Bill Ford, Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Company; Daniel R. DiMicco, Chairman, President & CEO, Nucor Corporation; Jeff Immelt, Chairman & CEO, General Electric; and Hilda Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor.

UPDATE: Courtesy CNBC, John Engler (left) and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis

From a CNBC news release, “CNBC Tapes Show With Powerful Americans On CMU’s Campus“:

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. — Manufacturing led the United States to become the richest nation in the world and has been the backbone of this country. But times have changed and today’s economy values innovation and design over manual labor — emphasizing mind over matter. This sea change has spurred many questions: Are the manufacturing jobs in the U.S. gone forever? Does an economy that doesn’t produce anything have any real value and has ‘Made in the USA’ died, taking with it the soul of our country?

On Wednesday, December 2nd at 8PM ET, in a CNBC special, “Meeting of the Minds: Rebuilding America,” hosted by CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo from Carnegie Mellon University, a world-leading research university in Pittsburgh, PA, CNBC assembles some of the most influential leaders in the manufacturing industry and government to answer those questions and chart a path forward.

Panelists: Bill Ford, Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Company; Daniel R. DiMicco, Chairman, President & CEO, Nucor Corporation; Leo W. Gerard, International President, United Steelworkers; Jeff Immelt, Chairman & CEO, General Electric; John Engler, President & CEO, National Association of Manufacturers; and Hilda Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor.

Bartiromo sets the stage further:

“Manufacturing companies have traditionally been a growth engine in the United States, but with unemployment at double digits, there is a growing concern whether or not that will continue to be true, said Bartiromo. “Americans are at a critical time wondering what their future looks like and it’s vital we bring this issue front and center.”

From a CNBC interview with John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, on Tuesday. A brief discussion of factory capicity, infrastructure, permitting and workforce development.

John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, packed a lot of policy perspective into his seven-and-a-half minute interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick on Squawk Box. The discussion included green jobs, nuclear energy, infrastructure, trade and the Administration’s need to develop a “growth strategy.”

Engler was attending the National Energy Summit this morning, and CNBC was on hand. There are other very good interviews:

• Powering Up With Coal: Steven Leer, CEO of Arch Coal, discusses alternative energy, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the coal industry and more with CNBC’s Becky Quick.
• Energizing the Future: CNBC’s Becky Quick interviews Mayo Shattuck, CEO of Constellation Energy, at the National Energy Summit.
• Blue Chips Take on Energy Jim Owens, CEO of Caterpillar, and Chad Holliday, of Dupont, discuss their energy initiatives with CNBC’s Becky Quick.
• Making Energy Affordable: CNBC’s Becky Quick interviews John Hofmeister, founder and CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy and the former president of Shell Oil.
• Sustaining a Competetive America: CNBC’s Becky Quick interviews Deborah Wince-Smith, president of the Council on Competitiveness, at the National Energy Summit.

CNBC has completed its third annual review and rankings of the business climates in each state, it’s “America’s Top States for Business ‘09.”

Victory Goes To Virginia

Virginia is back at the top, squeezing past last year’s winner, Texas, by a nose—just four points. Texas remains a business powerhouse, but the Old Dominion State, always a solid performer across the board, managed just enough improvement in the right areas—economy, for one–to regain the title it won in 2007.

The top five:

1. Virginia

2. Texas

3. Colorado

4. Iowa

5. Utah

Virginia is No. 1. So why are we illustrating it with a cover illustration from The Economist with Texas? Eh. It’s just a good illustration. (And a good story, too.)

A strength of the CNBC survey is its separate categories, which attempt to quantify the various factors that go into creating a state’s business climate. California these days is a wreck, a budget nightmare dragged down by the Legislature, regulators, unions and environmental utopionizers. And voters. Yet California ranks 32nd in the CNBC survey. How is that possible?

It’s because the state still has many great advantages, ranking No. 1 in access to capital and No. 1 in  technology and innovation.

But it’s living off its investments, its heritage and its weather. The disaster of its polity means the state is ranked 49th in cost of doing business, business friendliness, and cost of living.

To end on an up note, here’s the kind of thing that happens when you enact policies that put you at the top of CNBC’s list, “Areva, Northrop Grumman break ground on Virginia nuclear facility.”

And kudos to CNBC reporter, Scott Cohn. He does a nice job on the state profiles.

Senator McCain and Governor Palin appeared on CNBC Tuesday for an interview conducted by Maria Bartiromo, who asked about the Employee Free Choice Act, i.e., the card check legislation that would encourage union intimidation of employees who do not want to join a union. From the CNBC transcript:

BARTIROMO: In addition to taxes, unions. Why haven’t you made the union issue a campaign issue? That is, the right to have a secret ballot. Why isn’t this a major issue on your agenda?

Sen. McCAIN: You know, we’ve talked about it a lot and unfortunately, there’s three or four issues that you can get out strongly. But this is–we’ve been talking about for a long time. This is a threat to the fundamental of labor management relations. It’s fundamental to democracy, the right to have a secret ballot. The way that Senator Obama envisions and the unions–and this is their big push, and they’ve gotten commitments from Senator Obama and Senator Biden–union organizer goes to your house and says, “Hey, Joe, can I sign you up for the union?’ That is–we all know what that opens the door to. It’s dangerous for America, it’s dangerous to small business and I think it’s a threat to one of the fundamentals of democracy.

BARTIROMO: Will you veto the bill?

Sen. McCAIN: In a New York minute, if I may say that. I will do everything  in my power to block such legislation. And imagine, Senator Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid pushing the union agenda. It’d be very, very, very unfortunate. 

The presidential candidates have been on the record about card check for quite some time now; Obama voted for cloture when H.R. 800 came to the Senate floor in June 2007, and McCain voted no. (Roll call vote.)

But the issue has never been engaged in the presidential campaign: Debate moderators skipped the issue, unfortunately so. In addition, the mainstream media* have shown little interest in the union scheme that would institutionalize union abuse of employees while reorganizing the U.S. labor market along more static, European lines.

So, to CNBC and Mario Bartiromo, thank you for posing the question. We look forward to Senator Obama being queried in the same fashion.

* CNBC and Fox News have highlighted the issue, and in the print media, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page has recently published several important pieces on card check:

• Labor Unions Prolonged the Depression, October 28, Mark Mix, President, National Right to Work Committee.
• The Election Choice: Unions — Obama’s pro-union agenda is the most ambitious in decades, October 27, Jason L. Riley.
• A Liberal Supermajority, October 17, editorial.

VW News Release:

Volkswagen Group of America Announces It Will Produce Cars in Chattanooga; Decision Marks Company’s Ongoing Commitment to North American Market
Company will invest $1 billion and bring about 2,000 direct jobs to tri-state area

The announcement punctuates observations made below about Maryland, workforce and CNBC’s “Top States for Business.” According to CNBC’s ratings, although Tennessee was 21st overall in state ratings, when it came to workforce, it ranked an admirable No. 5.

Yes, of course, means more than it just being a right-to-work state. As Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, commented: ”This area has a deep base of well-trained labor, with excellent engineering and manufacturing programs at the universities and technical colleges.”

Volkswagen includes the plant as a major step in its business strategy for the “dollar region.” We interpret that as saying the exchange rates, dollar vs. Euro, make it smart to build facilities in the United States.

Mmmmmm…..

Interesting little story today about labor/blogger activism in the Washington Examiner, “State economic Web site touted low union numbers until bloggers rallied.” The Examiner reports that the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development has pulled online promotional (read, business recruitment) materials from the Choose Maryland” site that highlighted the state’s relatively low union membership.

A pro-union blogger spotted the materials and a flurry of activity followed.

Outraged e-mails are flying across the state’s entire labor movement,” Maryland Politics Watch’s Adam Pagnucco wrote. “We cannot believe that rhetoric typical of Georgia and Oklahoma would be sanctioned at any level inside the [Gov. Martin] O’Malley administration.

CNBC last week released its second annual “Top State for Business” rankings. Here are the top 10:

Mock Georgia all you want, Mr. Pagnucco. Maryland ranked 36th overall.

What’s notable from the list of top states is that the first nine have right-to-work laws.  Average union membership, per se, doesn’t worry business, and wages rarely figure as a top concern. But unions do limit managerial flexibility, making it difficult to adjust production practices and schedules to the realities of the modern, global economy. No wonder right-to-work states head the list in attracting new business.

So the bloggers have managed to kill one of Maryland’s economic development selling points. Congrats! Although… businesses familiar with Maryland’s economic environment probably would have doubted it in the first place. According to CNBC’s rankings, Maryland’s workforce ranked 41st in the nation. Hard to spin that as a positive.

CNBC has just released its second annual rating, “America’s Top States for Doing Busines.”

No. 1 is Texas, replacing Virginia from the top spot: “The state’s large population, abundance of natural resources, and diverse population and geography have created a dynamic economy. The energy industry, of course, is king, and is the reason the Lone Star State unseated last year’s winner, Virginia.”

Top five:

1. Texas
2. Virginia
3. Utah
4. Idaho
5. Colorado

More …

Overall, seems like a pretty good ranking, one that meshes well with our general sense of things.

Ah, good, CNBC is repeating its exercise from 2007, ranking the states according to their business climates, using a variety of categories (and with input from the NAM). Reporter Scott Cohn comments,

Not to give too much away, but our second annual study does show some notable changes from the 2007 results. 

Remember, the U.S. economy has been slowing down. Energy and commodity prices are rising.  That hurts some states, but helps others. Big changes in the jobless rate hurt some state economies, but increase the supply of available workers. Can Virginia repeat as America’s Top State for Business this year? Will those high energy prices help Alaska rebound from the bottom?

Lots of different organizations and media outlets do state-by-state rankings on all sorts of things; the public seems to like lists and once you settle on the criteria, they’re easy to do. If you take the methodologies into account, combine and compare and contrast, they’re pretty informative.

Look for the reports tomorrow, July 9th.