If you're connected to the wind energy business or are looking to get your foot in the door, you're probably thinking about two things:

1. You're tired of cheesy puns in article headlines (like the one above).

2. You are hoping investors start embracing the business again.

For the former, I'm a culprit among all the other business reporters using excessive verbal window dressing to write about this sector. As for the latter, investment trends are blowing in a new direction. (Apologies, again.)

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This blog post is rooted in a discussion my husband and I had yesterday regarding a news item I ran across about a 'green' race car that runs on vegetable oil and waste chocolate. I get vegetable oil, but where on earth does waste chocolate come from? Godiva, Ghirardelli, Hershey, Fannie May, and other chocolate candy companies? An admitted chocoholic, I don’t understand waste chocolate; waist chocolate makes far more sense to me.

After talking about what a shame it is to use chocolate as fuel, we began talking about 'green' automotive initiatives in general. My husband's comments, courtesy of Bill Nye, the Science Guy, had me googling faster than an SSC Ultimate Aero.

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We are planning editorial for 2010 already around the offices of The FABRICATOR. We end up talking about trends, economic prospects, and requests from readers. Some of the ideas will emerge as features next year, and others will remain on the back burner.

One trend that we have been following for a couple of years has been the "green" movement. Obviously, many people see environmental consciousness as a simple marketing push, but ample evidence exists nowadays that this is becoming a bonafide movement in manufacturing.

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It's one of those days—a day with a calendar reminder that we are to celebrate or commemorate something or someone. A day in which we are supposed to incorporate some sort of activity to honor the day's designated honoree. Today is a double whammy— Administrative Professionals Day and Earth Day. Regarding the latter, while I feel the Earth certainly deserves its day in the spotlight, I'd much rather see us perform Earth Day activities each and every day that we inhabit this precious planet. Apparently Newsweek writer Daniel Stone and others agree.

Yesterday, I asked a colleague how he was doing. He said, "There's a show on the History channel tonight about what the earth is going to look like after all the humans perish. That made me feel good. You know, being alive and all."

It seems to me that we spend an inordinate amount of time complaining about problems, real and perceived (which makes them real to us), in our lives and not nearly enough time acknowledging and being grateful for the blessings. And blessings exist, even when it appears as though the world we've known is changing in ways that make us uncomfortable and fearful.

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An item in yesterday's "Fabricating Update" e-newsletter described the dialogue surrounding reports of General Motors being more open to filing bankruptcy and the company's rebuttal that its stance on bankruptcy hasn't changed. This item concluded by noting that companies on the brink of disaster always make the news, but those that are doing okay seldom do—at least not beyond their local media. We asked subscribers to let us know if their companies are weathering the economic storm— if they are alive and well—and we would share their stories. How many responses have we had? One—from a company that manufactures heavy-equipment attachments. This company's story probably is true for others in metal fabricating that they are alive and well—all things considered.

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If metal fabricating is hard work, metal fabricators are working especially hard during these economic times. Matrix Metalcraft is no exception.

The 25-person shop in Clinton Township, Mich., is working hard to chase down new business while the automotive industry remains moribund. The 9-year-old company had developed a good reputation for quickly turning around quality prototypes for new automotive projects and even doing some small-scale production work, such as fabricating parts for right-hand versions of domestic models destined for export. Good reputations in slow industries, however, don’t do much good.

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