The Morning Call: Air Products’ CEO says education is key
media mentionJohn McGlade tells Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce a skilled workforce is ‘critical.’
Air Products CEO John McGlade addresses the crowd at the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce annual meeting and awards luncheon at Stabler Arena Tuesday.
Air Products CEO John McGlade addresses the crowd at the Greater Lehigh… (DONNA FISHER, THE MORNING CALL)
November 08, 2011|By Sam Kennedy, Of The Morning Call
America’s ability to compete globally in the future depends on its willingness to invest in education today, the head of Air Products and Chemicals told local business leaders Tuesday.
“[It’s] something that I think is vital to the competitiveness of the United States going forward,” CEO John McGlade said in a speech delivered to about 1,000 attendees at the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting.
He said today’s workforce is composed of many soon-to-retire baby boomers and called upon government, educators, parents and the business community to work together to prepare the next generation of workers.
Air Products, which is based in Trexlertown and has operations in more than 40 countries, has its own share of baby boomer employees, he noted.
“The need for a skilled workforce is really critical,” he said. “We’re going to have to fill a lot of those jobs.”
McGlade paid homage to the virtues of technical schools in particular — something the Fountain Hill native knows more than a little about.
As a student at Liberty High School, he attended Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical School. He later went to Lehigh University for engineering and a master’s degree in business.
U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, a Lehigh Valley Republican, introduced McGlade, calling him “a local guy who has really done well.”
Indeed, McGlade was the highest paid employee of a Lehigh Valley-based, publicly traded company last year, earning $11.6 million, according to research firm Equilar Inc. of Redwood City, Calif.
In addition to education, McGlade expressed concern about the nation’s energy policy and the federal tax code.
He demanded “a consistent, solid” energy policy that recognizes the importance of home-grown energy sources, such as shale gas, as well as that of nuclear energy and renewable energy sources.
And he complained that the U.S. corporate tax rate is the highest in the world, prompting businesses to shelter money overseas. He also said the tax code itself, filled with loopholes, is too complicated.
According to a study released last week, loopholes mean very few businesses actually pay the 35 percent corporate income tax rate. In fact, Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, both liberal think tanks, found that 30 large and profitable U.S. corporations from 2008 to 2010 paid no income taxes at all.
The Chamber, which has 5,000 members, also gave out awards at its annual meeting. The Business of the Year award went to Sacred Heart Healthcare System.
Sacred Heart operates a hospital now in its 100th year of service in downtown Allentown, where it is a major employer. It had more than 1,200 employees in 2010, and has added about another 100 workers over the past year, according to the Catholic institution.
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