WHO CARES ABOUT NOV. 7?

摘要

You may have heard vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush, the two major-party contenders for the White House, uncharitably described as Tweedledum and Tweedledee. And some of your peers are talking about not voting. But don't tell Jon K. Hirschtick, CEO and cofounder of SolidWorks Corp., Concord, Mass., that the Nov. 7 U.S. presidential and congressional elections don't matter. Continuing an entrepreneur-friendly tax structure tops his list of election issues that senior manufacturing executives ought to be concerned about. "Even if manufacturers are not entrepreneurs themselves, they rely on a continuous stream of innovation in materials science, manufacturing methods, rapid prototyping, and manufacturing software, such as 3-D CAD. [And] all these developments in manufacturing are a result of entrepreneurship and small companies. Therefore, it is very iportant that the innovation environment stays strong for manufacturing companies in general," insists Hirschtick, whose company, a unit of France's Dassault Systemes SA, produces computer-aided-design software.