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Encore Semi Inc., a California-based semiconductor chip designer, has opened an Austin development office as part of a four-city national expansion.

In spite of a long-term decline in manufacturing employment, California maintains a large base of manufacturing capabilities and strengths in a diverse set of manufacturing industries, from food processing and furniture to aerospace and medical devices.

Absent changes, gasoline and diesel fuel beginning in January will be covered under a state auction program that requires petroleum companies to obtain carbon emission credits in order to continue to operate as they gradually choke off their greenhouse gases. The minimum cost of those credits, or allowances, is unknown, but experts believe they may be in the range of $12-to-$13 each, with each credit covering a ton of carbon emissions. Millions of credits may be sold and that cost is likely to be passed on at the pump. During a recent sale, emission allowances were selling at $11.34.

Tesla Motors Inc. is taking a closer look at California to build a giant electric-car battery factory after state lawmakers proposed new tax breaks and regulatory changes that could speed its construction and lower costs.

The output of state factories has surged 73% during the last 15 years — twice as fast as the rest of the nation — even as the sector bleeds jobs, according to a new report from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. Employment declined nearly 34% during the same period.

On Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation creating a $420 million tax credit for aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin. The bill also includes a clause that could provide a tax sweetener for Tesla Motors, if the company decides to built its planned $5 billion factory in California.

A 4 percent sales tax credit on the sale of manufacturing and research and development equipment has gone into effect in California. The credit will last eight years. 

The Legislature went home for a month Thursday, but not before handing aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp. a controversial $420-million tax break.

Branded as a sweetheart deal for Lockheed, the bill sailed through the Assembly and Senate — but only after critics forced state officials to pledge that they would seek a similar incentive for aerospace rival Northrop Grumman.

The Senate Finance and Governance Committee approved the measure, Assembly Bill 2389, but only after adding amendments to limit its effect on the state’s treasury, which proponents said could undermine hopes of gaining the project in competition with other states and companies.

Heading into the Fourth of July weekend, a gallon of regular gasoline on the West Coast averages a penny over $4, the highest price of any region in the country. Costly Alaskan oil is a key factor in these high gas prices, and that oil is gradually running out.

A University of Virginia Miller Center commission, chaired by former Governors Haley Barbour and Evan Bayh, released a report offering innovative, non-partisan, actionable ideas on how to create middle-class manufacturing jobs.

Manufacturing activity as a share of U.S. GDP has been in steady decline for several decades. However, over the past two years there have been signs that this downward trend is abating. Evidence of the shifting tide is most apparent in durable goods output, especially in computer and electronics, motor vehicles and machinery, passing their pre-recession peak in the third quarter of 2011.

. . . Because manufacturing processes are often very energy intensive, favorable energy prices in the U.S. have proved particularly important to the re-shoring theme. Industries set to benefit most from these lower energy prices include organic chemicals, resins, agricultural chemicals, petroleum refining, metals (i.e. iron and steel) and machinery.

. . . Tax policy is another factor that can influence decisions as to where a company will locate various business activities. The individual tax rate is also very important to manufacturers as two-thirds of manufacturers are flow-through entities and pay taxes at individual tax rates.

California lawmakers and the Brown administration introduced legislation Thursday morning that seeks to lift regulatory and financial barriers to lure a proposed $5 billion Tesla Motors factory to the Golden State.

In all, some 66 industrial projects—worth some $90 billion—will be breaking ground over the next five years in Louisiana, according to the Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance. Tens of billions of other new investments could be coming, says Louisiana’s economic development secretary, Stephen Moret. How many projects will actually get built remains to be seen.

Hewlett-Packard Co. will cut an additional 11,000 to 16,000 jobs as the company pursues its restructuring under CEO Meg Whitman. That brings the total planned cuts to almost 50,000, which would equal roughly 15 percent of its global workforce.