8WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG MARCH 23, 2009

P RESIDENT BARACK OBAMA has nominated former New York City Health Commissioner Margaret (Peggy) A. Hamburg as head of FDA

and Baltimore Health Commissioner Joshua M. Sharf-stein as her deputy. In his weekly address to the nation on March 14, Obama also announced his plans to create a Food Safety Working Group to modernize and en-force food safety laws and coordinate measures across the federal government.

“There are certain things only a government can do. And one of those things is ensuring that the foods we eat and the medicines we take are safe and don’t cause us harm,” Obama said during his address. The President renewed his pledge to include $1 billion in the 2010 federal budget to increase the number of food inspections and FDA staff needed to protect the food supply.

Hamburg has a reputation of integrity and a record

of making Americans more secure, Obama noted. While serving as health commissioner of New York City, she “brought a new life to a demoralized agency, leading an internationally recognized initiative that cut the tuberculosis rate by nearly half and overseeing food safety in our nation’s largest city,” he said. Hamburg is currently a senior scientist with expertise in biodefense with the nonprofit group Nuclear Threat Initiative.

Consumer advocacy groups, food safety experts, and other stakeholders welcome the increased attention on food safety as well as the new FDA leaders. As a team, they are expected to refocus the beleaguered FDA and make public health a priority.

Hamburg has “a substantial set of skills, experi-ence, and commitment to public health that makes her ideal,” says William K. Hubbard, former senior as-sociate commissioner of FDA and a critic of the agency since he retired in 2005. And Sharfstein “brings sub-stantial experience in public health,” as well as Capitol Hill experience, he says.

Lawmakers also support Obama’s picks. “This is a team that has strong public health credentials and demonstrated management abilities. These appoint-ments give me great hope for the future of the FDA,” House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) said in a statement.—BRITT ERICKSON

T HE ECONOMIC TRAUMA of the past few months continues with no end in sight as five more chemical companies undertake cost-

cutting measures. Most will cut jobs. Three also say they will cut or freeze employee compensation, a tactic firms are using more often now to save cash.

Salary cuts are a prominent feature of a plan by silicones maker Momentive Per-formance Materials to save $40 million annually. The firm’s senior leadership will take a 10% pay cut beginning in April; 2,300 salaried and administrative em-ployees will take a nearly 8% pay cut.

The firm also plans to eliminate 100 positions for a 2% workforce reduction. “Given the realities of the current eco-nomic recession, it is imperative that we act to reduce costs,” CEO Jonathan Rich says.

Japanese chemical maker Mitsubishi Rayon didn’t post job cuts but says that beginning in April, all direc-tors and executive officers will forgo 20 to 50% of their salaries. The firm also will cut salaries and bonuses for managerial staff by 10% because of deteriorating busi-ness results.

Within the past month, Dow Chemical said it would eliminate bonuses for top executives this year, and East-man Chemical said it would slice worker salaries by 5%.

Paint maker PPG Industries is both cutting jobs and trimming employee compensation to save $140 million annually. As part of a second round of plant closings, PPG will cut 2,500 jobs, almost 6% of its workforce. Cash-conserving measures also under way include “sal-ary and bonus actions,” the firm says.

Companies announcing only job cuts include ther-moset resins maker Hexion Specialty Chemicals and petrochemical maker Sunoco. Hexion plans to cut more than 1,000 jobs, about 15% of its workforce, over the next 18 months as part of a $100 million productiv-ity improvement program.

Sunoco will reduce its salaried workforce by 750 positions at its Philadelphia and Marcus Hook, Pa., fuel refineries, where the firm also manufactures pet-rochemicals. Sunoco put its chemicals business up for sale in late December.

Early this year, T. Kevin Swift, chief economist for the American Chemistry Council, an industry trade group, forecast a 3% drop in U.S. chemical employment in 2009.—MARC REISCH

Paint researchers could be affected by PPG’s cost-cutting action.

NEWS OF THE WEEK

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TRAUMA CONTINUES FOR CHEMICAL FIRMS

RESTRUCTURING: Salary reductions increase as a cost-control measure

FDA TEAM NAMEDAPPOINTMENTS: Obama selects new agency heads, strengthens

food safety efforts

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