May 2026, Vol. 1

MANUFACTURING DATA REPORTS

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in April for the fourth straight month, says the latest ISM® Manufacturing PMI® Report.

The computer and electronic products sector, and the electrical equipment, appliances & components sector, both reported growth. Read the full report.

INDUSTRY NEWS

> Oregon-based Lattice Semiconductor said Monday it is buying a Georgia tech company called AMI for $1.65 billion in cash and stock, a deal the Oregon company said will improve its products for data centers and artificial intelligence. Read more.

> A new Trump executive order could reshape retirement savings for those who don’t have access to an employer-sponsored plan. Read more.

> You may think of your to-do list as overwhelming and tedious— like a debt you need to pay off. Reframing your to-do list as credit-building and a way to move forward can radically change your perspective and energize you. Read more.

> The EDS Summit will be here soon!

Make sure the ERA Business Center in the Lily Ballroom is your home base. Stop by to: chat with the ERA National Staff and visit with our Recognized Resource providers; grab the special EDS Lines Available edition; pick up your ERA member ribbon; and enjoy some refreshments and a quiet place to connect.

*Note from the EDS Show Corp: EDS badges can be picked up beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 18 at the registration desk. Be sure to build in time for this process so that it does not impact your meeting schedule. As a reminder, everyone in the event area must display an EDS 2026 badge at all times. Please refer to the EDS Badge Policy for more information.

> Join us for the next ERA LIVE on Tuesday, May 12 at 4:00 p.m. ET where we will dive deep into the new rules of Google and AI search and visibility! Experts from G&G Creative NYC will break down how modern SEO, intentional content and site design work together to fuel your digital marketing engine.

What we’ll cover: why original expertise is the new SEO gold mine; how to attract the right audience, not just a bigger one; turning site structure and messaging into a lead-generation machine. Join us to learn exactly what you need to change to start seeing real results.

See you there! More info & log-in details.

> ERA is pleased to announce the addition of Zenode, an AI-driven component search platform, to its list of Recognized Resource vendor partners.

Electronics sales representatives often spend hours manually cross-referencing customer bills of materials (BOMs) against their represented lines. This complex evaluation traditionally requires days of back-and-forth communication with engineers. Zenode’s Alts tool performs comprehensive part comparisons in approximately one minute per component, providing sourced documentation for immediate engineering review.

Read the full press release. Visit zenode.ai.

CHAPTER EVENTS & NEWS

• Indiana-Kentucky ERA — Day at the Track — Thurs., May 14
• Florida Sunshine ERA — Annual In-Person DTAM Presentation — Thurs., May 14
• New England ERA — Young Professionals Networking Event — Thurs., May 28
• Northern California ERA — 3rd Annual Golf Event Benefiting Special Olympics — Wed., June 10
• Minnesota ERA — Networking Event feat. Speakers Dave Doherty & Eddie Smith — Wed., June 17
• Metro NY ERA — Steve Alford Memorial Golf Outing – Mon., June 22
• Chicagoland-Wisconsin ERA — Summerfest Outing — Thurs., June 25
• Pacific-Northwest ERA — Save the Date: Golf Tournament – Fri., Aug. 21