Three Manufacturers Talk Tariff Takedown, and US Steel Eyes Eggs: So That Happened

Editor’s note: Welcome to So That Happened, our editors’ takes on things going on in the manufacturing world that deserve some extra attention. This will appear regularly in the Member’s Only section of the site.

Confidence Climbs for Equipment Finance Executives

The February 2026 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI) reached 67.6, its highest level since January 2025 and up three points from the previous month’s 64.6, according to the Equipment Leasing & Finance Association (ELFA).

Over the next four months:

• 37.5% of respondents believe business conditions will improve.
• 58.3% of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same.
• 4.2% of respondents believe business conditions will worsen.

During the same period, 54.2% of respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures will remain the same, and 45.8% expect demand to increase. In addition, 66.7% expect the same access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions, and 33.3% of respondents anticipate greater access.

In the survey comments, Aspen Capital Company President Peggy Tomcheck wrote, “Rapid advancements in AI are driving the need for more powerful, up-to-date computer equipment. As companies adopt AI tools and modernize their operations, they require upgraded hardware but often prefer to preserve cash flow and maintain flexibility. Equipment leases provide a cost-effective way to access current technology and easily refresh equipment as demands evolve.”

Over the next six months, half of survey respondents expect their organization to increase business development spending, up from the 34.6% reported in January. Regarding economic outlook:

• 33.3% of respondents believe U.S. economic conditions will improve.
• 58.3% of respondents believe U.S. economic conditions will stay the same.
• 8.3% of respondents believe U.S. economic conditions will worsen.

—Anna Smith

We’ve Got Eggs! 

Irvin and Stella, the bald eagles of U.S. Steel Corp., have commenced to manufacturing more offspring in 2026. As of Feb. 23, the feathered couple were sitting atop two eggs at their nest at the steel company’s Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania.  

"What'll happen next is both the parents, both Irvin and Stella, will take turns incubating for the next 35 days," U.S. Steel’s Don German told CBS Pittsburgh. 

Should the eaglets successfully hatch, this will be the second brood for Irvin and Stella at the Monongahela River site. While Irvin has occupied the nest since its construction in 2019, Stella joined after kicking out Irvin’s previous mate, Claire. 

Are there more eggs in the offing? Will they all hatch? Is it all domestic bliss between Irvin and Stella? You can find out for yourself as events occur. Pixcams provides a 24-hour livestream video.  

—Jill Jusko 

Emergency? Not So Much ...

After the Supreme Court decision last week ending President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs, it’s business as usual—synapses afire, shoulders to the wheel—for three smaller manufacturers. 

Cameron Haring, president of DECA Manufacturing—an employee-owned maker of wire harnesses and electronic assemblies in Lexington, Ohio—said his company gained business from the emergency tariffs. But, he added, “we have been lucky in that our operations have not been significantly burdened by increased costs, as many of the components we buy that aren’t produced domestically come from Mexico and are protected by the USMCA.”  

OT Cybersecurity Means Paying Attention, Doesn’t It?

How does a company not record data of all the interactions between OT and the IT infrastructure? No one really needs that information?

OT cybersecurity firm Dragos released its 2026 OT/ICS Cybersecurity Report. According to the report, 119 ransomware groups affected over 3,300 industrial organizations last year, up from 2024 totals. If you really want to get into the specifics as to how cybercriminals breach and attack networks and even get some strategies for hunting down specific threat groups, this report is very much for you.

This might be another matter of exposing my ignorance, but the most interesting part of the report for me concerns OT network monitoring. Dragos estimates that only 10% of OT networks record the needed data to determine whether when “something goes wrong” it indicates a cyberattack or not. Again, wouldn’t you think everyone would be monitoring and storing this data?

There are some sour notes in the report. Manufacturers with some sort of OT cybersecurity may not be able to detect new attack types used by cybercriminal organizations. Attacks become faster than defenses can detect. And the manufacturing sector suffered 2259 ransomware attacks in 2025, with the second most sector, transportation, coming in at only 341 attacks.

If you’d like to get into the weeds on cybersecurity, you can download the full report here.

—Dennis Scimeca