Lentz Starts Economic Tour

from the inbox:

Representative Bryan Lentz, the Democratic nominee for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, kicked off a ten-week, 25-stop economic regional listening tour on Tuesday with a stop at Aston-based manufacturer New Way Air Bearings on Tuesday.

The visit to New Way included a private meeting between Lentz and several executives from the company, including co-founder Drew Devitt and President and CEO Nick Hackett. That meeting was followed by a tour of the factory floor, where Lentz viewed precision tooling machines the company uses to manufacture machine parts for the semiconductor and flat panel television industries and spoke with some of the skilled employees who operate them.

Lentz said today’s kick-off tour was a good opportunity to hear about the concerns of a company that is creating jobs as the nation continues to emerge from the recent recession. New Way, which sells products to manufacturers in the U.S. and overseas, recently added 15 jobs as demand for its products recovered from the downturn and it also continues to invest in new applications for their products, with potential applications in the clean energy and medical imaging fields.

“Today’s meeting with the leaders of New Way Air Bearings involved a very productive discussion about ways that our nation could more effectively encourage the efforts of small businesses to invest in new product lines and production methods and add jobs,” Lentz said. “There’s no reason why those concerns should not be addressed for New Way, and the other small businesses like it that are the primary drivers of job growth in this nation.”

The tour, which will run throughout the months of August and September, will include 25 stops at local businesses in some of the region’s important industries, like health care, education and manufacturing, as well as town hall forums, and stops at company shift changes to gain input from the area’s work force and residents.

Lentz has already introduced a five-point proposal for generating job growth, including giving companies incentives to invest and expand, and providing educational opportunities to train employees in fields where demand was growing, like math and engineering. He said he launched the ten-week tour of businesses in Delaware, Chester and Montgomery counties earlier this week to further meet the demands of local businesses and working families.

"These are the businesses that create jobs and their owners need to have their voice heard as we get our economy growing again,” Lentz said. “That is why I will be seeking input from the entrepreneurs and hard working men and women who drive our local economy.”

Lentz has made saving and creating jobs the cornerstone of his campaign for Congress. He is the only candidate with a published plan to get our economy moving again and the only candidate who supports Wall Street reform and the creation of a consumer financial protection agency to ensure another collapse does not happen. Lentz has also pledged to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas while his opponent Pat Meehan has signed a pledge to continue rewarding companies that outsource American jobs.