Lucas Steel: A stimulus success story
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 03 July 2013 17:11
- Written by Paul Gordon
It isn't just coincidence that has Congresswoman Cheri Bustos visiting different manufacturers in her district during the week-long July 4 break from Washington, D.C.
"This was a good opportunity for me to tour the district and get a good feel for what people do day to day in their work. I did it this week because manufacturing really is so important in America and what I've learned this week and earlier is how hard our citizens work," Bustos said Wednesday after touring A. Lucas & Sons steel company in Peoria.
"I can tell you that I would put up the workforce I've come to know in this district against any workforce in the world," she said.
During her campaign and since her election last November, Bustos, the 17th District Democrat from East Moline, has supported legislation that would help keep and create jobs in this country. Since being sworn in she has sponsored and co-sponsored several bills that would do that, including:
The American Jobs Matter Act that would enable to government to consider American job creation when awarding bids for taxpayer-funded contracts.The Invest in American Jobs Act that would strengthen Buy America requirements for transportation and infrastructure projects.The Bring Jobs Home Act, which would eliminate tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas and provide a tax credit for companies that return jobs to the United States.The Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, which would hold countries that create an unfair trade advantage by currency manipulation responsible for their actions.
During the week Bustos has visited manufacturers throughout the 17th District, including in Rockford, Freeport, Moline and Canton. After the Lucas Steel tour on Wednesday she toured the Alexis Fire Equipment plant in the Knox County town of Alexis.
During her tour of Lucas & Sons, Bustos learned how plates of steel can be bent, signing her name to a piece she bent so it can be placed next to a signed plate bent by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin when he visited the plant on another occasion.
She also saw the 1909 time clock still in use today at the factory that employs 25 men who finish off steel beams to be used in various applications, mostly in construction.
Then she saw the newest addition to the factory on Washington Street that is Peoria's oldest continually operated company at 155 years old. That is the technologically advanced equipment that cuts and drills the beams, taking a process that would normally take hours by hand and cutting the time to mere minutes.
That technology was acquired by Lucas a few years ago with a federal grant of $350,000 as part of the economic stimulus program. It was receipt of that grant that led Margaret Hanley, president and CEO of Lucas & Sons to welcome Bustos for Wednesday's tour.
"American tax money has helped me with that grant, so I felt it was my turn to give back a little," she said. "I want to do what I can to keep jobs in the U.S. We're a small, family owned business that is proud to show that manufacturing is alive and well here."
The grant, as mentioned, enabled Lucas & Sons to modernize a part of their operations. Fabricating a beam used to take four hours and it now is done in about 20 minutes.
Bustos said meeting workers when touring companies in her district "is what I live for. When I'm in Washington it's hard work doing what I can to help my constituents, but when I come home this is the sort of thing I love to do. Here is where I get to see first-hand what it is the citizens of the district do every day and I get to talk with them and hear what their concerns are."
She said walking into the Lucas & Sons plant was "like stepping back in time" when seeing the century-old time clock, the hand cart on rails still used to move steel from one part of the plant to another and some of the old processes still is use every day.
"Then it was great to see the new technology and to see the how the Recovery Act helped this company and is helping other people. Recovery still is not happening as quickly as people would like but it is happening and programs like the one that helped this company are working. This is what the Recovery Act and the legislation I am supporting are all about. There are success stories and this is one of them" Bustos said.
