Investing in Manufacturing

Sen. Markley talking shop with Christopher Budnick, Pres. Vanguard Plastics Corporation.

Hartford, CT – Senator Joe Markley (R-Southington) recently toured the Vanguard Plastics plant in town with Christopher Budnick, President of Vanguard Plastics Corporation. Budnick showed Markley the injection molding process used to make plastic components, and the innovative robotic equipment used to increase efficiency.

“This is a fantastic operation, state of the art and competitive with any supplier in the world,” Markley said. “It’s also a family business, where everyone is part of the team and takes pride in what they do. Small manufacturers like Vanguard Plastics made Connecticut prosperous and America strong.

“My father and uncle operated a small manufacturing business for years in Southington and Cheshire, the New England Gear Works. I grew up with an understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and the blessing a business success can be to the community,” said Sen. Markley.

According to a new poll commissioned by the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, 55 percent of small business owners and manufacturers would not have started their businesses in today’s economy.

“How do we lower that number in the future?” asked Sen. Markley. “One way we can restore business owners’ confidence is to stabilize our state’s finances. We just witnessed the largest tax hike in state history. That tax hike – which I strongly opposed – was crushing to our economy. Business needs predictability. We can’t expect entrepreneurs to take risks when we keep changing the rules on them.

“We can’t continue to raise taxes and increase regulation. We must cut spending, carefully but significantly and we must eliminate onerous and unnecessary regulations, which plague every business person in Connecticut. I am determined to see that other innovators have a chance to succeed, and I want to make sure established companies can remain and thrive in Connecticut,” said Sen. Markley.

Markley believes it is extremely important to Connecticut’s economy that we invest in our manufacturing core. Twenty years ago, manufacturing employed more than 300,000 workers in this state–now we’re down to barely half of that.

“Manufacturing jobs were the backbone of our state economy. They sustained our families and paid for the education of our children. We can and must revitalize this industry,” said Markley. “Vanguard Plastics proves that the spirit of innovation lives on in Connecticut.”