Luetkemeyer Column- Businesses See Growth, Opportunities in District

Statement

After recently spending two weeks in the district touring local businesses and talking to folks from Camdenton to St. Charles, there is a hunger out there for some good news about the economy not just on a national scale but also right here in the 3rd District of Missouri.

There are numerous examples of firms right here at home that are thriving in this tough economy, ensuring that people have jobs and receive an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. While the examples are many, I wanted to focus on a couple of recent examples where high-tech industry is meeting Main Street Missouri in the 3rd District.

Earlier this year, Brewer Science, Inc., a company that produces materials for smartphones and tablet computers, announced plans to build a new manufacturing facility in Missouri's 3rd District in the rural central Missouri community of Vichy, which is located in Maries County. Most significantly, the company has announced that it expects to create 65 new jobs over the next five years.

And over in Washington, Mo., I recently had the opportunity to visit Valent Aerostructures, another high-tech industry in the district. The company manufactures and supplies complex structural components and major sub-assemblies for leading airframe manufacturers throughout various aviation industries. The company recently completed construction of a multi-million-dollar facility and now employs 180 people, another sign that high-tech is continuing to take hold in the 3rd District.

So while our country continues to face perilous economic times that include out-of-control government red tape, a historic level of debt and a stagnant jobs market, it is good to see that in pockets of our nation like right here in Missouri there are firms willing to risk capital, innovate and create jobs. Brewer and Valent are certainly not unique in this regard, but are examples of what we can accomplish if we allow the entrepreneurial spirit that built our nation to thrive.

As a member of the House Financial Services Committee and the House Small Business Committee, I hear from folks across this nation willing to step up and do what it takes to become successful and share their success with others. The bottom line is that government should do what it can to support these folks while resisting the temptation to get in the way with burdensome regulations and bureaucratic red tape. Brewer Science and Valent Aerostructures, along with many others, are proof it can be done, and can be done well.

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