Corbett Touts Business Plan

News Article

By Wendy Zook

As part of his gubernatorial campaign, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett toured the Roaring Spring Blank Book's Martinsburg plant Friday morning, discussing the importance of businesses in the state and his plan for revitalizing them if elected.

"I'm getting to know the people of Pennsylvania better," Corbett said. "I'm getting to know the businesses. I think the governor needs to know what the needs are for businesses."

Blank Book is a fifth-generation business that employs 400 people in its three operating divisions, including nearby water and container businesses. With dozens of plant employees surrounding him, many of them nodding in agreement, Corbett said that the next governor needs to create an economic environment that allows businesses to grow.

He said past elected officials have increased unemployment and taxes two things he said he would like to see reduced if he wins election to the state's highest position in November.

"I've listened to the people of our state," he said, highlighting a plan for the future that includes fiscal discipline, limited government influence and the promotion of free enterprise.

Blank Book President and CEO Dan Hoover called Corbett a "man of character and action."

"He is a friend to Pennsylvania businesses," Hoover said.

During his tour, Corbett asked several questions of Hoover, who explained the process of putting together the high-stacked colorful notebooks and piles of different types and sizes of paper seen throughout the building. With 4-foot rolls of white paper nearby and noisy conveyor belts rotating coloring and activity books, the candidate stopped and talked with several employees, asking them about their duties and the products they were working on.

At one point, Corbett picked up a blue composition notebook and joked that it brought back memories of writing essays in college and law school.

"It brings back memories," he told employees afterward. "Not necessarily the best memories."

The tours of a wide variety of businesses in the state help him to understand "what makes Pennsylvania run," Corbett said. "It's important to understand how businesses grow."

Corbett said he has proven several times in the past that he is able to address a problem, come up with a solution and plan and execute that plan. One of the examples he used was in addressing the growing problem of predators on the Internet.

"I really do have a vision for Pennsylvania," he said. "Pennsylvania [has] a standard of excellence that other states should be measured by. We have the men and women that can do that job. We have the resources. What we need is a governor who can execute that plan."

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