Political Quotes

“In Michigan, 154 different businesses have been involved with 68 completed and ongoing partnerships. They are joint ventures as well as single business applicants. These are exactly what we hear from the administration we ought to be doing: partnerships, public-private sector, working with the universities, small investment, big results. The other important part of this amendment that relates to moving forward and being positive is the manufacturing extension partnership. It is interesting; some of us have been involved with agriculture and cooperative extension. This program is based on that model of bringing together the best management practices, cutting-edge information, and working with manufacturers to increase productivity and efficiency to compete in a global economy. A very small amount of dollars is involved in this particular program, and it yields tremendous results. In Michigan, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership funding is credited with more than $80 million in sales impact, more than $32 million in cost reductions, and through the regional offices they have assisted over 250 companies in my State alone in achieving certification to industry quality standards. This is important. It helps our small and medium-size manufacturers. It has had, in the past, strong bipartisan support.”