Nolan tells gathering of local manufacturers they have an advocate in Washington D.C.

Make It in Minnesota is the slogan behind a campaign championed by U.S. Congressman Rick Nolan, while visiting Chisago County manufacturing firms last week as Congress took a break. Rep. Nolan, D-8th District, heard from local manufacturing company owners about taxation issues, inventory disincentives, currency manipulation, trade imbalance, and design copyright protections, among many issues. Tours of Kendall Howard, Polaris, Plastech, and Xccent punctuated Nolan’s visit here. He also took comments and questions from guests at a lunch at WineHaven’s newly-opened special occasion center and tasting room, in Chisago City.

Randy Herreid, owner of Kendall Howard, spent a good hour with Rep. Nolan at Herreid’s business, which is a few hundred feet up-the-road from WineHaven. Herreid said there are 50 employees and he hopes to be able to expand into an adjacent lot in the near future. Nolan explained that Kendall Howard was of interest to him, because it has won contracts that could easily have gone to competing companies based in China.

Rep. Nolan was interested in anything Congress might do to advance Kendall Howard’s winning tactics. Nolan, who owns a wood pallet plant in northern Minnesota, joked while touring Kendall Howard’s production plant-- that amongst all the electronic and technical wizardry on today’s production floor; metal sheets for fabricating were still being delivered stacked on wood pallets. Manufacturing in Chisago County generates $20 million in local, annual wages, according to Nancy Hoffman, County HRA/EA Director.

She asked everyone at the lunch to keep communications open with Congressional, state and local officials and feel free to get help or make suggestions at any time. Speaking to the lunch attendees Rep. Nolan stated, that spending personal time with business owners in his district is “...where I get inspiration to do what I can.” As a manufacturer himself, Nolan assured constituents he understands this sector and how to go about turning a profit. “You have an office in Washington,” he declared.