18b9f2e3b09af675633c51e7f303d17d.jpg

HILLSBOROUGH: KWG highlights local economic future

By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
   In an effort to bring attention to small businesses, with an emphasis on manufacturers, Rep. Leonard Lance, R-7th, took a tour of KWG Industries, on Roycefield Road, Tuesday, and discussed the importance of maintaining a manufacturing base in this country.
   ”To maintain that, we have to be technologically innovative, but we must make sure we have a business climate where that is possible,” Rep. Lance said to about 40 business owners and dignitaries gathered to also take the tour of the building. “The small business community creates more than half of the jobs in this country.”
   KWG Industries, a decades-old business that moved from Bridgewater to Hillsborough in January 2008, is a metal parts manufacturer and distributor that creates pieces used for such purposes as building armored vehicles and machine guns for the United States military, among other jobs.
   ”What occurs here is a matter of national security,” Rep. Lance said. “Much of what is made here goes to the armed forces and people defending the United States of America.”
   According to KWG owner Kurt Grimm, he had spoken with Rep. Lance about the issues small manufacturers and other businesses face in these times. He said he then contacted Hillsborough Township Business Advocate Gene Strupinsky, who assisted in putting together the tour of KWG.
   ”It is extremely important to recognize manufacturing jobs,” Mr. Strupinsky said. “That’s where jobs will be created.”
   Mr. Strupinsky said he was glad to bring so many people out to KWG Industries, which is located in the Roycefield Trade Park, and to be able to unveil there the first sign commemorating Hillsborough as being part of Einstein’s Alley.
   The Einstein’s Alley designation, which is focused on Central Jersey, indicates that a town supports innovative technology-based industry. The program is a nonprofit initiative that aims to increase economic growth.
   ”When people think of Hillsborough, they often think of agriculture, or retail along Route 206,” Mr. Strupinsky said. “But (KWG Industries) is the heart of the larger industrial business in the area.”
   Straying from the topic of small businesses, during questions at the end of the program, one audience member asked if any stimulus money would be trickling down to Somerset County and Hillsborough, in particular.
   At this point, Rep. Lance said, he has contacted President Barack Obama about putting aside stimulus money to move forward with the Green Brook Flood Control Project. He said he has asked for $13 million to be put toward the project.
   ”The project I believe should be funded immediately is Green Brook,” he said.
   In discussing the problems small businesses face, Rep. Lance talked about the issues that could come from rising costs for businesses already struggling to survive in today’s economy. He said the government must look at health care reform and other taxation issues in a manner that would not destroy small businesses in general.
   ”I am aware that we must make sure businesses, particularly small ones, continue to thrive,” he said. “Our future depends in no small measure on small business manufacturing.”