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| 2/17/2009 11:40:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan talks with Precision Plus President Michael Reader Monday, during a tour of the Elkhorn facility |
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Ryan visits local business to talk about economic woes
Congressmen fears stimulus package may do more bad than good
Brian Brown
Correspondent
Many employees showed up in the break room at Precision Plus in Elkhorn on Monday to hear Congressman Paul Ryan discuss the economy and his views on the new stimulus package.
According to Ryan, he did not support the Package from the start. He said that it would have the Unites States borrowing more money than it would ever have - a trillion dollars.
"Can any of you even imagine a trillion dollars?" Ryan asked during his tour of the machine shop.
Ryan's major concern is that there will be high unemployment and inflation after this recession due to the Stimulus Package.
He said that even if the Package does its job and helps small businesses like Precision Plus through the recession, there is a great possibility that the inflation would still make it difficult to afford things in a stable economy.
The Precision Plus break room was packed full of employees who were concerned what the Package may hold for them and their job security.
According to Ryan, only 1 percent of the bill is going to go toward helping small companies.
He expressed concern that if more money does not go toward small businesses, they may not be able to support their entire employee base.
"Congress is not doing their job on this one, in my opinion," said Ryan.
Bill Wells, sales and engineering manager at Precision Plus, said he was concerned that the company is not making enough money through the current economic slump.
"Twenty percent of last year's sales went entirely to buying newer equipment," he said.
According to Wells, a lot of the employees at Precision Plus are concerned about the future of their jobs due to the economic strain.
Quality Department Manager Rick Dickinson said the five employees working underneath him have all expressed concern about keeping their jobs.
So far, he said, rather than cutting anyone, he has had to shave their hours down from five to four a week.
"It's like a big family here," said Dickinson. "We don't want to lose anyone. Some guys have been working here for more than 25 years."
Dickinson said he fears there could be lay offs at Precision Plus if the state of the economy continues to worsen.
There is the belief that if enough money is borrowed and put toward prolonging the longevity of small businesses, they will be able to survive the economic drought, said Ryan.
The downside to this, according to Ryan, is that there will be higher interest rates and higher taxes in the future.
"We have to make sure we don't borrow ourselves into unemployment," he said.
He said that if things get bad enough and the Stimulus bill does not work, then the taxpayers' dollars might be used to bail out big businesses.
According to Ryan, the Bush Administration opened up the credit system and used tax dollars for big businesses. The result was that checking accounts were literally nearly shut down.
"The taxpayer's money needs to stay in the credit system," said Ryan.
Precision Plus, located at 840 Koopman Lane in Elkhorn, has been in business for more than 25 years with nearly 50 employees who manufacturer Swiss screw machine products among other small parts.
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