American Job Creators - Grand Rock Company
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
American Job Creators - Grand Rock Company
I want to share the thoughts of another NE Ohio Job Creator who
participated in the American Job Creator program through my
website. Jerry Arth is President of Grand Rock Company, located on
Fountain Avenue in Painesville. Grand Rock has been
manufacturing diesel truck exhaust systems for the last 30 years in
a modern 53,000 square foot building. Jerry wrote a
great statement for American Job Creators that made many
interesting points.
Jerry thought the path to a better economy was through
bipartisan solutions, and not through partisan bickering: "One of
the major obstacles to improving the economy in the US is
"party-politics". I think that a majority of our representatives
are intelligent people and know what needs to be done, but they
don't act unless it benefits their party (both sides). This causes
bottlenecks in getting anything done and we end up with substandard
solutions. "
Jerry used the topic of health care to illustrate his point
about bipartisanship: "Almost everyone agrees that our health care
system does not work. My company's health insurance costs have
increased over 20% in each of the past 4 years.
At this rate, I will not be able to afford to offer health
insurance to our workers."
Like many other NE Ohio job creators, Jerry also thought there
were too many agencies within the government which makes it
burdensome for small businesses to navigate the chain of
bureaucracy: "... as you pointed out, there are too many agencies
within the government. When a company our size tries to get funding
for training, capital equipment, or hiring new employees, it is
nearly impossible to determine where to start to look, and whom to
contact. I have spent so much time talking with various departments
only to find out they don't handle the specific need that I am
trying to fund. It would be great if there was "one-stop-shopping",
one agency or department that could cut through all of the
red-tape. Even if I'm not eligible for funding, at least I would
know it without wasting weeks of work and time."
Jerry also had a great suggestion for creating more jobs and
increasing demand for American products: "I think that continuing
to push the "Made-In-America" awareness would help create more
demand and eventually more jobs. We produce heavy-duty truck
exhaust systems for aftermarket trucks and buses. Ninety
percent off what we build and sell is "Made-In-America". All
of steel tube is made in Ohio and Indiana. We use local machine
shops to manufacture custom parts. "
I want to extend my sincere thanks to Jerry Arth, and all
the other NE Ohio job creators who contribute to the American Job
Creators program. Your feedback has been invaluable, and I
appreciate it. I plan to continue this program for several
more months, so please continue to share your stories.
Steve.
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