WASHINGTON, W.Va.- As part of his tour across the state to help grow and preserve jobs, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., stopped at the DuPont Washington Works Thursday.
"I want to find out what opportunities we have here to grow and maintain the jobs we have and attract more jobs," Manchin said. "And, to ask how the government can help."
Manchin said the usual answer is the government's help is not needed.
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Photo by?Jeffrey Saulton
Karl Boelter, plant manager of DuPont Washington Works; James McCormick, safety manager of UTI, and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speak outside the Washington Works Thursday.
"Usually they'll say 'get out of our way and let us do our job, help us that way,'" he said. "That's the message I'll take back to Washington on what is needed to create jobs."
Earlier in the day Manchin met with residents of Ravenswood.
Manchin said he is confident the reopening of the Century Aluminum plant in Ravenswood will be a success.
"I told them we are still climbing the hill, if you will," he said. "Sometimes when you're climbing a hill you get tired and say 'I quit and give up' or you say 'I see the top man and I'm gone.'
"Right now we are going for the top."
Manchin said he has high hopes for the plant and the community and thinks they will have everything moving in the right direction.
"In Ravenswood, the people's attitudes are great and businesses and management are working well together," he said. "I think the spirits are high, the attitudes are great and that's what it takes."
Manchin said work is continuing with Century Aluminum retirees over benefits.
"With new management coming on and a whole new mindset working with the people there, they are trying to make the retirees whole," he said. "Making sure they can get a good contract with the unions, I think they are going to do it. I really feel comfortable about it.
"I feel positive about Ravenswood."
While at the DuPont plant, Manchin met James McCormick, safety manager at UTI, a contractor at the Washington Works plant.
McCormick is a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's Citizens Service Before Self Medal. The medal is the civilian equivalent of the Medal of Honor.
McCormick said he was singled out for his work with veterans in a number of ways.
