Jan. 7—LIMA — As Washington, D.C. is transitioning to a new president and a revamped Congress, Task Force Lima, the public/private collaborative group promoting the work of Lima’s Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, is planning to keep the work of the Abrams tank plant front and center in the minds of both new congressional delegates and those in districts that have facilities connected to the tank plant through the supply chain.
The group held its quarterly meeting Tuesday afternoon at Ohio Means Jobs Allen County, giving members the opportunity to provide updates on new happenings since its last meeting in September while going over the details of the upcoming trip to the nation’s capital, set to take place the end of February.
“We want to get down to Washington, D.C. to get into our congressional offices [and] our senators’ offices just to keep this facility on the forefront as they’re talking about appropriation bills and whatnot to ensure that there is an understanding of the great work that’s not just here in Allen County but in Ohio and what it means for our country and our allies,” Allen County Commissioner Cory Noonan said after the meeting. “We really are excited about that opportunity to get down there with our legislators.”
One of the hopes of the 11 members of the group who are making the trip is to encourage those legislators who have not yet been to the tank plant to make that trip and see the work that is taking place, both for the U.S. military and through contractual work for other allied nations.
“Sen. [Bernie] Moreno is familiar with the facility and has been updated and briefed on the facility,” Noonan said. “But again, to be in front of them and their staff is so critically important. By that time, Ohio will have its second senator in place. At least, we’re hoping he or she will be in place. I don’t have a crystal ball on that, but hopefully that individual will be in place.”
When it comes to the message the group plans to bring with them, the focus will be on the progress that has been made in production volume coming out of the plant, especially when compared to leaner years when the facility was at risk of contraction, a situation that led to the task force’s formation.
“It’s awesome to hear about the great machinery that is produced from that facility and the great men and women that are helping to produce those and the successes that are happening,” Noonan said. “When you hear production, when you hear facility upgrades, when you hear they’re hiring and what they’re looking at for individuals in those jobs and when you look at the collaboration between all the interested parties and how they assist, it’s a family.”
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