25-04-2025
‘I fought back against that': Riley speaks out on manufacturing
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – Congressman Josh Riley says he's helped to reverse federal funding cuts that would have hurt local small and medium-sized manufacturers.
Riley was at Eck Plastics in Binghamton earlier this week, sounding the alarm about a prior effort by the Department of Commerce to slash money from the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program.
The MEP program has 460 centers across the country, including the Alliance for Manufacturing and Technology on the SUNY Broome campus. They assist manufacturers with job training, certifications, marketing and market research. Riley was one of 86 members of Congress who signed a letter to the Commerce Secretary opposing the cuts before the Trump administration backtracked.
'I fought back against that. I made the argument that we need those investments to grow American manufacturing and to create jobs in America. And I was really pleased when the administration reversed course and decided to continue to make those investments,' Riley said.
ECK Plastic Arts prints and creates plastic component parts for other manufacturers using injection molding, vacuum forming and fabrication.
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