Torres Concludes Annual “Made in the 35th” Manufacturing Tour

During the tour, Torres visited eight homegrown businesses in Fontana and Ontario to highlight the strength of local manufacturers

EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN— (ONTARIO, CA)—U.S. Representative Norma J. Torres (D-Pomona) recently concluded her annual “Made in the 35^th” tour of manufacturing businesses in the 35^th congressional district. The tour included meetings and site visits with manufacturers in a wide range of industries, including metal fabrication, aerospace, cargo, and defense in Fontana and Ontario.

“The 35^th Congressional District is home to manufacturers that support everything from the military to the roofing on our homes. My annual ‘Made in the 35^th‘ tour highlights our local businesses and provides me with an opportunity to hear directly from them about how we can grow the Inland Empire economy,” said Torres. “As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to push for increased funding to help manufacturers find new markets to sell their products and bolster efforts to train and prepare the workforce to fill the jobs these businesses are creating every day. That’s how we ensure that Inland Empire manufacturers and workers can continue to compete and thrive for decades to come.”

In the 35^th congressional district, a total of 36,955 people are employed in the manufacturing industry. The average wage for manufacturing employees in California is $83,000, which is nearly the double wage of all sectors in the 35th district at $48,797.

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Torres worked to secure $14,000,000 in additional funds for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership in the fiscal year 2020 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill. The funding will help small and medium-sized manufacturers improve production processes, upgrade technological capabilities, and facilitate product innovation. Since her first term in Congress, Torres has held district-wide Job Creation Listening Tours, where she brings together area business owners, community leaders, educational experts, and employees to get their views on the local economy. She released a white paper outlining a legislative plan based on the listening tour and a one-year update on the progress made on the plan.