The Burton Blog

Good News for Tipton County

News Channel 8 reports that an unknown company is interested in the Getrag plant.  Watch the video here on News Channel 8's website.

Tipton County company left with $9.6 million puncture

The Chronicle-Tribune posted today that Moorehead Electric, the company in contract with Chrysler, will be left with $9.6 million in the hole.  The news source comments that Congressman Burton was among the few that tried to assist the electric company in its initial heated battle with Chrysler.

By Brett Wallace
bwallace@chronicle-tribune.com
Published: Thursday, May 7, 2009 1:09 AM EDT
Moorehead Electric Co. is in the process of shutting down its operations after a long and proud 70-year history.

Employees and politicians say they’re saddened because the situation has come about through no fault of the company itself.

When Getrag suspended operations on the construction of its planned Tipton County facility in October, it left its 44 subcontractors on the hook for $45 million in unpaid invoices.

Getrag claims Chrysler, who had helped the German transmission maker settle on the Tipton location, owes that money to the unpaid companies. But Chrysler disagrees, and the two companies are now headed to court to settle the dispute.

Meanwhile, the 44 subcontractors have filed a joint suit in federal bankruptcy court but otherwise find themselves without rapid recourse.

For Jerry Albrecht, president of Moorehead Electric, it meant a gaping hole of $9.6 million in his company’s finances. Albrecht’s employees said he fought as hard as anybody ever could to find a way to keep the company operating. Ultimately, the task proved to be too much.

“We do feel there is a possibility of recovering the money, but it has to go through the bankruptcy court in Detroit,” Albrecht said.

In the meantime, Albrecht said, his bank and his bonding company lost faith that the company could recover the money owed to it and decided to pull the plug on Moorehead Electric.

“We finally had to close the doors because of the coordination between (the bank and the bonding company),” Albrecht said. “They basically decided to not continue support for the company.”

Albrecht said he also found it ironic that his longtime bank, Regions Bank, recently accepted federal TARP money and now is essentially forced to enact tougher lending standards, which Albrecht believes as a result put him out of business.

“As they did that, they tightened up on people like us,” he said.

Regions Bank President Ed Merchant said he cannot legally comment about the bank’s relationships with clients.

Many of the other companies suffering as a result of nonpayment in the Getrag project are facing similar peril, Albrecht said.

“Most of the (banks) that tightened up are the ones that got government money,” he said.

Albrecht also approached several other area banks but could not find a new business partner for Moorehead Electric.

Albrecht said he takes exception to the explanation reported in other media outlets that politicians have done everything they could to try to help his company, as well as the other 43 subcontractors.

“Dan Burton and Joe Pearson seemed to be the only ones who actually tried to help out,” Albrecht said.

Burton’s office took the lead on a letter sent to the leaders of Chrysler and Getrag in March. The letter, which was signed by five Hoosier congressmen, urged those company officials to assist the local contractors affected by the deal.

Burton, Grant County’s representative in the U.S. House, said he felt terrible after hearing that Moorehead is now scheduled to shut down.

“If (the federal government) is going to try to bail out Chrysler, they should try to pay what’s owed to the subcontractors as well,” he said.

Burton said he’s sympathetic to the plight of the subcontractors, many of whom are located within his congressional district, but added he doesn’t believe there’s any plan at the federal level to assist these companies. There’s been some talk in Washington of a federal bailout of the automakers’ suppliers, but not of subcontractors that worked for them, Burton said.

At this time, he sees bankruptcy court as the answer for the companies.

“But that’s the thing that worries me, that the bankruptcy proceedings are not proceeding as fast as they should,” Burton said.

...Burton said he hopes the former Moorehead Electric workers will utilize all of the community’s resources, including his office, if they need assistance.

Burton's visit to his 5th District

Last week, Dan's visit to Indiana was constructive towards addressing economic and enviornmental issues and how they were hitting Indiana.  Burton stopped in Franklin, Shelbyville, Greenfield, and Fishers to discuss the concerns about increasing unemployment rates and inflation.  To read more about his visit, please click here to read The Shelbyville News article.

U.S. Rep. Dan Burton made a swing through his 5th Congressional District Thursday, meeting with business and community leaders and talking about current economic challenges.

Between stops, Burton, R-Indianapolis, granted The Shelbyville News an interview to discuss the economy and the federal government's role in dealing with the downturn.

The 14-term congressman began the tour with a meeting of south central Indiana mayors in Franklin, including Shelbyville Mayor Scott Furgeson, to discuss the federal government's role in solving economic troubles in Indiana...

The Economy: Card Checks: Energy Policy. What do these three topics have in common?

The answer is they are all topics of Congressman Burton's business roundtable in Greenfield, IN.  On Wednesday afternoon, Burton expressed doubts for the effectiveness of Obama's policies regarding government spending and energy reform. The Greenfield Daily Reporter's article detailing the roundtable can be found here.

Congressman Dan Burton criticized the fiscal policies of President Obama's administration Wednesday afternoon at a business roundtable in Greenfield.

"Internationally, there's a real concern about the value of the dollar because of all the spending that's going on right now," Burton said.

Referring to the legacy of former President Ronald Reagan, Burton said cutting taxes is the way to bring the nation out of recession.

Burton spent about an hour talking about different economic topics and answering questions from a small audience at the Greenfield library. He expressed concern about Obama leading the U.S. to a socialized health care system like that of Canada and many European nations. In many of those countries, they "ration health care and move people to the back of the line," he said.

Another concern voiced by Burton include efforts to change the "card check" law. Changing this law would move union elections from a secret ballot to an open ballot.

He also decried Obama's energy policy. He said a cap and trade law would serve as a tax levied on every business that emits carbon dioxide. Burton said this law could cost every American family an average of $3,128 a year in increased bills caused by higher costs for energy companies.

Burton said he thinks the nation's economy will improve in the short term, but that government spending beyond the nation's means would make it impossible to avoid an "inflationary spiral" in the longer term.

Dan Burton to be a key-note speaker at Tipton's Tea Party

The Kokomo Tribune reports that Dan will be a primary speaker at today's Tea Party in Tipton. The Tea Party will occur from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00p.m. at the Tipton County Courthouse square.

The main speaker at Tipton will be U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indianapolis, long regarded as one of the most conservative voices in Washington, and also the lone vote in 2007 against a landmark congressional ethics reform bill.

Burton Fights for Sallie Mae Jobs

Through Obama's proposed student loan plan, Sallie Mae in Fishers is in danger of losing jobs. Dan Burton is doing all he can to fight for his Sallie Mae constituents in Fishers. Mary McDermott documents his view in a WishTV 8 article.

The administration said having the government handle federal loans directly would save taxpayers billions of dollars each year.

Indiana Congressman Dan Burton said he'll fight the effort.

"If the government goes into the direct lending program in its entirety, I think it will be inefficient, it will end up being more costly, it will not be able to provide the services that they provide here. And I think that will be a real detriment to education," said Congressman Burton.

Congressman Burton also held a meeting yesterday to discuss the issue with Sallie Mae employees. HoosierAccess summarizes the question and answer session that took place. Below are Congressman Burton's closing remarks.

“Jobs are just about everything to my constituents. In this very tough economy, the Obama administration is trying to expand government control to the point where they are going to suck the wind out of the private sector in central Indiana. The employees I spoke with at Sallie Mae today are staring that reality in the face, and I came here to let them know that I’m supportive of them and their company.

“Sallie Mae has an extremely important role in higher education, and, in the long run, direct lending from the Federal government will be less efficient, more costly, and their service will pale in comparison to what Sallie Mae offers students today. Above all, a transition to government control of student loans will cost Sallie Mae thousands of jobs. I think that is wrong, and I will do everything possible to make sure the Federal government does not replace Sallie Mae.”

Burton's office reaches out to flood victims

This already happened, but it's worth mentioning.  The terrible storms hit Indiana hard, and Dan Burton is doing all he can to reach out to his constituents who have been impacted.

From WISH TV 8:

Johnson County will host a meeting Monday, June 16 to release information to storm and flood victims. The meeting will be at noon at Scott Hall at the Johnson County Fairgrounds in Franklin.

The meeting is open to the public. Mayors, state representatives, Mitch Roob of the FSSA, Congressman Steve Buyer, local homeland security officers and representatives from Congressmen Mike Pence and Dan Burton's offices are expected to attend.

Kokomo Tribune on Dan's visit to Bona Vista

Looks like we missed this article first time around, but better late then never.

Bona Vista provides support to more than 1,000 people a day. The non-profit organization assists individuals with developmental disabilities through residential and community-living programs, helps them acquire jobs, and teaches work and life skills. The program also helps early childhood development programs to assist in physical, occupational and speech therapy. Staff members use developmental therapy and applied behavior analysis services to help children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental delays.

But to keep these programs running, Dunn has to garner support from governmental agents, such as U.S. Congressman Dan Burton.

On Tuesday, Dunn and Alexander gave Burton a tour of the Kokomo facilities. Burton, a longtime supporter of special needs programs, helped Bona Vista enter into the Crane contract, a military experimental program.

Under the agreement, Bona Vista clients will have new jobs available to them where they will make pallets for the Army, to be used in land mine experiments, Alexander said. Bona Vista entered into a $47,600 contract, receiving approximately $15,000 in profit.

“The clients love having new jobs to do, and it increases their skills,” she said.

“I’m really impressed with this facility,” Burton said. “I think Bona Vista provides an extremely valuable services especially for people with special needs.”

After learning about the many programs available at Bona Vista, Burton said he and his administration would assist the organization in seeking out other contracts as well as grants.

“We’ll help in any way we can.”

Burton honors World's Oldest Person

The Indianapolis Star and the Shelbyville News covered the birthday of the world's oldest person.  She's 115 and lives in Shelbyville.

The Shelbyville News:

Those in attendance at the party, which was sponsored by Heartland Hospice, brought cards, gifts and flowers to commemorate the important birthday. The office of U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indianapolis, sent a letter opener embossed with a congressional seal and a congratulatory letter via Jonathan M. Prez, who works in Burton's office.

"Last year, we sent a flag that was flown over the Capitol in Washington, D.C. It is hard to top that," Prez said.

Dan Burton speaks to the ESGR

Congressman Burton spoke to the Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Friday at the Indiana War Memorial.  It was part of a support signing ceremony that local employer's participated in.

Note:  The ESGR exists to support Guardsmen and Reservists as well as their employers.  They are under strain as many of our soldiers in Iraq have had to leave their jobs.  Employers must find temporary solutions while their employees are gone.

Under a portrait of General Douglas MacArthur, Dan thanked the military personnel for their service, but especially the businesses and corporations honored Friday that are outstanding examples of supporting our war effort back at home.

On any given day, there are 110,000 guardsmen and reservists currently deployed around the world in 30 different countries.  Indiana is fourth in the nation when it comes to supplying these soldiers.  Over 21,000 of these soldiers deployed since 9/11 have been from Indiana.  Indiana also leads the nation in recruiting.

Charlie White, councilman from the town of Fishers, was there to accept an award on behalf of the Hamilton County Commissioners.  Several others represented communities and businesses around central Indiana.  Many are going the extra mile supporting these soldier's families by extending health care coverage even though the soldier's are overseas.  Others still pay a stipend to families.

TBB was humbled by the generosity of these companies and wants to join Dan in thanking these folks for all they do to support our country.