PHOTO RELEASE: Rep. Blunt Rochester Visits Fujifilm to Highlight Workforce Development and Supply Chain Efforts
New Castle,
March 26, 2024
NEW CASTLE, Del. – Yesterday, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) visited FUJIFILM Imaging Colorants, Inc.’s (Fujifilm) expanded inkjet dispersion manufacturing facility in New Castle to highlight her workforce development and supply chain resiliency efforts in Congress. Blunt Rochester toured the expanded manufacturing facility with General Manager, Melissa Toledo and Manufacturing and Engineering Director, Michelle Kelley.
In 2022, Fujifilm announced a $28 million investment to expand the facility which brought the creation of new domestic manufacturing jobs in Delaware. The facility is the world’s largest aqueous inkjet manufacturing site and produces pigment dispersions used in inkjet printing.
As Delaware’s former Secretary of Labor, the founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Future of Work Caucus, and a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Blunt Rochester has been laser-focused on preparing our nation’s workforce for in-demand jobs and securing and strengthening American supply chains. Her efforts include legislation to help people grow their job skills, make our supply chains more resilient, create good-paying manufacturing jobs, and lower costs for consumers.
“If I could associate my career with one word it would be jobs. That’s why I proudly introduced my comprehensive Jobs Agenda last year that focused on everything from preparing people to take on in-demand jobs to creating better-paying manufacturing jobs,” said Rep. Blunt Rochester. “I was encouraged to see Fujifilm’s expanded facility in New Castle for the first time since it opened. Fujifilm manufactures aqueous inkjet inks for a broad range of industries, so it’s important that they are able to get the materials they need to meet capacity and demand. That’s why I’ll continue my bipartisan work in Congress to make our supply chains more resilient so we can make more critical goods here at home, create more jobs, and lower costs for Delawareans.”
“We thank Congresswoman Blunt Rochester for her visit to Fujifilm. We take great pride in our business, talent, and our Delaware community, and always appreciate the opportunity to share that with our elected officials,” says Toledo. “In line with Congresswoman Blunt Rochester’s push to create jobs in the state of Delaware, and as we continue to expand, we look forward to increasing our employment opportunities spanning a variety of roles including engineering, skilled labor and professional/managerial positions.”
In April 2023, Blunt Rochester introduced her comprehensive Jobs Agenda that included a set of policies, many of them bipartisan, that are all connected to creating good-paying jobs. The Congresswoman’s agenda touches on everything from creating more affordable housing; to giving justice-involved individuals a second chance and a clean slate; to investing in immersive technology and job training, to strengthening our supply chains and domestic manufacturing.
In December 2023, Blunt Rochester reached a major bipartisan agreement on a supply chains package with Rep. Larry Buschon (R-Ind.) that led to the introduction of the bipartisan Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act. This legislation would create a whole-of-government approach to map, monitor, and proactively strengthen American supply chains, bring manufacturing jobs back home, and lower costs for consumers. The bill was considered in a House Energy and Commerce Committee markup on December 5, 2023, and was subsequently passed unanimously out of the committee. The bill is now eligible for full consideration on the House Floor.
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