Kohut Laments GE Solar Panel Decision

Jeff Kohut, a petitioning candidate for mayor, says he will continue to urge General Electric to rebuild a manufacturing presence at its vacant East Side plant after the company announced last week it will locate a solar-panel manufacturing plant in Colorado. From Kohut:

It was truly a disappointment to learn through Friday’s AP report, carried by the Connecticut Post in its 10/14/11 edition, that General Electric (GE) decided to locate their new, state-of-the-art, solar-panel manufacturing plant near Denver Colorado, rather than at their 77-acre Bridgeport property (as requested by the Kohut for Mayor Campaign through letters, published op-ed pieces, and a petition signed by a growing list of Bridgeport residents–now numbering at nearly 4000 …). It is also disappointing that Congressman Jim Himes, Governor Dannel Malloy, Senators Joseph Lieberman and Richard Blumenthal, GE COE/COB Jeffrey Immelt, and President Barack Obama couldn’t see their way through to giving long-struggling Bridgeport a real boost by advocating for Bridgeport in this regard.

But most disappointing was the failure of Mayor Bill Finch to pursue this potentially game-changing opportunity for Bridgeport through his good offices, in resonance with the Kohut Campaign’s efforts–even after he was asked directly, by this mayoral candidate, to advocate for that opportunity for the sake of his city. A sitting mayor’s affirmative input in this regard could surely have given significant momentum to the Kohut Campaign’s efforts, and might have even been able to tilt the decision-making process in the city’s favor.

To be clear about the status of the Kohut Campaign’s efforts to induce GE to restore a major manufacturing operation to Bridgeport: We are still in contact with GE and will continue to work toward their creation of a green-alternative/renewable-energy-equipment manufacturing operation on their 77-acre Bridgeport property. Although they might have “hedged,” albeit in positive terms, about locating their new solar-panel manufacturing plant in Bridgeport, they have been quite affirmative in their willingness to think in terms of locating manufacturing operations on their Bridgeport property. In this context, the Kohut Campaign will continue to circulate the aforementioned petition, in its original form (which contains a clause requesting an “equivalent” manufacturing operation at the Bridgeport property–in lieu of the solar panel plant).

Indeed, the Kohut Administration will continue to think in broad terms for the potential GE, “Bridgeport” product line–including operations producing solar panels.

And it should be noted that GE has taken the first step in the actual creation of a major, state-of-the-art, solar-panel manufacturing operation by choosing a definite location for the plant. This latter, affirmative step resonates with GE’s major commitment of talent and capital to the development of a versatile line of green alternative energy equipment and the company’s anticipation of a major role, in the near future, for this line of products.

Furthermore, the creation of this plant in the United States should serve as affirmation of GE’s commitment to returning a major portion of its manufacturing operations to this country, by way of confirming that the United States is the best environment for developing and producing value-added commodities–especially high-tech commodities … (Quality issues, supply-chain issues, shipping costs, overseas labor issues and civil strife, as well as US technology-related productivity advantages, are all conspiring to reverse the off-shoring of US manufacturing and create a new “Golden Age” of American manufacturing. Bridgeport must seize this developing opportunity to reprise its role as a center of technology and manufacturing and thereby recreate the full-employment prosperity for which it was once famous. This will happen during a Kohut Administration …)

So, the message from the Kohut for Mayor Campaign to the people of Bridgeport is: Please get involved in our petition drive to bring GE back to Bridgeport to produce their green, renewable-energy products using Bridgeport workers on Bridgeport land owned by GE … Don’t let the naysayers and unimaginative mayoral candidates and their followers keep Bridgeport on a losing track … There is ample evidence that manufacturing is undergoing a US resurgence. With support from the people of Bridgeport, our Congressional delegation, and Governor Malloy, the Kohut Administration will secure major manufacturing opportunities for Bridgeport. As a mayoral campaign, we have already been in contact with several large companies in the green-alternative/renewable-energy products area; as a mayoral administration, through the implementation of our economic development/business-recruitment plan, we will convince these companies to join GE in the re-creation of Bridgeport manufacturing preeminence and a Bridgeport economic renaissance.

Get involved with Bridgeport’s rebirth! Contact the Kohut for Mayor Campaign to help with our efforts to bring about the reindustrialization of our city and the creation of tens of thousands of living-wage jobs for Bridgeport families. (A situation that many Bridgeporters still remember …)

Call 203-394-7678/203-530-6841, or e-mail JPKOHUT1@aol.com/benforkohut@gmail.com to get involved and bring change and prosperity back to our city … See our website for details of our innovative plans for Bridgeport’s renaissance–www.kohutformayorofbridgeport.com