 |
| Contributed photo During her visit to Caribou on March 25, Senator Susan Collins stopped by Frederick’s Southside for lunch; Sen. Collins is pictured here with restaurant owner Michelle Hanson and her children, Danielle and Paul. |
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — The community may be abuzz with recent discussion about the possibility of a missile defense location in Caribou, and Senator Susan Collins may have visited Chand Eisenmann Metallurgical yesterday — but the senator from Caribou assured that her hometown visit was not related to the possible military installation site.
The possible Missile Defense site for the East Coast did come up yesterday — but during a friendly conversation Sen. Collins had over lunch at Frederick’s Southside with Caribou’s City Manager Austin Bleess.
When asked if the visit to Chand Eisenmann had anything to do with the proposed missile site, the senator kindly explained that any decision on a proposed missile defense system for the East Coast is a long way off.
“Clearly Caribou and Limestone area have characteristics, infrastructure and support that would make it an attractive site,” the senator assured, “… the Department of Defense is a long, long way from a decision.”
“This visit is totally unconnected, but I’m thrilled to be here,” she said while standing in the breakroom of Chand Eisenmann’s Caribou facility.
Just minutes before, Sen. Collins was given a tour of the manufacturing plant by owner Mark Eisenmann with help from his staff. Chand Eisenmann manufactures porous metal filters and parts to customer specifications; they have over 600 customers and over 4,000 different parts; keeping up with demand, Chand Eisenmann runs three shifts five days a week, and currently employs 39 at the Caribou plant, and three in Connecticut.
Not only did Sen. Collins state that the quality, high tech products being created at the Chand Eisenmann facility were a tribute to the workers’ skill, she expressed how thrilled she was of owner Eisenmann’s commitment to The County after growing and expanding his workforce.
“What I’m most excited about is the fact that a small business in Caribou is exporting [products] all over the world,” she said, adding that small businesses need to be supported with policies that allow them to grow and expand so that more products are made in Maine — and in The County.
Describing how the high tech work being done at Chand Eisenmann seems to be a well kept secret in Caribou, Sen. Collins congratulated Eisenmann on creating quality work opportunities here in her hometown.
