**Kuster kicked off her Build Back Better tour in the North Country yesterday, meeting with business leaders and local officials to discuss travel, tourism**

**Yesterday, Rep. Kuster visited White Mountains Community College’s (WMCC) Littleton Business and Industry Training Facility, which was funded in part by a $350,000 NBRC grant Kuster helped to secure**

Lancaster, N.H. — Today, Rep. Annie Kuster (NH-02) continued her Build Back Better Tour in the North Country with stops in Lancaster and Colebrook, visiting manufacturing companies that are growing their businesses, expanding their workforce, and making contributions to their communities. Yesterday, she visited WMCC’s Littleton Business and Industry Training facility which will help to ensure Granite Staters have the skills and training they need to thrive and meet local workforce needs. During today’s visits, Rep. Kuster discussed ongoing operations during COVID-19, and how they are utilizing federal funds from the American Rescue Plan and other resources to bolster their recovery.

In Lancaster, Rep. Kuster visited Pak Solutions – formerly known as PAK 2000 – to tour and learn about their growth, products, and plans for future expansion of facility and workforce. Pak Solutions is a leading producer of flexible packaging products in the United States. Today, Pak Solutions has nearly 50 full-time staff members, new high-speed converting lines, a refreshed facility, and a commitment to growth and innovation in the marketplace.

In Colebrook, Rep. Kuster toured American Performance Polymers to hear about their planned expansion of manufacturing capabilities for products like nitrile exam gloves, glove box sleeves and parts, and other products such as balloons. Last year, a Department of Defense (DoD) grant supported American Performance Polymers’ ability to produce more gloves for frontline workers and the federal stockpile. The company’s new $13.1 million federal contract with DoD and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — using funding Rep. Kuster helped secure in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act — will go towards adding two high-speed and six regular glove manufacturing equipment lines, which will increase glove production by 45.8 million gloves per month by July 2022.

“Over several decades, the North Country has lost much of its manufacturing base — but thanks to companies like Pak Solutions and American Performance Polymers, we are starting to see a revival of manufacturing and workers with the skills needed for business and Granite Staters to flourish,” said Rep. Kuster. “As we ‘Build Back Better’ from the economic impacts of COVID-19, we must be intentional about supporting domestic manufacturing and American workers, and bringing the benefits of manufacturing back to our region to support our communities — that’s what I’m working on in Congress.”

“American Performance Polymers here in Colebrook has been and will continue to be a key partner in ramping up our domestic production of personal protective equipment like rubber gloves, and I was proud to help deliver funding to support their critical work,” Rep. Kuster continued. “It was great to see American manufacturing in action today, and I look forward to bringing the innovation and success of Pak Solutions and American Performance Polymers to Washington, and supporting their ongoing work to bring workers to the region.”

Rep. Kuster has been a strong supporter and advocate for Granite State businesses in Congress, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Already in 2021, Rep. Kuster has helped deliver 15,766 loans for New Hampshire through the Paycheck Protection Program, totaling over $1,125,851,000. Kuster has also been a resounding voice to reopen the U.S.-Canada border, leading a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging the safe re-opening of the U.S.-Canadian border.

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