State Senate candidate and current State Representative Mike Lahti, visited L'Anse Manufacturing, one of the businesses that would be affected if the legislation was passed
L'ANSE -- L'Anse Manufacturing is an international provider of precise machinery for the military, the aviation industry, and medical companies, among others.
If the Hire Michigan First legislation is passed, new incentives could help the U.P. company expand and retain jobs in Baraga County, which is right now struggling with an unemployment rate over 20 percent.
"The expense of bringing on new workers and training them is enormous, and small businesses are stuck with this and people don't understand it," says Mark Maticosse, co-owner of L'Anse Manufacturing. "We need assistance in hiring people, getting them trained so that they can be productive. Part of the reason why we're successful has to do with productivity."
Democratic State Senate candidate Mike Lahti says it's even more important to put U.P. workers first.
"This is a case where we have to do what we can as a state to encourage employment and encourage incentives for people to hire people in Baraga County and the rest of the state," said Lahti.
A state representative for four years, Lahti also says job creation is always a top priority for him.
"I stand for working, I stand for the working man and woman in this country. I stand for students, I stand for making sure that our kids get a great education and get great training," Lahti added.
Lahti is facing Republican Tom Casperson in the race for the 38th District State Senate seat, which covers 13 of the 15 counties in the Upper Peninsula.
We'll be featuring a story on Mr. Casperson in the near future.
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