This week we received an email from someone at Primetac, a GSP supporter list company in Little Ferry, New Jersey. We’ve been waiting for an email like this for a long time – much too long – so it’s with great pleasure that we get to publish this (and special thanks to the company for allowing us to do so)!

Here is what they wrote (everything in italics is directly quoted):

We are a poster child for the benefits of the GSP program.  Located in New Jersey, just outside of NY City, our company is small but the jobs we have created with the help of the GSP program over the years are well-paying jobs with good benefits such as full health insurance coverage (we pay 100% of the employee’s premium) and 401(k) with matching funds.

We have about 12 employees and we pay commissions to another 12 salespeople (outside contractors) many of whom rely on our company as a primary source of income.  The benefits also extend to the very poor area in Indonesia (Surabaya) where the factory is located, as much needed jobs are provided by the factory which makes our products.

That’s good info, but it gets better. GSP is not even back into effect yet – that won’t happen until July 29 – but Primetac is moving full speed ahead. Here is what the email said in regards to recent/next steps:

1.      We are hiring a VP for sales and marketing to help us to expand our business nationwide.  We have warehouses in 4 states in different parts of the country, so any growth in our sales volume also accrues to those businesses via ripple effect.  Part of the new VP job will be to locate and hire at least 2 additional sales reps in open territories – so 2-3 new positions are being created

2.      We have just contracted for the purchase of a new Forklift from Crown Lift Trucks, an Ohio-based manufacturer of forklift trucks (this truck is manufactured entirely in the US).  Appx cost $26,000.

3.      We are investigating upgrades to the lighting system in our warehouse now that we will have the funds available for such improvements

To recap, GSP renewal is allowing the company to 1) hire new US workers internally, 2) support manufacturing jobs in Ohio through an immediate equipment purchase, and 3) potentially support more manufacturing/New Jersey installation jobs through warehouse upgrades.

My absolute favorite part is the last sentence (emphasis added), which reflects the optimism felt by many, many companies who have been waiting for Congress to renew GSP:

These are new projects just in the 2 weeks since the announcement of renewal…more to follow.

If your company is taking similar steps (e.g., hiring workers, making job-creating investments, etc.) as a result of GSP renewal, we want to hear from you. The next potential GSP expiration will roll around before you know it, and the more we can show the positive GSP impacts between now and then, the better positioned we’ll be to advocate for a seamless renewal.