News Release

U.S. Senate Candidate Chris Coons:  “Words we need to see more of:  Made in America, Manufactured in

For Immediate Release: August 24, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Contact: Daniel F. McElhatton at 215-605-6396 or Daniel@chriscoons.com

Today Chris Coons, the United States Senate candidate for Delaware’s open seat announced the first of a series of job creation initiatives he will champion as U.S. Senator.  Coons will bring to the U.S. Senate his years of private sector experience in one of Delaware’s most innovative companies and his leadership as the New Castle County Executive in order to help businesses create jobs.
 
Chris Coons’ philosophy is clear: it is small businesses and innovative entrepreneurs who create jobs, and it is the responsibility of government to foster a climate in which those businesses can succeed.
 
As Delaware’s Senator, Chris will press for new solutions that help businesses create new jobs.  He will focus on four areas of job creation: restoring our innovation economy, assisting small businesses, rebuilding a viable manufacturing sector and growing our green economy. 
 
Coons stated: “During the six months I have been campaigning up and down our state, I have heard a constant concern from Delawareans – they believe Washington politicians have lost their connection to working men and women.  Folks I talk to don’t believe that Washington politicians understand their anxiety about the future, or their concern that their children will not have the same opportunities they did.”
 
Chris Coons is rolling out his economic development and job creation initiatives in order to provide voters a clear understanding of his priorities and what he will fight for in Washington D.C.
 
Coons continued, “I want to go to Washington and bring back a sense of optimism that is missing in our political conversation. I will work hard to make these six words real again: ‘Made in America, Manufactured in Delaware’.”
 

Chris Coons initiatives to get America back to work

·         Rebuilding America Tax Credit:  Offer a bonus research and development (R&D) credit to companies that also manufacture 50% or more of their products in the U.S. The bonus credit would be on a sliding scale, based on the share of the company’s total manufacturing output that is produced domestically. This proposal would reward companies that innovate in America and boost the U.S. manufacturing sector.  
·         Local Jobs and Innovation Centers:  The federal government today supports a large catalogue of efforts by the EDA, SBA, DOE, HUD, and other agencies to promote community and clean-economy development. Many of these services can be consolidated through new community centers for jobs and innovation, chartered to promote innovative, public-private job creation clusters and economic development. These “acceleration centers” would connect entrepreneurs to those with the resources to create new enterprises, and then connect these start ups to opportunities provided through other Administration initiatives, such as the green economy programs and the National Export Initiative. These new centers also would connect job seekers with employment opportunities and training, and offer information and incentives for companies to locally in-source key components of their supply chains and workforce development efforts.
·         Commercial Real Estate Loan Guarantees:  Use existing TARP authority to provide loan guarantees to healthy commercial real estate projects that are having difficulty finding long-term financing due to the credit crunch. The loan guarantees would be made through banks and would include a fee that would ensure a positive return for taxpayers. The guarantees would help stave off a potentially looming foreclosure crisis in the commercial real estate sector triggered by the inability of commercial developers to get credit.
 
The proposals Chris Coons will fight for as a member of the United States Senate come from conversations he has had with people up and down Delaware.  Coons added: “Too often Washington politicians think that the only good ideas come from inside the D.C. Beltway.  As a local leader, I know that simply isn’t true, and as I have campaign statewide, I have heard lots of common sense ideas from hard working Delawareans – people in business, labor, non-profits and state and local governments.  I encourage people with ideas for creating jobs and moving our economy forward to share their ideas with me through my website at www.chriscoons.com <http://www.chriscoons.com/> .”
 

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