The Chamber of Commerce visits Norsk Titanium in Plattsburgh during a tour to promote production in New York

New York Chamber of Commerce officials are visiting manufacturing sites across the state. Among the stops was the Norsk Titanium plant in Plattsburgh.

The bus tour made stops in eight cities and centers across the five boroughs of New York. In the North Country the stands were Agri-Mark in Chateaugay and Norsk Titanium in Plattsburgh. Norsk makes titanium parts for the aerospace and semiconductor industries and currently has contracts with Boeing, Airbus and the US Department of Defense.

Vice President of Norsk Operations Stephen Eaton hoped that this visit would lead to many opportunities.

“This was a good visit for us. We talked about the future of Norsk Titanium and how we can continue to work together with the state of New York to build a bright future and continue to increase jobs here in the North Country,” Eaton said. “We will seek opportunities to partner with other companies and organizations within New York state as we continue to grow as an organization. We have 63 employees in Plattsburgh. Overall we are a team of 140 people. As we pursue bigger organizations than ourselves we are looking for opportunities to grow as an organization it helps a lot to have the support and support of the state of New York to help us with that reach, to help open doors a few can help share our story and also continue to encourage us and allow us to grow as an organization.”

Chairman of the Republican Clinton County Legislature Mark Henry emphasized the purpose of the bus tour is to raise awareness of the issue in the communities.

“It’s always great to come to any of the North Country businesses to see what they do and how they do it and where it affects, not just the North Country, but the entire United States and in some cases the world. We’re lucky to have companies like this here,” said Henry. “We’re lucky to have the advocacy of organizations like the Business Council that and we will work hard to ensure that our businesses, Norsk and others, get the support they deserve and need from the elected officials, from the district, to the state, to the benefit of all of us here in the North Country.”

Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Heather Mulligan said the purpose of the tour is to inform people about the diversity of manufacturing and its importance to the national economy.

“These are big jobs. They are high paying jobs. We’re in competition with the rest of the world and actually other parts of this country,” Mulligan said. “And to the extent that New York has problems, we want to hear about them so that we can help make this a more friendly place for manufacturing. This is definitely one of the strongest areas in the country for advanced manufacturing and I want to make sure that everyone who makes policy in this country knows it and really does everything it is in their power to continue to grow. ”

State Senator Dan Stec, a Republican who represents the 45th District, said the Chamber of Commerce is the main advocacy group that can bring strong messages to Albany about local developers and their needs.

“Their story and what they’re learning from their travels around the county I think really resonates with a lot of people in Albany who are making decisions about where to invest or what’s going on or the history of past investments,” said Stec. “And in the North Country this transportation facility that we have here, businesses in the Plattsburgh area, this is a significant innovation. The latest technology that has worldwide application in the form of So it’s encouraging to see that we also need to do everything we can to continue to support and grow this I think they are very important.”

The Chamber of Commerce tour included stops in Brooklyn, Elmira, Hammondsport, Buffalo, North Tonawanda, Marcy, Chateaugay and Plattsburgh. It coincided with National Productivity Week.