JENKINS TWP. - Plastics manufacturer Acton Technologies has expanded rapidly as it took advantage of opportunities to export its products across the globe.
U.S. Small Business Administration Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Natalia Olson-Urtecho and other SBA officials toured the Jenkins Twp. company on Wednesday and highlighted how small businesses can benefit from the agency's programs to grow, create jobs and export internationally.
Bill Scott, director of global sales and marketing for Acton Technologies, showed SBA officials the company's products used in some of the most highly specialized areas of aerospace, automotive, electronics, medicine and semiconductors.
Established in 1947, Acton received an SBA-backed loan for $300,000 from PNC Bank in 1987 and has grown over the years to 47 employees at its Jenkins Twp. location and 75 around the world.
The company used SBA-backed exporting assistance from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance International Trade Program to help defray the cost of attending and exhibiting their products at European trade shows. The company exports to locations worldwide, including Canada, South Korea, Israel, Slovakia, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Mexico.
Ms. Olson-Urtecho said she has been pushing for more international exporting, pointing out that about 95 percent of the world's consumers are outside America's borders and there are emerging markets in countries such as China, Brazil, Chile and India.
"One in every three manufacturing jobs in the U.S. depend on exporting," she said. "Pennsylvania alone has been a great market."
The SBA is a small agency and would not be able to help businesses without resource partners such as the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance, Ms. Olson-Urtecho said.
She said the economic uncertainty created by looming sequestration prevents small businesses from moving forward, pursuing new orders and prevents opportunities to expand. SBA's loan subsidy would be cut by more than $16 million, she said.
"This means that sequestration would take away SBA's ability to help small businesses access more than $900 million of capital. These funds would have supported approximately 22,600 jobs in industries like manufacturing, food services and hospitality, which are still struggling to recover," Ms. Olson-Urtecho said. "Under sequestration, there would be both fewer federal contracts for small businesses to win, and less technical assistance to help small businesses compete for those opportunities. This would put an additional burden on small business contractors who would see a decline in revenue of over $4 billion."
Contact the writer: dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com