Darley Export Sales Impresses Wis. U.S. Senator

Aug. 18--CHIPPEWA FALLS -- U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin was impressed Friday with the export numbers and increased sales at Darley, a pump and fire truck manufacturer in Chippewa Falls.

"Part of what I'm doing is a 'Make It In Wisconsin' tour," Baldwin told workers as she finished touring the plant. "You're exporting things to China. If we have a level playing field, I'm convinced that Wisconsin wins. What I've seen is really, really impressive."

Baldwin, a seven-term congresswoman, was uncontested this week for the Democratic nomination for the vacant U.S. Senate seat. She will face former Gov. Tommy Thompson for the seat in the November general election. She said Thompson has some work to do trying to unite a party where two-thirds of Republicans didn't vote for Thompson on Tuesday.

Baldwin was quick to link Thompson to Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his vice presidential selection Paul Ryan, saying that all three Republicans favor tax breaks to the top 2 percent of income earners, while hitting middle-class families harder. She also contends that the Republican-backed cuts would be "the end of Medicare as we know it."

"We need to (make cuts) in a balanced way," Baldwin said. "Right now, voters in Wisconsin aren't concerned about party, they are concerned about making ends meet. They are going to think about who is going to fight for them."

Brian Westrate, chairman of the Republican Party of Eau Claire County, wasn't surprised by Baldwin's criticisms of the Republican-favored spending cuts.

"There is no question that we have to cut spending," Westrate said. "It's an economic reality. But Democrats haven't come out with a plan."

Westrate added: "There is no proof behind their claims, and they are providing no alternatives. They are the party without solutions."

Baldwin said she has spent much of the past year traveling the state and introducing herself so people get to know her name. One of her goals is to make it easier to retain and grow businesses in the state.

"We've seen too many manufacturing jobs leave and too many mills close," she said.

Jeff Darley, chief operating officer and executive vice president of Darley, said the company has 135 employees in its Chippewa Falls facilities, and routinely has about $120 million in sales annually; this year, the company anticipate sales of about $145 million.

"We are growing our bottom line," Darley said. "Last year, we did business with 108 countries around the world."

Along with fire suppression equipment, the company is growing its water purification business, he said. The company, created in 1908, is still family owned and operated, he added.

Vetter can be reached at 723-0303 or [email protected].

Copyright 2012 - The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.