The Trenton Times published the following article on March 20, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

State Sen. Shirley Turner visits Taiwan, asks officials to reconsider contract with Trenton manufacturer

TRENTON — Taiwanese government officials who recently denied the city’s largest private manufacturer, Hutchinson Industries, a $10 million contract will consider partnering with the company in future ventures, according to state Sen. Shirley Turner.

The politician recently returned from a week-long trip to the Asian nation, where she approached several government ministries about the severed deal with Hutchinson, which could result in layoffs for nearly 200 employees if the company cannot land other lucrative deals, Turner said.

Hutchinson is a manufacturer of protective devices such as military vehicle wheels and tire inserts that enable vehicles to keep running even if their tires are shot out. The contract decision will have a severe impact on the company’s revenues and operations in Trenton unless additional revenues can be found, Turner has said.

“They indicated that they were going to take it into consideration and review the entire proposal that we made to them, which was to see if there were other opportunities for Hutchinson to provide their products for other projects,” Turner said of officials at the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense. “Just based upon the way we were treated, they were very concerned. They seemed to have been willing to listen, and they wanted to be responsive and helpful.”

Turner also approached the country’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan’s ambassador for foreign affairs and the American Institute there in search for new work for Hutchinson in the Asian nation. She was there with eight other state politicians on a tour to promote more bilateral trade between Taiwan and New Jersey. The trip was paid for and sponsored by Taiwan’s office of economic and social affairs.

“Hutchinson is hopeful that they can open new trade channels with them,” Turner said of the Taiwanese entities. “We encouraged them to meet with the representatives of Hutchinson and see if there are any other contracts that could be pursued, and if they could work it out in an amiable way.”

Hutchinson had been partnering with the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense for 10 years, producing military vehicle tire parts and designs for the government there, when the $10 million contract was awarded instead to a business in Taiwan last year, Turner said.

She said she also raised concerns with the officials about Hutchinson’s important role as the largest private manufacturer in New Jersey’s capital city and the $30 million Hutchinson has been spending annually on raw materials and other products from Taiwan. The purchases were made with the understanding that the Taiwanese government would buy the products Hutchinson made from the materials, Turner said.

She said the foreign officials would not go into detail about why Hutchinson’s contract was not renewed, but they told Turner they would review the issue, along with any other possible projects to work with Hutchinson on, and relay that information to the country’s ambassador in New York.

“They indicated that they were satisfied with the work that Hutchinson had done. They didn’t give an explanation why the contract was awarded to another company,” Turner said. “The contract apparently went to a company right there in Taiwan, so we were just asking that they provide Hutchinson with other opportunities to put bids in, because they have quite a military operation there in Taiwan. They have a need for the products that Hutchinson provides.”

Hutchinson representatives could not be reached for comment by press time.

Turner said the Taiwanese officials did not say when they would complete their review, but she hopes to keep the pressure on the country to consider the proposal. She said she would check with the ambassador in a week’s time, and if there was still no word from Taiwan, she would push for further discussions at that point.

“We would’ve loved to have been able to come back and say ‘Yes, they’re going to meet with you and make other opportunities available to you,’ but this just doesn’t happen overnight,” Turner said. “We’re hoping with constant pressure, so to speak, they’ll see that it is in their interest, as well as in the interest of New Jersey for them to do the right thing — to provide another opportunity, because Hutchinson was acting in good faith, and they are certainly trade partners that Taiwan would want to continue to have.”

“I’m hoping that the more we keep this issue in the forefront and impressing upon them the necessity to resolve the situation, it can turn out to be a win-win for everybody,” Turner said.