United States Senator Amy Klobuchar (D, Minnesota) visited the Current Designs kayak manufacturing facility on Tuesday, February 16, 2010. Senator Klobuchar's visit was part of a state wide mission to visit successful small businesses throughout her state.Mike Cichanowski, owner of Current Designs and Wenonah Canoe talked with the Senator about the company's history and challenges going forward for a company of its size. Cichanowski lead Klobuchar, other dignitaries including the mayor of Winona and local media on a winding tour through the kayak factory. Throughout the tour, Senator Klobuchar talked personally with many employees. At one stop along the tour, Klobuchar gave assistance to the vacuum bag crew helping distribute resin throughout the composite laminate.
Klobuchar’s visits to growing companies give the Senator a chance to learn how these organizations have weathered the recession — and, more importantly, how she can help them lead Minnesota into better economic times.“The success of Minnesota’s small businesses is vital to the success of Minnesota’s overall economy,” Senator Klobuchar said. “Small businesses are engines of job creation ... They have led our economy out of past recessions, and we need them to do it again. Wenonah Canoe (the parent company of the Current Designs brand) and companies like it, may be poised to do just that. They epitomize what we need to see throughout the state,” said the Senator. “We have to figure out the best way to let businesses create new jobs.”
To learn more about Senator Klobuchar's vision for the manufacturing businesses in Minnesota, see: Enterprise Minnesota, Jan/Feb 2010, pp18-23; also available online at www.enterpriseminnesota.org.
