July 30, 1958
Page 24139
SANDERS ASSOCIATES, INC., COOPERATES WITH JOB CORPS IN MAINE
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, from the very beginning of the Nation, men who have gone to the sea have depended upon the ingenuity of the State of Maine craftsmen to provide them with the tools to tame the oceans.
And so it was logical that Sanders Associates, Inc., the electronics and data management systems designers and manufacturers, should have chosen a site in Maine for the manufacturing facility of its Ocean Systems Division.
Just a little over a year ago, Sanders Associates opened its 44,000 square feet manufacturing plant at South Portland, Maine. More than 240 people are already employed there in the manufacture of antisubmarine warfare equipment for the U.S. Navy.
Sanders Associates is active in both fundamental research and application in the field of oceanography. Many of the company's programs support Navy programs; others promise better living through harvesting the riches contained in our oceans.
Mr. President, sophisticated electronic and oceanographic devices could be produced almost anywhere where there are people and resources and good transportation.
Why did Sanders Associates choose South Portland?
At the opening of the plan just over a year ago, the president of the company, Mr. Royden C. Sanders, Jr., explained that after all possible sites had been investigated, South Portland was chosen because "this area, which is easily accessible to major forms of transportation, is also known for its skilled and semiskilled workers who take pride in their performance and Yankee craftsmanship."
Sanders' emphasis upon the importance of people extends beyond the wise decision to enlist Maine's skilled craftsmen to work in its South Portland plant. The Job Corps Center at Poland Spring, Maine, helps young women from disadvantaged areas throughout the country translate their ambition to better themselves into a variety of skills needed by industry.
When the Poland Spring Center opened 2 years ago, Sanders Associates quickly realized the opportunities it presented as a source of trained employees and as a means of providing opportunity to young people.
Sanders has already hired 19 graduates of Poland Spring courses at its plants in South Portland, Maine; Nashua and Manchester, N.H.; and Bedford, Mass. Supervisors have been enthusiastic about the attitudes and training of the graduates. The company offers continued opportunity to Poland Spring graduates and is working closely with Job Corps Center officials to offer jobs to some of the young women who will be the first to complete longer, more advanced courses.
Mr. President, any State is proud to have a growing forward-looking industry like Sanders Associates decide to establish a thriving plant in it. But Maine is especially pleased to be the home of the cooperation between progressive industry and vital government action.
The most powerful combination for promoting a growing economy and the general welfare is civic-minded industry, and communities which offer skilled, conscientious employees and a hospitable atmosphere.
South Portland, Maine, the Sanders Associates Ocean Systems manufacturing plant, and the Poland Spring Job Corps Center are just such a combination; a combination which will help insure the continued stable growth of Maine's economy.