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U.S. Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-NY) recently visited TRSA member Unitex Textile Rental Services’ facility in Newburgh, NY, to meet local constituents and discuss how government can facilitate small-business investment to revitalize the economy.

The congresswoman, who is also a doctor, toured the four-year-old healthcare laundry that employs 220 local residents and processes more than 60 million lbs. of rental hospital linens annually.

During her June 12 visit, Rep. Hayworth met with Unitex President Michael Potack and Vice President of Sales & Marketing David Potack, as well as TRSA President & CEO Joseph Ricci. They discussed issues impacting small business and the textile services industry. Their conversation focused on the importance of pursuing bipartisan approaches to developing tax and energy policies that reduce uncertainty, while encouraging investment to spur economic growth.

“Individuals, and the government, must take responsibility and demand accountability to ensure our policies work to improve our economy,” said Rep. Hayworth. “We must develop tax, energy and healthcare policies that reward market-driven solutions for companies that create value and invest in their local economy.”

Michael Potack said that, “We need to encourage business investment – not hinder it with regulation, such as efforts to access our nation’s natural gas reserves. If we switched our 125 vehicles to natural gas, we could save nearly $30,000 per vehicle over a 5-7 year period, while reducing our carbon footprint significantly and reducing our dependency on foreign sources.”

Rep. Hayworth is extremely active in her district, working with local businesses encouraging their investment locally. She is aware of Unitex’ efforts in Newburgh.

As one of the city’s largest commercial employers and a third-generation family-owned business, David Potack serves on the Board of the Newburgh Community Land Bank (NCLB), which is committed to working with residents to revitalize and reinvigorate the community by seeking to develop and positively transform streets and buildings that have long been in disrepair.

The group also discussed the pending Supreme Court decision on healthcare reform’s potential impact on business. Rep. Hayworth believes that regardless of the court’s decision, the healthcare system must become more market-driven based on “quality and cost of services.” She also applauded TRSA’s efforts to quantify hygienically clean linen and sustainability as efforts to “self-regulate and demonstrate value.”

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