[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 38 (Monday, March 1, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S953]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING CONTINUOUS COMPOSITES

 Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, as a senior member and former 
chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship, each month I recognize and celebrate the American 
entrepreneurial spirit by highlighting the success of a small business 
in my home State of Idaho. Today, I am pleased to honor Continuous 
Composites, Inc., in Coeur d'Alene as the Idaho Small Business of the 
Month for March 2021.
  Continuous Composites is a technology company developing composite 
additive manufacturing solutions cofounded by Ken Tyler, John Swallow, 
and Tyler Alvarado in 2015. The company owns the world's earliest 
granted patents on Continuous Fiber 3D Printing--CF3D--a revolutionary, 
automated manufacturing process that utilizes high-performance 
continuous fibers, e.g., carbon fiber, glass fiber, optical fibers, 
with ``snap curing'' thermoset resins to produce lightweight, high-
performance composite parts on-demand. Historically, composites have 
been limited to high-end products, including military applications, 
where the advantages of high-performance, low-weight materials outweigh 
costly conventional manufacturing processes. CF3D is reshaping 
composites manufacturing at exponentially reduced costs and lead times 
while providing users with a much greater degree of design freedom. The 
company has an extraordinary opportunity to change how industrial 
businesses and the Department of Defense innovate and manufacture 
throughout the entire product life cycle, from design and prototyping 
to serial production and sustainment. Continuous Composites' novel 
approach to 3-D printing has garnered interest from many industry 
leaders, national laboratories, and government agencies resulting in 
strategic partnerships and multimillion dollar equity investments. 
Continuous Composites' CF3D technology is directly aligned with the 
United States of America's national defense strategy, which has led to 
significant engagement from the Air Force Research Laboratory.
  Since its founding, Continuous Composites has been rapidly hiring 
numerous engineers and business professionals, attracting talent from 
across the country to Coeur d'Alene. Last September, Alvarado and 
Swallow announced the remodel and opening of a 7,500-square-foot 
manufacturing demonstration facility on their campus in downtown Coeur 
d'Alene. This historic building is now being used for advanced 
research, development, and commercialization of CF3D. The expansion 
will provide high-paying, in-demand jobs of the future to the Coeur 
d'Alene community.
  Continuous Composites is an outstanding example of a small, 
trailblazing Idaho business that is leading the way in technological 
innovation. Congratulations to Tyler, John, Ken, and the whole 
Continuous Composites team for your outstanding achievements. You make 
our great State proud, and I look forward to your continued growth and 
success.

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