[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17148]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    SOUTHERN PRESTIGE INTERNATIONAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, in October, I had the privilege of visiting 
Southern Prestige International to view firsthand the company's 
creative and innovative manufacturing solutions.
  Based in Statesville, North Carolina, Jim Wilson, one of the most 
creative and remarkable people I have ever met, started the company in 
March 1979 as Southern Prestige Industries. In 2013, this family-owned 
business joined with partners Jeff Eidson and Joey Chambers to form a 
new company, Southern Prestige International, and focus on future 
opportunities.
  Currently, Southern Prestige International has two operating 
companies, ProEdge Precision and Specialty Perf. ProEdge Precision is 
an advanced manufacturer of precision machine components for the 
aerospace, defense, medical, energy, and commercial industries. 
Specialty Perf is a soft-goods perforator, producing specialty products 
for signage, advertising media, and food packaging, as well as one-way 
vision, energy diffusion/control, and medical products.
  Although its business has taken on different forms over the years, 
today Southern Prestige International is a place where experience and 
confidence have prevailed to forge an advanced manufacturing business 
that understands the needs of its customers.
  During my visit, I had the opportunity to meet with employees as well 
as local leaders in workforce development before touring the company's 
two manufacturing operations. ProEdge Precision currently employs about 
35 people, and during the visit, Mr. Chambers told me he could see the 
company doubling its workforce in the next few years to keep up with 
increasing demand. However, he also said one of the company's greatest 
challenges is finding the qualified workforce it needs to be a 
competitive manufacturer in today's marketplace.
  It is my hope that Southern Prestige International will have an 
easier time finding these employees with implementation of the 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which aims to close the 
skills gap by modernizing and reforming our country's workforce 
development system. By streamlining the jumble of paperwork and red 
tape that has been prevalent in Federal workforce education programs, 
this law will provide direct access to education and skills development 
for in-demand jobs.
  During the tour, I saw firsthand the cutting-edge equipment and 
methods used by Southern Prestige International and how they take 
advantage of industry innovations and develop proprietary advances of 
their own to give customers a competitive edge.
  It is clear we need to stop Washington from telling employers every 
little jot and tittle of what to do and turn the American workforce 
loose to be productive and innovative, as it has been in the past.
  The underlying philosophy of Southern Prestige International is that 
of customer service and high-quality products. It is clear that there 
is more wisdom in Iredell County than in Washington, D.C.

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