Doc tours Moses Lake businesses

MOSES LAKE - Congressman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., listened to

Moses Lake business leaders talk about their contributions to

employment.

Inland Tarp and Liner President Glen Knopp told Hastings how his

company recently expanded to manufacture tarps in the severely

depressed area of Fostoria, Ohio, where hundreds of applicants

applied for 30 jobs.

MOSES LAKE - Congressman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., listened to Moses Lake business leaders talk about their contributions to employment.

Inland Tarp and Liner President Glen Knopp told Hastings how his company recently expanded to manufacture tarps in the severely depressed area of Fostoria, Ohio, where hundreds of applicants applied for 30 jobs.

"Joblessness is pretty high there," he said. "It took less than a week to fill those 500 applications." 

Inland's tarps are used to cover athletic fields and haystacks, among other purposes, according to Knopp.

"The tarps protect the haystack market. Customers who buy the hay want it in perfect condition. It's an economic alternative to barns," Knopp said.

Hastings heard a presentation about Moses Lake business ITC Services, which manufactures liners locally to guard against industrial hazards, such as oil spills and chemical accidents, and weather protection for crops in states such as Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

"It's so the crops don't get ruined," said ITC Services General Manager Freddie Prado.       

Through the manufacturing of the tarps, Inland Tarp and Liner sales manager Calvin Stapleton says he hopes his company's efforts will help people in the tough economic times.

"My heart goes out to those families in Ohio because you have hundreds of applicants. Four hundred seventy people won't get those jobs and will have to tell their families that they didn't get the job," Stapleton said.