 A Hoist P-series forklift |
Congressional intervention helped Hoist Liftruck Manufacturing Inc capture a federal forklift contract originally awarded to a predecessor of Incheon, South Korea-based Doosan Industrial Vehicle Co Ltd.
Under the contract, Hoist in Bedford Park is manufacturing four compact pneumatic-tyred model P360s, each with a basic 36,000 lb. (16,200 kg) capacity, AxleTech planetary drive axle and low-profile counterweight positioning.
On Hoist Liftruck's behalf, Marty Flaska, owner and president, and Randy Jahn, business development director, brought the Doosan award to the attention of US Representative Dan Lipinski. The congressman, an Illinois Democrat, urged Pentagon officials to re-bid the request under Buy American Act of 1933 provisions that require the federal government to prefer US-made products in its purchases.
The defence department has violated the act "thousands of times", Lipinski says.
"These days, it is not often that we have good news to report about an American manufacturer," Lipinski said during a visit with employees at the Hoist Liftruck factory.
"As a strong supporter of American manufacturing and local manufacturers, I am very proud to be able to announce ... a new USD670,000 US Department of Defence contract for Hoist Liftruck."
"This contract is supporting almost 40 jobs here at Hoist and is contributing to the demand that is spurring Hoist to hire new workers."
Flaska says: "Having founded Hoist Liftruck and built it into a US manufacturing stalwart, I can tell you that this contract is supporting jobs not just at Hoist but at the many other Mid-West companies in our supply chain. For us to have lost this contract would have represented a total failure by the federal government to recognise the kind of heavily subsidised and frankly unfair overseas competition we face every day."
The western region of the US Army Reserve's mission and installation and contracting command in Seaside, California awarded the contract to a Doosan unit in September 2010.
"In Hoist's case, owner Marty Flaska says his bid was just as competitive as the South Korean company," Lipinski says.
"When I questioned the Pentagon, I got a boilerplate response saying that this contract complied with the Buy American Act," Lipinski recalls. "But that claim didn't hold up to scrutiny, and eventually they were forced to admit that in fact the Buy American Act had been violated. They re-bid the contract, and Hoist won."
Hoist Liftruck is scheduled in early 2012 to deliver the four P360s individually to military bases at Fort Sill near Lawton, Oklahoma; Fort Irwin near Barstow, California; Fort Chaffee near Fort Smith, Arkansas; and Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
Lipinski has introduced a bill to strengthen the Buy American Act. The US House has referred House resolution 2722, the proposed Buy American Improvement Act, to the chamber's oversight and government reform committee.
Lipinski continues to build the list of co-sponsors.