Guess honored at the White House
St Clair P. Guess, III of
Denmark was honored today at the
White House in Washington, DC.
In recognition of Manufacturing
Success in Rural America, Judith
Canales, Administrator of the
USDA Rural Business and
Cooperative Service presented Mr.
Guess with the recognition as one
of 46 companies in the United
States to achieve manufacturing
success in rural America.
The White House reception
was attended by Dr. Alan Krueger,
Chairman of President Obama’s
Council of Economic Advisors,
Jason Miller, Special Assistant to
the President for Manufacturing
Policy, Doug O’Brien, Deputy
Under Secretary USDA, and
Judith Canales, Administrator of
the USDA Rural Business and
Cooperative Service.
Dr. Krueger, Doug O’Brien,
and Jason Miller spoke during the
ceremony and offered time for
questions and answers from the
group of manufacturers. The
common theme of most of the
questions was directed at the
inability to get funding for rural
manufacturing projects from
banks serving those markets. The
USDA provides loan guarantees
for rural development projects.
The loan programs are due to be
cut by nearly 30% in the newly
introduced fiscal budget offered by
the White House for 2012.
Guess’ business is Strand
Composite Engineering &
Construction, LLC which designs
and builds containment, process
and environmental equipment for
heavy industry and municipal
markets. The business is located in
Harrison, Arkansas in a rural town
of 12,000 people. Mr. Guess is also
an owner of Tankinetics, Inc. , a
different small business similarly
situated and currently serves as
Bamberg County Council
representative for District 4.
Following the White House
ceremony, the group was invited to
lunch with Secretary of
Agriculture Tom Vilsack in his
dining room at the USDA
headquarters in Washington.
