By Ed Tibbetts, Apr 12, 2007 -

In a rare bipartisan visit, U.S. Reps. Phil Hare, D-Ill., and Don Manzullo, R-Ill., toured the Rock Island Arsenal on Wednesday, with both urging a greater emphasis on manufacturing.

Manzullo, an eight-term congressman who represents the northwest part of the state, is chairman of the House manufacturing caucus. And he’s been instrumental in getting federal funds for a manufacturing consortium in Rockford, which is being looked to by Quad-City officials as a model for a similar effort here.

“It’s important for the two of us to come together on issues involving manufacturing,” Manzullo told reporters after the tour.

Both men represent districts whose economies are historically reliant on manufacturing, but both have suffered significant job losses as the economy has changed.

One of the ways to boost manufacturing has been the formation of these consortiums, which seek to pool the efforts of companies, many of them small firms, so they can achieve collectively what they can’t do alone.

There are two consortiums in Manzullo’s district, including the one in Rockford. Quad-City officials hope the congressman can help with technical advice for their effort, called the Three Rivers Manufacturing and Technology Consortium, as well as support for federal money.

The local consortium would be based on the Arsenal.

“When the opportunities come, we want to have his support,” said Sam Kupresin, a retired Navy admiral from Davenport who’s a leader in the local effort.

Right now, the consortium is mostly conceptual, but local officials hope in addition to eventually helping area companies it will house a lab to conduct research into the use of titanium and other lightweight materials.

The Quad-City Development Group has asked for $1.2 million in federal funding for the effort, as well as money for Arsenal equipment it could also use.

A lab in Rockford, which is affiliated with its consortium, also is working with titanium, but Manzullo said they could complement, not compete with, each other.

“You can have several of these consortiums going at one time, and they could all fund each other,” he said.

In addition to being the chairman of the manufacturing caucus, which has about 80 members, Manzullo was the chair of the House’s Small Business Committee before Democrats won control of Congress in the midterm elections last year.

The bipartisan visit by the two congressmen is rare for the Arsenal.

Politicians visit the military base frequently, but it’s unusual that members from both sides of the aisle do it together.

Hare called Manzullo the House’s “guru” of manufacturing and said he invited him here to brainstorm ideas to expand the Arsenal’s economic impact.

The base is the area’s largest employer, but it came close to being shut down in the last Base Closure and Realignment process.

“The next BRAC could happen at any time,” Hare said Wednesday.