KEENE, NH – Whitney Brothers furniture mill room manager Bob Theall turned political pundit yesterday, as Hillary Clinton visited the Keene, NH furniture manufacturer in her Presidential quest.
Given she is the only Democrat who has declared her candidacy, “Hopefully, she isn't the only one we see in Keene,” Theall told a Wall St. Journal reporter. “Someone should jump in and give her a little competition.”
Whitney Brothers, which makes children's educational furnniture, made a good site for her appearance, since Clinton spoke in favor of universal kindergarten, as well as making tax codes more equitable.
Clinton can be seen in newspaper photos kibitzing with a plant worker who sports a shirt, “Total Punk Savage,” as he performs his duties close to an MSDS information manual and with racks of machine tools by his side.
Founded in 1904, Whitney Brothers says it invented wood furniture for Early Learning and Institutional Childcare and pioneered its commercial distribution through educational distributors and dealers in schools, childcare centers, Head Start facilities, churches, libraries, museums, and residential homes throughout North and South America, the UK and Europe. A video below shows operations.
Wood manufacturing plants seem to attract political candidates in the running, perhaps because they are now flourishing, and because the industry symbolizes domestic factories resisting international competition. Furniture and cabinetry plants also use U.S. sourced raw materials, and for some plants, workers tend to come from multiple generations of the same families. Ithe case of Whitney Borthers, its role as an exporter of American Made wood products also conveys an important political message.
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