In a large warehouse just outside of Bozeman federal employees wearing suit jackets navigated around large trucks in various states of build at the Acela truck company. Acela president David Ronsen leads the tour.
“We actually take a very specific military vehicle it's called a medium tactical vehicle and we tear them down almost to the frame rails and rebuild them primarily for commercial use” Ronsen said.
The vehicles are used by fire departments to reach difficult locations and as flood rescue vehicles because of their ability to wade through water. The trucks also end up in high intensity environments such as mining, pipeline and oil and gas.
“You can see just by looking at the chassis these are extreme duty trucks” Ronsen said.
The company, which started in 2016 now employs 31 people.
Administrators from the Small Business Administration stopped by the Bozeman business as a part of a nationwide tour promoting American manufacturing . Kelly Loeffler the Trump-appointed head of the SBA, was not in attendance.
In mid-March, Loeffler announced a Made in America Manufacturing Initiative that includes cutting $100 billion in regulation they say burdens small businesses.
Chip Bishop is the Deputy Chief Counsel for the SBA Office of Advocacy. He says he sees obstacles in Montana that mirror the rest of the country.
“Businesses are facing a lot of the same regulatory hurdles that is just onerous paperwork or accounting for complying with with processes that were never really intended to be completed by mom and pop businesses across the country” Bishop said.
Ronsen was happy to hear things might get easier for his small business.
“Everything I’m hearing here is music to my ears ” Ronsen said.
The company also hosted a roundtable discussion with other small business owners to share pain points and direction for administrators to bring back to DC.