Jenniffer González and White House Delegation Focus on Pharmaceutical & Aerospace Industries During Second Day of Visits to Puerto Rico

Aguadilla, Puerto Rico- As part of her strategy to boost manufacturing development, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón highlighted Puerto Rico's capabilities and infrastructure to bring back manufacturing companies to the United States during the White House delegation's visit to multiple manufacturers located in the northern region of the Island.

The Congresswoman toured the manufacturing companies with Rear Admiral Peter Brown, White House Special Representative for Puerto Rico Disaster Recovery; Juan Caro, White House Public Policy Advisor; Manuel Laboy, Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce; Carlos Rodríguez, President of the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association; and staff from PRFAA and FEMA. The Mayor of Manatí, José Sánchez, also joined the delegation during their visit to GK Pharmaceuticals.

"It fills me with immense pride to introduce the White House to the only pharmaceutical company in the world owned and operated by Puerto Rican women, GK Pharmaceuticals in Manatí. This company is an example of our ingenuity and potential", González-Colón expressed.

GK Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company, developed a package of molecular tests to detect #Covid19 that has already received a Pre-Emergency Use Authorization and is expected to receive final approval from the FDA by the end of this week. This would make them the only PCR tests developed and manufactured on the Island.

In addition, the Resident Commissioner and the White House delegation visited Honeywell and Lufthansa to highlight Puerto Rico's aerospace industry.

Honeywell's Research and Technology Center in Moca, built 5 years ago, is a young enterprise focused on innovation. They work with universities on the Island to prepare the workforce they will eventually hire, host competitions and programs, promote education in the aerospace sector, and offer internships while maintaining a 70% retention rate. Honeywell has 870 employees between their facilities in Moca and Aguadilla.

These facilities help develop applications that NASA uses in its satellite missions.

Lufthansa Technik in Aguadilla, the company's only facility in the Americas, focuses on airplane maintenance. Since they opened in 2015, they've worked with 530 aircrafts from nine airlines. One of the reasons this German company chose Puerto Rico was due to the Island's privileged and strategic geographical location.

The company's maintenance services complements González-Colón's initiative to turn the Island into an air cargo hub.

Lufthansa Technik has 330 employees, 95% of them Puerto Ricans. In 2017, they established the first mechanics apprenticeship program with the Puerto Rico Aeronautical and Aerospace Institute, which also became the first federally approved program of its kind in the entire nation.

González-Colón and the White House delegation's visits focused on the manufacturing sector continue this afternoon, tomorrow, and Thursday.