U.S. labor secretary praises Kansas manufacturing industry in visit to Topeka business

TOPEKA — U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling lauded U.S. job growth and Kansas’ manufacturing industry during a series of visits Friday, assuaging criticisms against the Trump administration for burdensome tariffs.

He appeared Friday afternoon alongside U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall and U.S. Rep. Derek Schmidt at Haas Metal Engineering in Topeka. It was the secretary’s last stop on a three-part tour along the Interstate 70 corridor, visiting Kansas City Kansas Community College in Olathe and the University of Kansas Research Innovation Park in Lawrence. He hosted discussions on each of the stops to talk about how to connect students to the workforce.

Sonderling described the current state of the manufacturing industry as undergoing a “renaissance,” as Marshall did during a debate Wednesday. He touted workforce investments, job growth in the private sector and increased demand for manufacturing products. 

“My visit in Kansas today has really been seeing that the national policies that we’re working on, the three of us are working on together, along with President Trump, are really paying off here, and it’s ultimately benefiting local workers here in Kansas,” Sonderling said. “We’re going to give them a workforce and an education system to meet these jobs that are being created.”

Some manufacturers have a less rosy view of the economy as tariffs have hiked up costs associated with steel and aluminum imports, gas is a dollar more in Kansas than it was a year ago and the average price of a gallon of diesel has doubled in the past year.

Schmidt, who is running for reelection in the 2nd District against Democrat Don Coover, said building more refining capacity in the U.S. is critical to controlling the cost of fuel long-term.

“Because when we build it here, when we manufacture it here, we control our destiny,” Schmidt said. “And we’ve seen what happens when you allow your competitors to have leverage over your supply chains.”

Marshall, who is running for reelection against Democrat Adam Hamilton, said he was tired of aluminum and steel being imported from China and Canada on a “free ride.”

“We want that aluminum steel to be made here as well, and we’re going to make it with clean energy and with fair labor,” he said.

Haas Metal Engineering fabricates structural steel, shipping to job sites across the U.S. It has contributed to the construction of McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado and the Immaculata Church in St. Marys, Kansas.

The company has more than 780 employees, and Jon Haas, president of Haas Metal Engineering, attributes most of the troubles facing the manufacturing industry to supply and demand.

He buys mostly American steel, so tariffs haven’t had an outsized impact on his business, he said.

“Supply and demand is what really governs the price of our raw materials,” Haas said. “With the economy the way it is right now with construction, that’s driving the prices.”

He said the construction economy is “booming like we’ve never seen before.”

He said he has a multiyear backlog. He said the company consistently has government contracts, calling it “a big part of what we do.” The company helps build hospitals, schools and wastewater treatment plants, and Haas said data centers have provided a steady flow of work. 

Sonderling, Schmidt and Marshall conducted a roundtable with Haas and other business owners from the area, which was closed to the press. Beforehand, Sonderling took a tour of the company’s hub.

Haas on Monday will host Vice President JD Vance near the same location of the secretary’s Friday visit. He said it was a “great honor” to be chosen by the White House. 

Haas, an engineer who started the company from his garage in the ‘90s, said he will be supporting Schmidt and Marshall on Election Day.