Esty visits Industrial Heater in Cheshire

CHESHIRE — U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty furrowed her brows as she looked intensely through her safety goggles while a worker intricately threaded wire on a heater coil at Industrial Heater Corp.

Esty toured the Cheshire manufacturing company Thursday as workers made parts for heating equipment out of ceramics and metal.

The loud sounds of the equipment, hammering, laser cutting and a backing forklift, served as a backdrop for her talks with workers.

One worker was hired out of a Dunkin’ Donuts shop. Another went to Naugatuck Community College. Esty listened intently to all their stories and laughed with a woman dressed in a cat costume for Halloween.

All the equipment went to a hum in standby mode as the 48 workers gathered to listen to Esty talk about the disputes in Washington, taxes, the minimum wage and immigration.

Workers asked her questions, mostly in Spanish and interpreted by a bilingual worker.

“It’s high on my list to support manufacturing and see that American jobs are kept in the U.S.,” she said. “And one of the biggest concerns for me is how to make sure people have good jobs out of school.”