Quigley Goes “Undercover” at Nestlé
CHICAGO – Last week, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) went "undercover," as part of his "Undercover Congressman" series, at Nestlé USA's factory in Franklin Park, packaging BUTTERFINGER® candy bars with employees on the production line.
"Working side by side with the dedicated crew at Nestlé gave me valuable insight into the high quality manufacturing Nestlé employees are doing right here in Chicago. This is complex work – it is not the manufacturing industry our fathers or grandfathers worked in," said Rep. Quigley. "Thank you to everyone at Nestlé for such an informative day and for recognizing the high-caliber workers in my district."
Rep. Quigley's visit included introductions to Nestlé USA factory leadership, a presentation about the products and lines that the factory is currently running, an overview of the new technologies and investments that are being made in Nestlé products, and a tour of the factory.
Rep. Quigley learns about the packaging process at Nestlé from a Franklin Park facility employee.
Rep. Quigley checks packaging quality of BUTTERFINGER® candy bars with a Nestlé employee.
"It was a pleasure to have Representative Quigley in Franklin Park today as an undercover congressman and honorary Nestlé employee," said Paul Bakus, President of Nestlé Corporate Affairs. "We're thrilled Rep. Quigley was able to meet and work alongside our employees in his district, seeing firsthand how our factory and new technologies work."
Nestlé USA has 23 factories spanning confections, dairy, frozen and refrigerated meals, ice cream, baking ingredients, and beverages. The company recently announced that all of its factories are now landfill-free, contributing zero waste for disposal. The Franklin Park facility is nearly 50 years old. Nestlé purchased the building in 1990 and currently employs approximately 700 people. Nestlé USA employs 51,000 people and its sales totaled $9.7 billion in 2014. The company is part of Nestlé S.A., the world's largest food company with 2014 sales totaling $100 billion.
Rep. Quigley's "Undercover Congressman" series connects him with constituents at their place of employment to better understand the daily challenges they face in their industry and community. Since taking office in 2009, Rep. Quigley has performed a wide range of jobs as an Undercover Congressman, including cleaning animal pens as a zookeeper at the Lincoln Park Zoo, packaging beer and cleaning tanks at Half Acre Brewery, pouring metal at a local metal refinery and delivering mail with the United States Post Office.
Rep. Quigley is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, which supports policies that foster growth, innovation and entrepreneurship in the manufacturing industry.
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