Vice President JD Vance is set to speak Monday at Webco Manufacturing, a metal fabrication company in Olathe, Kansas. The ticketed event at 20570 W. 162nd St. begins with a noon program, with Vance scheduled to take the podium at 1:35 p.m.
An Employee-Owned Manufacturer Takes Center Stage
The Kansas City Star reported the visit, detailing Webco's role as host and Vance's scheduled appearance time. Webco Manufacturing is a 100% employee-owned company that completed its Employee Stock Ownership Plan financing in 2005 and now operates more than 368,000 square feet of production space, according to Thomasnet.
Webco has a regional footprint, according to PitchBook. The Olathe stop is not Vance's first Kansas City-area manufacturing visit this year; he spoke at Milbank Manufacturing Company in Kansas City, Missouri, in May, where he touted the Trump administration's efforts to boost manufacturing in Middle America, criticized Democrats in Congress, and spoke about illegal immigration, per the Star's reporting.
A Senate Race Already in the Spotlight
Vance's appearance lands in the middle of one of the most closely watched Senate contests in the country. Kansas Senator Roger Marshall, the state's junior Republican senator, is seeking reelection against Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton, a Methodist pastor and founder of Church of the Resurrection in the Kansas City area — the largest United Methodist congregation in the United States, according to PBS News. Hamilton won the Democratic primary on August 4. Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932, as noted by the Washington Post.
The race has grown more contentious in recent days. On September 9, Hamilton criticized Marshall after court records showed his former medical practice had sued more than 700 patients over unpaid bills, resulting in 81 arrests tied to missed court dates, the Washington Post reported. Marshall's campaign has said he provided care regardless of patients' ability to pay, according to the same report. The article also links to coverage of the medical-debt court records.
Manufacturing Jobs and Federal Workforce Push
The Olathe visit also follows Vance's launch of the federal Foundry School initiative in Washington, D.C., on September 3, a joint State and Labor Department program partnering with eight universities, including the University of Kansas, to address nationwide shortages of skilled manufacturing labor. Hoodline reported on the initiative's rollout in a story detailing how Arizona State University was tapped for the same program.
The broader manufacturing sector faces shortages of skilled labor.
Vance's Kansas trip comes as neighboring Missouri deals with its own political turbulence, with legal wrangling over a gerrymandered congressional voting map ahead of the November election, according to the Star's reporting. Whether the Vice President addresses the Marshall-Hamilton race directly during Monday's remarks remains to be seen.
