Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, who represents Washington’s First District, visited B.E. Meyers Electro Optics in Redmond Monday afternoon as part of a district-wide tour this week to learn more about the current local business climate, understand what makes them thrive and understand more about what challenges they face and have to overcome.
At B.E. Meyers, DelBene met with a number of employees including Clint Meyers, whose father, Brad, founded the company in 1974. Meyers and his brother Matt are next in line to take over B.E. Meyers, which develops and manufactures optoelectronic devices primarily for military and law enforcement applications.
During DelBene’s visit, Meyers, who manages the company’s non-lethal division, shared with her the issues they face as a relatively small business competing against bigger corporations for government jobs. Some of the biggest obstacles the Redmond business has to overcome are policies that were written to help small companies such as B.E. Meyers but are not implemented with the same intent.
Meyers said with the country starting to pull out of the Middle East, demand from the Department of Defense has gone down but the government restricts them from reaching out to other markets, thus limiting the company’s source of revenue. There are unusual restrictions in place where, logically, there shouldn’t be, he said.
“There’s a lack of understanding about what we’re trying to provide,” Meyers said.
By meeting with DelBene, Meyers said he wants to bring awareness to the issue and hopefully find a solution that works for everyone.
“We’re looking for the opportunity to keep ourselves afloat,” Meyers said, explaining that they are not looking for a handout, just a chance to do business.
B.E. Meyers currently has about 120 employees, which Meyers said is a “significant” drop from how many they had about two years ago — all due to their drop in business. In addition to providing employment for the local community, Meyers said their company also “draws from the home team” and works with sub-suppliers in the area, which they are very proud of being able to do.
DelBene’s visit was initiated after Meyers called her office to discuss the issues they are facing. He said while talking with her, he saw that she recognized the importance of what they are doing, as well as the importance of them working with other businesses within the district.
DelBene said it is important to learn about businesses and the challenges they face from a policy standpoint to see how it impacts the businesses.
“They have unique challenges,” DelBene said about B.E. Meyers.
She said from her visit to the Redmond company, she learned that it is important for the government to look at how they invest their money and make sure they are receiving a return on the business.
DelBene’s district-wide tour of businesses also included Nintendo in Redmond, which she visited Monday morning. She said another purpose of her visit to area businesses is to talk about innovation, pointing out that this area is very innovative in the tech field, which ranges from the lasers and software to the biomedical and aerospace fields.
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