Fabrica Co-Founder Picked by Bush

Crawford, TX, Apr. 9--On Thursday, President Bush picked Fabrica International co-founder Albert Frink to head up efforts to reverse the trend of heavy manufacturing job losses, months after the adminisration announced the initiative. Ths Bush administration's first pick for the new post of assistant secretary of commerce for manufacturing and services, Tony Raimondo, withdrew from consideration after Democrats accused him of outsourcing U.S. jobs to China. Frink, 61, is executive vice president of Fabrica International of Santa Ana, CA, which is a unit of the Dixie Group. His nomination requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate. If confirmed, Frink will be responsible for advising the administration on the best policies for helping U.S. manufacturers compete globally. "Al's background as a manufacturer makes him a great candidate to serve because he has walked in their shoes and knows first hand the barriers that are challenging American manufacturers," Commerce Secretary Donald Evans said. The state of the economy is widely seen to be the barometer of whether Bush will be reelected this fall. Until recently, the jobs picture has been grim. And, while 308,000 new jobs were created in March, manufacturing employment itself was flat. However, the Institute for Supply Management said last week the factory sector chugged along at its best clip in nearly 20 years in March. But that didn't stop the Democrats from criticizing the pick as "too little, too late," noting that already 2.8 million manufacturing jobs have been lost on Bush's watch.