Would-be lieutenant governor tours area industry

WATSONTOWN - The spring primary may still be months away, but it's not too early for some candidates to be out and about, acquainting themselves with the business community.

Joe Watkins of Philadelphia, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, visited Moran Industries Inc. as part of a multi-county tour of the state Tuesday.

He said the Northumberland County-based warehouse logistics company is the sort of business he'd like to see more of in the state - one that can offer jobs to people.

"I'm not seeing nearly this kind of thing. I'm seeing plants that lost jobs. This is a very good story because what Moran has been able to do," he said.

Watkins also made stops in Snyder and Union counties during the day.

He was in Williamsport later Tuesday to huddle privately with area Republicans.

Watkins spent much of the tour talking with Moran Industries President John Moran, who took the candidate to some of the buildings comprising the sprawling industrial complex on the east side of Watsontown.

The warehouses are served by seven railroad spurs.

Watkins said Moran Industries is just the sort of company he wanted to visit while in the area.

"It's in industry where the next governor will need to talk about jobs," he said. "I think what people want more than anything else is to know how are you going to bring jobs."

Watkins, a former congressional and White House aide under President George H. W. Bush, is a clergyman and businessman.

He unsuccessfully ran for the party's Senate nomination in 1994, falling to Rick Santorum.

He also made an unsuccessful bid for Congress in Indiana in 1984.

Watkins has frequently appeared as a political analyst for MSNBC.