Todd here, and I’m back with another “Rokita on the Road” report.  As some of you may have noticed, I spent the day in the Greater Lafayette area on April 4, where I was able to meet with many of you at public and workplace events.  I wanted to take the time and share a few highlights of the trip.

I first met with the leadership team from Evonik Degussa Corporation’s Tippecanoe Laboratories.  Evonik purchased the Tippecanoe Laboratories from Indiana-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly in 2010, and Evonik produces 25 end product items at the Tippecanoe plant.

The facility was built in 1953, and Evonik continues to invest between $6 and 10 million dollars per year to keep their facility up-to-date and compliant.  During my visit with the leadership team, they shared some federal regulations they would like to see simplified or turned back, and I was given a brief driving tour of the 250-acre facility.

Later that day, I traveled to Cook Biotech in West Lafayette, a company that is performing great research and development in the medical device field.  We discussed the medical device tax and how it will take away funds that could otherwise be used for research and development.  They also told me about one of their products, made from a pig’s small intestine, that serves as a cell incubator and when placed on damaged areas of the body (such as burned skin, ulcers, etc), adheres to the area, accepts cellular growth, and regenerates the flesh/organs/etc.  I was shown a photo of a severe burn that appeared to have been fully healed with minimal scarring after a very short period of time. 

I also held a Congress on Your Corner event in West Lafayette at Wabash Landing.  I was happy to speak with many of you about matters of interest to the Greater Lafayette area, and the 4th District, in general. 

Afterward I met with the management team at Subaru Automotive of Indiana to discuss the current debt situation our country is facing and the difficult choices we’ll have to make to get our country back on the road to prosperity.  We also talked about some of the federal regulations that I am working to either stop, slow down or repeal through my Red Tape Rollback initiative. 

I finished my day at the Tippecanoe County Lincoln Day Dinner, where I was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening and was able to meet with several old friends and make new friends as well. All in all, it was a busy and productive day in Tippecanoe County.