This KC company hosts JD Vance to tout Trump administration manufacturing policy
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- JD Vance is scheduled to speak at Milbank Manufacturing about manufacturing policy.
- Milbank Manufacturing is a 95-year old company that builds electrical metering equipment.
- Manufacturing jobs rose by 11,000 in Q1 2026 but remain 82,000 below his inauguration.
JD Vance was scheduled to speak at Milbank Manufacturing, a manufacturer of electrical metering equipment, on Monday to tout manufacturing policies under President Donald Trump.
The Missouri Republican Party had invited people to attend the event by email on Saturday, which also included a timeline of the event and the location.
Vance was scheduled to be joined by Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, Rep. Mark Alford, a Missouri Republican and Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican. Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe is expected to attend.
“I know the Show-Me State is about to show out,” Schmitt said.
Marshall told Fox Business on Monday that Vance was scheduled to speak about the administration’s manufacturing policy.
“So you think about the Vice President’s story, and Hillbilly Elegy, how the Rust Belt, and how they lost all those manufacturing jobs in his home area. We don’t want that to happen here in Kansas City, and actually, just the opposite is happening now,” Marshall said on Fox Business.
Milbank Manufacturing is a 95-year-old company that builds electrical engineering equipment.
The company donated $500 to the National Republican Congressional Committee on March 22, 2001, but searches of the company didn’t yield any newer results on Open Secrets, an online database of political contributions.
Its third-generation family owner, Katrina Henke, primarily donates political contributions to Democratic candidates and committees, including a $3,300 donation to Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign in April 2024, according to a search on Open Secrets.
Trump campaigned on rebuilding the country’s manufacturing jobs. Creating and supporting America’s existing manufacturing market was the key reason Trump levied tariffs on foreign goods coming into America last year.
Last month, the White House press office said manufacturing is surging and touted the support of CEOs in the tech, health care and steel industries.
But overall, manufacturing jobs have decreased since Trump came into office. The first quarter of 2026 showed modest gains of 11,000 new jobs, but it’s still 82,000 fewer than when Trump was inaugurated for his second term.
This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 11:54 AM.
