WARMINSTER, PA – Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-08) has launched a district-wide small business listening tour aimed at learning more about Bucks and Montgomery county small businesses and ensuring their voice is represented in Congress. The 100 small business tour will allow Fitzpatrick and local businesses to exchange ideas on important issues ranging from tax and regulatory reform, to healthcare and infrastructure.
“When our local small businesses succeed, they create jobs, invigorate our communities, and preserve the distinct character of our local economy,” said Fitzpatrick. “As a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and member of the House Committee on Small Business, I’m committed to visiting 100 small businesses across Bucks and Montgomery Counties this year, and every year, to better appreciate the needs of local small businesses and to help them create good paying jobs right here in our community.”
Fitzpatrick’s 2017 100 Small Businesses Listening Tour continued Friday at PDC Machines in Warminster. Established in 1977, PDC Machines is a second generation family-owned and operated business providing engineered solutions for gas producing, chemical and petro-chemical companies worldwide.
In January, the Department of Energy named PDC Machines – along with two other collaborative businesses, known as SimpleFuel – the winner of the $1 million H2 Refuel H-Prize Competition. Launched in October 2014, the H2 Refuel H-Prize Competition challenged America’s innovators to deploy an on-site hydrogen generation system, using electricity or natural gas, to fuel hydrogen vehicles, that can be used in homes, community centers, small businesses, or similar locations. SimpleFuel’s home scale refueler can provide a 1-kilogram fill to vehicles in 15 minutes at 700 bar using hydrogen produced via electrolysis, with a design that minimizes setback distances and reduces the physical footprint of the system. SimpleFuel is a collaboration of three companies: Ivys Energy Solutions (Massachusetts), McPhy Energy N.A. (Massachusetts), and PDC Machines (Pennsylvania).
“I am pleased that PDC Machines of Warminster – as part of the collaborative group, SimpleFuel - has been named as a winner of the Department of Energy’s H2 Refuel H-Prize Competition. Investment in energy innovation is critical to powering our country and reducing our reliance on fuels of the past. I am proud that Bucks County-based businesses are set to play a leading role in this important field,” said Fitzpatrickat the time of the announcement.
As a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Fitzpatrick serves on both the Subcommittee on Health and Technology and the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Capital Access, and Tax.