BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A local company that makes armor for military vehicles will be adding 100 people to its work force to manufacture armor for vehicles being sent to Iraq to protect U.S. troops from roadside bombs, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy said Monday.
The move will nearly double the work force at Plasan USA, which produced advanced composites and is a major subcontractor for the Department of Defense's Mine Resistant Ambush Protection Program.
''Protecting our troops in the field needs to be a top priority, and this work in Bennington will help meet an urgent need,'' Leahy said Monday during a visit to the plant. ''Plasan has proven its ability to supply advanced armor for the program, and Plasan and Bennington are a good match. This is important work that means life and death to our men and women serving our country overseas.''
The Israel-based Plasan has U.S. offices in White Plains, N.Y., and Bethesda, Md. The company opened a facility in Bennington last year as a spin-off from Vermont Composites, another Bennington firm that works with advanced materials.
Leahy helped win the jobs for the Bennington company through his position as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and its Defense Subcommittee.
Leahy said Plasan was working with another company and could seek additional Defense Department contracts that could bring even more jobs to Bennington.