Even as he touted a bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday that would give tax breaks to employers to encourage the hiring of unemployed workers and free up capital for expansion, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Avon, said more needs to be done.

In particular, he’s pushing for passage of a measure to create a $30 billion revolving loan fund to retool small- and medium-sized auto supply firms and other companies for entry into the clean-energy market.

“Companies that were part of the supply chain for automakers and created glass for truck windshields could now make glass for solar panels, or ones that made gearboxes for trucks would now make them for wind turbines,” Brown said Wednesday during a conference call, referencing the Investment for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology Act.

One area firm that could benefit from the measure is A.J. Rose Manufacturing Co., an Avon firm that produces components for power trains, engines, transmissions and automatic brake systems for the automotive industry.

While 85 to 90 percent of the firm’s work still is automotive in nature, the company is looking to diversify into fields including medical arts, solar, wind and hydro energy.

“We’re still researching the impact the act could offer in terms of potential help for companies like ourselves for retooling to supply those industries,” said Terry Sweeney, vice president of sales and marketing for A.J. Rose.

“We want to find where our machines and equipment could generate similar products for green industries.”

The proposed bill is crucial to Ohio, where 50 percent of the state’s gross product is directly attributable to manufacturing, according to Wendy Patton of Policy Matters Ohio. By targeting smaller plants and companies, the IMPACT bill could increase the state’s current small- and medium-sized company payrolls of 500,000 jobs by 41,000 to 52,200 over a 10-year period, according to a study released Wednesday by the group.

An estimated 30,600 of the potential 52,200 jobs would be created at small- or medium-sized companies, she said.

The IMPACT Act could have a substantial effect in Ohio, considering the state has six industries considered prime candidates for conversion to the energy industry. The half-dozen industries manufacture aluminum, glass, cement, chemicals, paper and steel products.

Brown hopes to increase the IMPACT bill’s chances of passage by attaching it to future jobs legislation.

Brown segued into a long discussion about the IMPACT Act during the conference call, which actually was scheduled to discuss another act, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act that was approved Wednesday by the Senate.

That bill provides tax breaks for employers with one of the biggest incentives in it designed to spur the hiring of unemployed workers. The bill exempts employers from paying Social Security payroll taxes for each worker hired this year who has been out of work at least 60 days.

The measure is capped by a maximum savings per worker of $6,621. Additionally, a $1,000 income tax credit would be available for each new worker retained for a year.

Brown said tax incentives to help create new jobs are crucial to competing with emerging green energy production elsewhere, especially China.

Sweeney said while tax incentives to boost employment are great, they are “a bit like putting the cart before the horse.”

“We need to have programs to help companies retool first, and then we can hire workers,” he said. “I’d love to get a $5,000 tax credit for hiring an employee but we can’t hire them if we don’t have work for them to do. We have to address these new opportunities and then the jobs will come.”

The privately held Avon company, which also has a plant in Cleveland, employs 240, according to Sweeney. The company had 320 on its payroll prior to the recession, which led to layoffs that lowered the number of workers to 180. Things have been looking up for the company, Sweeney said, which led to 60 people being recalled.

Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

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