On July 10, 2025, Danko Arlington, a certified HUBZone Small Business Concern for twenty years, was honored to host Kelly Loeffler — the U. S. Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA).
During the plant tour, Administrator Loeffler personally witnessed the art of metal casting and the company’s diverse workforce, including legal refugees from Haiti, Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She also learned about the latest Industry 4.0 technology, including 3-D sand and plastic printing of foundry molds and patterns, advanced solidification simulation, and photogrammetry, not to mention everyday hard work that goes into producing high-quality aerospace and military sand castings.
The tour was also a great opportunity for Danko Arlington to showcase its direct raw material which is primary aluminum ingot. This premium metal is not currently produced in the USA, and if so, would encounter many challenges including having enough domestic energy for smelting. According to the long-standing definition from the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), metal instantly becomes of American origin once melted. Arguably, certain imported metals like ingots used for domestic melting to produce castings ‘Made-in-the-USA’ should not be tariffed!
Overall, Administrator Loeffler’s visit was a great exchange of ideas. It is not often that Presidential Cabinet members visit small businesses, not to mention a well-established foundry. Nineteen US presidents have been in office over our company’s one-hundred-and-five-year history. Over the years, each president created policies for business: In 1940, for example, the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration established a national apprenticeship program in which Danko Arlington was one of the first Maryland companies to register.
Today, the company will take advantage of the recent passing of the President Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ including making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, allowing 100% expensing of new company improvements and expansion, and cutting taxes on employee’s overtime.
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