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Labor Secretary Sonderling Visits Topeka Manufacturer HME for Workforce Roundtable

October 25, 2026 · USDepartmentofLabor · 0:01:54

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What happened

The U.S. Secretary of Labor came to Kansas for a roundtable with local business leaders, according to the WIBW report carried on the Labor Department channel. Secretary Keith Sonderling joined Senator Roger Marshall, Representative Derek Schmidt and others at HME, Inc. in north Topeka, a custom steel-structure and metal-fabrication company founded in 1996, as the report stated it.

The group discussed workforce development and the challenges and opportunities facing Kansas employers as they grow and support local jobs, according to the report. Sonderling said that with trillions of dollars of investment coming into America, including into Kansas to create jobs, the administration wants a skilled local workforce, so people can stay in their communities and in Kansas with the skills those new jobs require, as he stated it.

Sonderling also visited the University of Kansas and Kansas City Kansas Community College to talk about investing in students to support the manufacturing workforce, according to the report. HME president John Haas said the company had a two-year backlog of orders and, because it buys mostly American steel, had not seen much tariff impact, with supply and demand governing its raw-material prices, as he stated them. The report noted Vice President JD Vance was due at HME the following Monday for a midterm campaign rally.

Why it matters

The visit is the Labor Department’s workforce pitch in miniature: pairing announced investment with local training so new manufacturing jobs are filled by workers already in the community.

Sources: USDepartmentofLabor, “Secretary Keith Sonderling Visits Topeka Manufacturer HME, Inc. (WIBW)”, 2026-10-25 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-10-25). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.