An award for Aranda

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans

presented a local minority-owned business with a federal award and

encouraged others like it to “go globally and grow locally.”

On an afternoon trip to Aranda Tooling Co., in Surf City,

Rohrabacher and Evans presented owner Pedro Aranda with the commerce

department’s Export Achievement Certificate.

The company manufactures small hand tools.

Evans said small Latino-owned businesses are the “backbone of our

nation’s economy” and credited Aranda with successfully marketing and

selling the tools in Japan, Mexico and other world markets.

Rohrabacher also credited Aranda as a minority business success

story.

“America continues to be the land of opportunity for small

businesses,” Rohrabacher said. “Pedro Aranda and Aranda Tooling are a

perfect example of the entrepreneurial spirit that makes our country

great.”

--Paul Clinton