New Balance today marked the completion of its $65 million expansion at its factory in Skowhegan, adding 120,000 square feet to the building.
Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins highlighted New Balance's work in the surrounding community, and its dedication to American manufacturing.
"New Balance has shown the world that given a level playing field, there is nothing that American workers cannot do and no challenge that they cannot meet," Collins said.
Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King said the expansion is an investment in those employees and in American manufacturing.
"The other thing that impressed me is the detail, the skill of what you're doing," he said. "I mean sewing those with a one-millimeter tolerance, all of the pieces that go into making one of these complicated little shoes."
New Balance employs about 400 workers in Skowhegan, one of the company's five manufacturing facilities in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.