RACINE - "You're going to be on TV," a man said to a woman feeding ratchet parts into a stamping machine, after Gov. Jim Doyle and a cadre of people had passed through.

The governor was visiting A&E Inc.'s factory at 5501 21st St. Friday to speak about an announcement the company had made two weeks earlier. The company said it was closing a tool factory in Texas, bringing 28 new jobs here and retaining 140 existing jobs.

As the tour continued through the factory, evidence of the consolidation was already visible. Six truckloads arrived last week with material from the Texas factory, said John Lang, company chairman and chief executive officer, pointing out rows of small plastic boxes.

"We're just trying to pack everything we can into here," Lang said. "It's all dollars and cents nowadays."

In a speech after the tour, Doyle said during rough times, Wisconsin must rely on its strength of making high-quality products.

"We have to make sure that in these difficult times, we are willing to make investments to move forward," Doyle said. "We decided that this was not a time to back off, this was not a time when we should go to bed and put the covers over our head."

As part of that investment, Doyle said A&E is getting $862,000 in tax credits from the state. Doyle said Racine area legislators and officials understood that at this time, the focus isn't necessarily on growing new jobs, but retaining existing ones.

"While the state is being a good partner, and we will be a good partner, it is really the leadership of this company and the employees of this company that are making the real commitment to this state," Doyle said. "And we are incredibly grateful for that."

After the governor's speech, employees said they had been glad to hear the news about their company's consolidation.

"I felt bad for Texas, in a way," said Keith Koenig, a machine operator who's been at A&E for over nine years. But, "it's always great to keep things here."

Doyle then came by his table and shook his hand, making the rounds among the employees.

Tim Alho, director of research and development, said the consolidation is good for the company.

"I think where we have it all under one roof now, we can look at the product lines and really focus on moving forward," he said.

Outside, the governor's black car pulled away after drops of rain began to fall. Across the way, Stacey Heinemann stood with some other employees, smoking cigarettes.

"It's nice to know that we're finally getting more advanced," said Heinemann, a lead person in Star Products who has been with the company for 15 years. "It's always good to get some more jobs up in Wisconsin."