Concord Monitor - Rubio Touts Tech at Manchester's Dyn

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By Allie Morris

Speaking in an updated Manchester mill building to employees at one of New Hampshire's most well-known tech companies, Marco Rubio said government needs to modernize its policies to help startups and the "sharing economy" grow Wednesday.

"We want to make America the easiest, the fastest and the best place in the world to come up with a new idea and turn it into reality in the business world," the Republican candidate for president told employees at Dyn. "Today, in this globally competitive economy, we have some policies that are making it harder, not easier."

Rubio, 44, toured the Manchester-based company that builds online infrastructure during a two-day campaign swing through New Hampshire that included stops in Dover, Wolfeboro and a House party in Bedford Tuesday night.

The first-term U.S. senator from Florida hasn't spent as much time campaigning in the Granite State as some of his Republican rivals, but has seen his polls numbers rise recently.

Rubio pushed back against criticisms Wednesday that he has missed key votes in the U.S. Senate to campaign for president.

"When you run for president, as I'm doing, you're going to miss some votes," Rubio told reporters after the event. "A lot of the work we're doing in the Senate isn't going to go anywhere unless we have the right president. And that's why I am running."

Rubio came under fire Tuesday for missing a vote on a $600 billion defense authorization bill. The state Democratic Party put out an open letter to Rubio, saying "leadership is about taking a stand and following through. But your record proves you do neither."

With an eye toward his audience Wednesday, Rubio touted technology as a way to break down barriers in business. He cited businesses like Uber, a ridesharing service that users can access through a smartphone app, and said Washington should support growth in the sector by making changes to the antiquated tax code and labor laws.

"We have regulations that are often manipulated by incumbent industries, that keep out innovative competitors," he said, standing in front a backdrop plastered with IP addresses and web domain names.

Officials at the city and state level have struggled to regulate services like Uber, which contracts with drivers whom users can hail through their mobile devices. In New Hampshire, the state legislature opted this year to create a committee to study how Uber and taxi services are regulated statewide and compare safety levels between the two.

Rubio also emphasized the need to reform the education model, by teaching skills that match up with businesses' needs.

It's a message that appealed to some workers at Dyn, a cloud-based internet performance company that employs 300 people in its headquarters off Dow Street. The average age of Dyn's employees is 34 years old, which is lower than the average age of state residents.

Stephanie Temple, who works in sales, found Rubio very authentic. She stopped him just before he walked out the door to snap a photo.

"He has a really good view on the future, on innovation," she said. "That resonates here. . . . He understands that technology is huge."

During Rubio's 20-minute tour of the company, Dyn employees seated at modern desks in expansive rooms watched on as the Republican and a gaggle of reporters and cameramen squeezed through the aisles. Rubio opted to take the stairs connecting the office's two floors, instead of a bright yellow slide, and didn't try his hand at a mini-golf putting green installed on the building's first floor.

At one point the Dyn tour leaders, all men, stopped to talk with Rubio about the importance of attracting more women into the tech field.

Rubio is the fourth presidential candidate to visit Dyn, following Republicans John Kasich, Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul.

After the tour, Rubio gave a speech on his economic proposals and took questions from employees.

Facing queries on foreign policy, Rubio panned the Iran nuclear deal, warned about the growth of ISIS in Afghanistan and said a better alternative to accepting Syrian refugees is creating a safe-zone within the country.

"We should be open to it. I just don't know if it's possible to fully vet the people that are going to come over," he said. "That's going to be a real challenge. We're open to it, but it has to be done in a responsible way that keeps us safe."

Taking a question on entitlement reform, Rubio said social security has to be reformed. People may have to retire at an older age, he said, and all federal anti-poverty funds should be distributed to states for use on a local level.

Recipients of that assistance would have to be going to school, or working, said Rubio, who supports a wage enhancement that provides workers additional money if they aren't making enough.

"I would much rather you be working for $8 an hour, and have the other $4 or $5 subsidized, or enhanced, than having you sitting at home . . . and not working at all," he said, "because your skills are diminishing and it's going to be a stigma on your resume."

As Rubio left, Dyn sales staffers J.J. St. Pierre and Jesse Stevener played table hockey in a break room.

"I would probably vote for him. He seems like a nice guy," said St. Pierre who caught the tail end of Rubio's speech. "I like someone younger."

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