LI businesswoman testifies at jobs panel

When Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) looked for a Long Island business person to testify before a congressional committee earlier this week about job creation, he turned to Anne Shybunko-Moore, president of GSE Dynamics Inc., a Hauppauge-based defense manufacturer.

GSE has increased its workforce to 48 people, from about 30, in the past few years.

So Shybunko-Moore, 39, sat before Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and about 30 other members of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee on Tuesday, speaking on behalf of President Barack Obama's proposed jobs package, which is aimed at decreasing payroll taxes and increasing skills training for young adults, among other things.

Shybunko-Moore's privately held company does about $12 million a year in sales making parts for military aircraft. GSE was started about 40 years ago by her father, former Grumman engineer Daniel Shybunko. The company has added a facility in Hauppauge where it makes fiberglass and composite structures for Navy submarines, and another plant in Athens, Ga., where it manufactures bonded and composite structures for Air Force planes.

"I didn't just hire and get rid of these people," Shybunko-Moore said in an interview. "I was able to sustain that business," which necessitated hiring.

In her testimony, Shybunko-Moore said companies like hers "need to invest in capital equipment to stay competitive and keep up with the advanced technologies." She was one of five people to testify before the committee.

Israel said in an interview Wednesday there is a "job crisis" in the country and that Shybunko-Moore "spoke from her point of view as a small manufacturer."

Republicans say the jobs bill will raise taxes and kill jobs. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.,) said earlier this week that the jobs bill is "dead on arrival."