BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rigidized Metal has operated in Buffalo for nearly 80 years. It's the brainchild of owner Rick Smith's grandfather.

"His idea has clad the world's largest building in Dubai, train car interiors for the MTA and elevator cab interiors in Hong Kong," Smith said.

The company now has 55 employees and brings millions of dollars into the region, but Smith says it took his grandfather's father-in-law bankrolling the startup to make it a reality.

"Like my grandfather, people with great ideas don't necessarily have the dough to execute their vision," Smith said.

Rigidized Metal could have benefited from a federal loan had the Small Business Administration existed in 1940. Last year, the SBA approved nearly 69,000 loans for small manufacturers, but Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, said the process is still too cumbersome and she's supporting legislation to change that.

"It would make it easier for small manufacturers to borrow the funding they need to get started and running," she said. "It would cut the loan fees that these businesses have to pay when they're borrowing money and would eliminate the so-called startup penalty."

Gillibrand said the bill has bipartisan support in the Senate. She is not a primary sponsor, something her Republican opponent this fall said has been a common theme of her tenure.

"Kirsten Gillibrand has put forward 331 bills since she's been in Congress. Do you know how many of them have passed into law? Zero, not a single one that she's solely sponsored has gotten into law," Chele Farley told Capital Tonight in April.

Gillibrand responded to the criticism during her Buffalo visit calling it an unfair characterization, pointing to other legislation she's worked on that has become law.

"I've passed and helped pass the 9/11 Health bill twice, making it a permanent health care program for our first responders and families. I helped pass the Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal bill as well as the STOCK Act and lots of small amendments and small pieces of legislation in lots of the must pass bills," she said.

Meanwhile, the Democratic senator believes Special Counsel Robert Mueller has the authority to subpoena President Trump should he not voluntarily cooperate with the ongoing Russia investigation.

"I think he should participate and provide open and honest testimony," she said. "I think it will create more transparency and accountability and I think that's what the American people deserve."