PATERSON - The day was officially about boxes.

That's why Mikie Sherrill and Rep. Nellie Pou spent Thursday morning touring the Accurate Box Company in this city's Bunker Hill industrial section.

Quite a tour it was.  The 82-year old warehouse spans 400,000 square feet and employs about 350 people. It operates around the clock five days a week - leaving weekends for maintenance.

Led by company officials, Sherrill and Pou, who represents CD-9, strolled around the work floor, observing the entire process of turning corrugated cardboard into colorful display boxes.

Clients include hundreds of companies around the country. For example, on display in the company's waiting area were packages for KitKat bars, Quaker Oats and Fruit Loops.

Business is good here.

The company began in Newark as a small folding carton company and moved to Paterson in the 1980's

That growth has continued and today, the company proudly says it is one of the largest independent box manufacturers of litho-laminated packaging in the United States.

It makes and ships about 300 million boxes a year. That breaks down to around 1.2 million a day. An estimated 25 trucks a day leave the plant, carrying the company's boxes to 46 states.

As the tour progressed, the governor asked about the price of diesel fuel. Is the company handling that OK?

Well, sort of.

Company officials said that as of now, the only recourse is to "eat" the added costs. But when current contracts with their clients expire, they can raise costs to compensate.

Pou mentioned tariffs.

Yes, the officials said, they have an impact. They explained that a lot of machine parts are purchased from overseas.

Nothing happens in a vacuum. There is nothing unusual about governors and House members visiting businesses, but this visit occurred five days before the midterms.

Rising costs because of tariffs and the war in Iran are favorable to Democrats, according to many polls.

That point was reinforced today.

In a conversation before the tour, Pou said she was looking forward to next week and the end of the campaign.

But she was also hopeful about the opportunity Dems may have if they gain control of at least one house of Congress.

Something drastic has to be done, Pou said, referring to turning the nation around.