King visits Ritchie Industries ahead of November election

Eight-term incumbent U.S. Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) kept his focus on trade, agricultural issues and Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs) during a stop at Ritchie Industries in Conrad last Thursday as the midterm election nears.
           
King touted the bipartisan Main Street Employee Ownership Act, which makes it easier for companies to transition to employee-owned businesses (Ritchie has been under such a plan for several years), as one of his major successes during the 2018 legislative session. President Trump signed the provision into law in late August as part of a larger defense spending and appropriations bill.
           
“It gives the employees a similar incentive as it does the owners because of employee ownership,” King said afterward. “If (employees) know that they’ve got a guaranteed share of that profit, they’re there standing on the production line thinking ‘How do I make this better? How do I make a better product? How do I make it more efficiently? How do I help the people next to me? Because if we do that, we’re all going to benefit in the end.’ It really helps the culture, especially in manufacturing.”
           
Because Ritchie manufactures automatic watering units for livestock, a discussion of the farm economy seemed inevitable, and King promoted the fact that the massive fourth Congressional district—covering 39 counties in northwest and north central Iowa— produces more agricultural commodities than any other in the country.
           
“There are some people in California who say they have more dollars coming into agriculture down there than we do, and I say ‘You don’t get to count marijuana, guys.’ And I win the argument,” King said. “A lot of really good stuff is done here in the fourth district.” 
 
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