By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com

Congressman Jim Jordan was the guest of honor Monday morning at A-1 Printing in Bucyrus and likened Dan Price’s Web site support addition to his business to something he’s more than a little familiar with.

“Sounds like a campaign operation,” Jordan said.

Ohio’s 4th District representative to Washington, D.C., was in town Monday to address a Lincoln Luncheon at the fairgrounds with a focus on policy and its effect on the business community. Prior to the luncheon he toured A-1 in a group that included members of the city administration and some other business owners.

He was also slated to tour Ohio Mutual Insurance Group and meet with other businesses there.

“We do it all the time,” Jordan said making the rounds to meet with business owners and businesses in local communities in his district. “The founders in their wisdom wanted the House to be the closest to the people. I always kind of jokingly ask them if they are making a profit in spite of the federal government.”

Jordan said his purpose is to get a feel from business people in regards to how Washington policy helps or hurts them from expanding. Jordan says in spite of the severe recession and the long, slow recovery from it, businesses have expanded and have created jobs. What he hears from them is almost always the same.

“They say they have jobs to fill but can’t find employees to fill them. We hear that all the time,” Jordan said. “What we’re trying to do is change our social safety net policy to incentivize work.”

Towards that end, Jordan pointed out, is a bill drafted with the help of the Heritage Foundation which is a conservative think tank. That bill would require a wok component for all welfare benefits, particularly those being paid to recipients who are single.

“It would be tough,” Jordan admitted when pressed about getting bi-partisan support for such a bill, particularly from the White House. “This administration has a different attitude. But it needs to be debated.”

Dan Price, who owns and operates A-1 along with his wife Barb, was pleased to be able to host his congressman along with other local business owners, Dick Hulsmeyer, Lee Plymale and Sue Stander.

“I think it is important that we are able to communicate with them (government representatives),” Price said. “I really think it is critical that they come into a small business and see how we survived and reinvented ourselves.”

Mayor Roger Moore called meeting between local business and political leaders with Jordan an opportunity.

“It’s a great opportunity to showcase what small town small business has had to do to survive in a faltering economy,” Moore said. “I credit Dan and Barb that they realized that and invested more into their business and their community.”