Sen. Brown meets business leaders

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, visited Tiffin Saturday morning to speak with local business and education leaders during a roundtable discussion at Bailiwicks Coffee Co., 62 S. Washington St. He said he has participated in more than 300 roundtable discussions across Ohio's 88 counties since he was elected in 2006 to find ways to provide better government. "How do we do partnerships between my office and local communities," he said was the question the discussions are trying to answer. Seneca Industrial and Economic Development Corp. Development Coordinator Bryce Riggs attended the meeting and said it was a great event. "I always think it's good to bring our representatives into the community, to talk to them about local issues and find ways they can assist us," he said. Riggs said events like the discussion are important. "I think the best form of representation is boots on the ground," he said. "To hear about it is one thing, but to sit across from a college president (Heidelberg University President Rob Huntington) and learn about the issues facing Heidelberg, it's great." Brown agreed, saying that hearing from people locally can make him a more effective government official. "My job is obviously to take my ideas and values, but to listen, to get together ideas from people who know more than I do," he said. "Clearly, President Huntington knows more about higher education that I do and Donna (Peterson, of First National Bank) knows more about community banking than I do." Riggs, Huntington and Peterson were joined in the discussion by JoAnn King of U.S. Bank, Haley Thomas of Ballreich, and Jessica Wirth, owner and founder of Bailiwicks Coffee. Wirth said she was happy to host and be involved with the event. "I was very honored and humbled he would take the time out to sit down with us," she said. "It was quite an experience." Wirth said Brown was honest and genuine and spoke to each person about their business or organization. "It was a very humbling experience to have the ear of a person who is making changes in government," she said. Brown said he is working on several things in the senate that could affect Tiffin and Seneca County residents. He said he is working on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, adding that it could protect or add auto-supply chain jobs locally. He also said he is working on veteran's issues and protecting social security. "There's already an effort with the Trump tax bill, one of the ways some economists say it should be paid for is raising the eligibility age for social security," he said. "That's just wrong." Brown said he and other government representatives have to work to make places like Seneca County more appealing for young residents. "We've got to provide opportunities in communities like Seneca County or Richland County, where I grew up," he said. "So young people see the opportunities and stay here." Brown referenced a Margaret Mead quote about wisdom and knowledge being passed down from grandparent to grandchild. "Every parent, when their children are raised, want the grandchildren to live nearby," he said, adding it's important for families to see their children and grandchildren grow up and stay in their community. Brown's wife, Connie Schultz, a columnist for Creators Syndicate, delivered the commencement address Saturday at Tiffin University.