August 4, 2025 • 38 mins
The headlines warned of economic disaster when steel tariffs were announced, but what's actually happening on the ground? The Steel Kings dig deep with Ohio State Representative Rodney Creech to separate market reality from media hype.
Representative Creech brings a unique perspective as both a fourth-generation farmer and state legislator, offering candid insights about American manufacturing's future. "Although there was some short-term pain, possibly some mid-term pain for long-term gain, I think we're there," Creech explains, highlighting companies that have already begun returning to the United States after previously moving operations overseas.
For Jared and Eric, the tariff situation prompted strategic innovation rather than surrender. They share how they're expanding their business model to include pole barns while maintaining their core steel building operations. This adaptability showcases what's happening across American small businesses – finding creative solutions that prioritize domestically-produced materials without passing dramatic price increases to customers.
The conversation reveals a significant disconnect between apocalyptic news predictions and actual market conditions. While initial reports suggested potential price increases up to 50% for steel products, businesses working with American-made steel are experiencing only marginal adjustments driven by demand. This practical reality check offers valuable perspective for anyone trying to understand how Washington policy translates into Main Street impact.
Perhaps most compelling is the discussion around America's renewed interest in supporting local businesses. As Rep. Creech puts it with stark simplicity: "Turn your news off. Buy local. Enjoy life." It's a philosophy that represents growing consumer awareness about the value of knowing who stands behind the products they purchase.
Ready to hear authentic insights about manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and the resilience of American business? Listen now and discover why the Steel Kings believe adaptation and authenticity are the keys to thriving in today's changing economic landscape.
To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.
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Studio Sponsor: J Money LLC
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
INTRO (00:00):
Hey, this is Joel Oney at J Money in the heart of the
Buckeye State, and I want topersonally welcome you to
today's episode of the SteelKings podcast with my good
friends Jared Ledford and EricOlson, better known as the Steel
Kings.
Be sure to check out jmoneyllc.
com for financing solutions foryour buildings.
(00:21):
And now let's get back to theSteel Kings podcast for your
buildings.
And now let's get back to theSteel Kings podcast.
Jared Ledford (00:31):
Hey, what's up, guys?
This is Jared, and over thereis my best friend, Eric, and we
are the Steel Kings coming atyou with another episode this
week of the Steel Kings podcast.
Eric, what's up, man?
How are you?
Eric Olson (00:38):
What's up, brother?
Happy July 7th.
We have wrapped up the funnestweekend of the year.
Jared Ledford (00:46):
Yes, sir.
Eric Olson (00:47):
Hottest weekend of the year, yeah.
Jared Ledford (00:49):
Hopefully you guys had a happy and safe 4th of
July, enjoyed fireworks withyour family and friends.
We just got off a podcast withour friend Rodney Creech, who is
the Ohio State Representativefor District 40.
And we were having, you know,God bless him for hanging out
with us.
We were having some technicaldifficulties with our, with our
feed and everything else, sowe're jumping back in here to
(01:10):
shoot a quick intro and justtalk about our week.
Um, hope you guys are doingwell.
Um, did you have anything goingon, man?
Did you do anything fun overthe fourth of July?
And we talked about that on thelast episode what we might be
getting into what you end updoing
Eric Olson (01:25):
Shout- out Hamilton, which is a huge city in Ohio,
mind you, I think nobody reallythinks that Hamilton's big city.
But Hamilton is a big city.
Um, they've got a quitedowntown park area.
Um, they had a.
They had a huge Julycelebration, had live music,
there was an ACDC Guns N' Rosescover band that played and there
(01:50):
was a ton.
There was thousands of peopledown there put on a big light.
So, to the town of Hamilton.
Man, they put on a good show.
The police presence was good.
There wasn't any major issues.
I saw man good stuff.
Jared Ledford (02:04):
Good.
Eric Olson (02:04):
So yeah.
Jared Ledford (02:06):
What about you?
I worked on the communitypicnic book.
Um, I grinded, you know, likenormal, I sat outside with the
girls for a short period of time.
Um, I'm just not a big fireworkguy.
I think I said that before.
I've said it a couple of timesFireworks are just not my thing.
Uh, I just never got into them,um, but the girls love them.
I wanted to encourage that.
(02:27):
There was a nice littlefirework display at the end of
our street, so luckily we didn'thave to go anywhere to see that
.
Uh, it was literally right upin our faces.
I was sitting there with myfire extinguisher ready,
thinking don't hit my house withthe fireworks.
That was what I was.
I'm that guy, I'm that.
Hey, shoot them off, just don'tshoot them off towards my house
.
Yeah, yeah, I'm just.
(02:49):
There's this one video wherethey're in the driveway and all
these people are like shootingoff fireworks and they just like
explode all over these people.
Eric Olson (02:57):
Yeah, that one.
Jared Ledford (02:59):
Right, right.
Eric Olson (03:00):
That one was.
Jared Ledford (03:02):
Yeah, about.
Eric Olson (03:04):
Having fun.
Now I'm calling home insuranceMaking Calling the 911.
Jared Ledford (03:10):
Calling dispatch or something.
But yeah, we're going to sharewith you guys our interview with
Rodney.
We're going to.
We're going to piece thistogether as best we can on our
side and maybe the team over atShed Geek Podcast will make it
look clean and neat andorganized for you guys.
As always, the Steel KingsPodcast is brought to you by our
studio sponsor, the guys overat J Money.
If you're building or sellinganything from metal buildings
(03:31):
and sheds to doors, windows orpools, j Money helps you,
offering financing that gets thedeals done.
No more losing jobs because acustomer can't pay up front.
Fast approvals, flexible termsand zero headaches.
Head to jmoneyllc.
com and grow your business withpayment solutions that actually
work.
Big shout out to the team overthere, Joel and those guys.
(03:52):
They're doing a great job.
We are going to go ahead andshare with you our interview
with State Rep Rodney Creech andwe will see you guys next week
for another episode of the SteelKings podcast.
In the meantime, I'm Jared andhe's Eric.
Hang out and watch herinterview with Rodney and we'll
talk to you guys soon.
Peace out the technical fiascos.
(04:14):
This morning the steel Kingsare struggling with our virtual
backgrounds and stream yard, butwe are super happy to have you
with us, man.
Eric, jump in here, man.
How are you in here, man?
Eric Olson (04:25):
How are you doing today?
I'm not doing too bad.
It's so hot outside.
Jared Ledford (04:31):
It is.
Eric Olson (04:32):
I went to Monday morning prayer at 6 am and it
was too hot.
I was in a sanctuary, and theydidn't have the AC on and I was
like, oh my gosh.
Then I went to the gym.
Gym was hot.
Now I'm in my living room hot,you know.
It's a good day to stay insideand keep the door shut and crank
up that ac to about 68 find afan.
Jared Ledford (04:53):
Find a fan and find some ac I bought a.
Eric Olson (04:56):
You know, you know, uh, I gotta show you guys, I got
a little portable fan, it'sright well fair enough man real
talk we uh, we were talkingabout the 4th of July.
Jared Ledford (05:08):
Last week we talked about the movie the
sandlot.
We talked about what me anderic are going to do on our July
4th.
So, you're catching this acouple weeks after the 4th.
So, we hope you had a happy andsafe one with your families.
But I thought who better tointerview than a person who is
representative of our state,somebody who's out doing the
work every day for us?
(05:29):
Rodney, introduce yourself tothe, to the listeners and the
viewers.
We're super happy andprivileged to have you here with
us, man.
Rodney Creech (05:37):
Well, thank you so much for the invite.
You know, Rodney Creech, I'm inmy third term as a state
representative here in the stateof Ohio and previously served
as a county commissioner andtownship trustee in my area and
I just have a great passion forserving the people that I
represent, but in the real worldI'm a farmer and a business
owner.
(05:58):
A lot of times people look at meas a politician, but I'm a
fourth- generation grain farmerand I'm celebrating 20 years on
a local business.
And so, politics even though Ido it full-time because it's a
full-time job it's not mylivelihood.
I'm not a lifetime politician.
I can exit the game at any timeand go back into the real world
(06:20):
, and it's a great position tobe in.
Jared Ledford (06:26):
Well, I can tell you and I just want to preface
this with the Steel Kings stayneutral.
We're not a political party, wedon't.
We don't draw our lines on thatside of the fence.
But I can tell you from apersonal perspective.
You are my state rep.
We've had breakfast a couple oftimes.
We don't agree on a lot, right,but at the same time, you have
taken your time to absolutelyget to know me, hear my opinions
(06:49):
, hear me out and same with you.
You earned my vote, and I cantell you I love the fact that
you're doing the podcast with us.
I really appreciate it.
I want to give you a platformup front.
This guy is running for stateSenate.
This is a guy who wants tocontinue down the path, and you
heard it straight from his mouth.
He is not a lifetime politician.
I can avouch for his family'shard work over the years.
(07:12):
He lives 10 minutes from me,and he's built a thriving small
business that is serving a largearea of our area as well, so we
are super happy to have youhere.
Rodney, I'm going to jump rightin, man.
One of the things that we havebeen dealing with on our side of
the fence has been steeltariffs and I know we talked
(07:34):
about it from a from a stateperspective.
Not much going on there.
This is more of a federal issue.
But you know what are youseeing, hearing from
constituents?
I mean just you're out andabout all the time.
You know what are you seeinghearing from constituents.
I mean just you're out andabout all the time.
You know what are you seeingand hearing.
How is it affecting and what doyou think the long-term
ramifications are for steeltariffs?
Rodney Creech (07:52):
Well, you know, I think anytime there's changes
in administration, there'sconcerns on one side or the
other, or maybe both sides, andyou know tariffs have been
taking up the news, especiallyback at the beginning of the
year, the concerns of tariffs,and I think what we're seeing is
, you know, those concerns,although they were valid and
there was some short-term pain,possibly some mid-term pain for
(08:14):
long-term gain, I think we'rethere, and you know I just was
watching the news the othernight and some of the biggest
opponents of tariffs arestarting to come around and say
you know what this might workout.
And you know we have companiesthat have moved out of the
United States that are comingback.
Being heavily involved in theagriculture industry that's
where I spend the majority of mytime there are companies that
(08:36):
are moving back to the UnitedStates.
I know John Deere just made ahuge commitment several weeks
ago and so you know,unfortunately, for every action
there's a reaction and I thinkthere were some bad decisions
that were made in the past andhopefully these tariffs will
help correct some of that.
But my heart goes out to allthe businesses that have
(08:59):
unknowns, the businesses in mydistrict.
They're having to tighten theirbelts because they don't know
what the future holds.
But I think long term they'regoing to be doing well.
Jared Ledford (09:05):
Yeah, yeah, we're here.
I mean, you know we're abusiness in your district, I
mean we can speak fromexperience and we know it
firsthand.
You know, eric and I talkedabout it at length, probably
three, four episodes ago.
We really dug in deep on steeltariffs.
We're of the opinion that longterm, this is something that's
(09:26):
going to be positive for themarket, right, you know?
I think right now, you know,eric took the stance of the more
positive, I took the stance ofthe more negative and we just
kind of shot at the hip, lookedat some news reports and things
like that.
But I think from ourperspective, you know, we really
needed a self-correction, notjust from a supply chain
standpoint but also from apricing standpoint.
We sell steel buildings,prefabricated steel buildings,
(09:48):
nationwide.
That's a market that hadn'tseen a price increase, eric.
What do you think, man, thelast five years I mean even
during COVID it dropped.
Eric Olson (10:08):
So, I would say this is probably the first time I
would say, as owning DaytonBarns, so six, seven years now,
like first time I would say as aas owning Dayton Barns.
So, six, seven years now, likefirst time that that it's been
talked about as much.
Now our sales last month werelike insane.
OUTRO (10:14):
Well they're good, yeah, they were strong um, a lot of
comments there.
Eric Olson (10:18):
I think that, like tariff scare, if you're if
you're buying a 30 000 product,you're buying a 30 000 product.
Whether I you're buying a$30,000 product, whether I think
the price is $34K or $28K, Ithink really what this is
affecting that's the smallercarport people that they're
negotiating.
Okay, do I need to spend thatthis year?
Maybe we could do this nextyear or the year after.
(10:38):
So it's been unique navigatingit and discussing it with you
and others too.
Jared Ledford (10:45):
I think it's tough.
I think it's tough when themarket, when that initial
announcement comes out thatsteel prices are going up, I
think that everybody immediatelysays, oh well, I saw on the
news that steel is going up 50%,I'm not going to buy today.
But once they have time to notjust absorb the information
that's in front of them butreally see that oh okay, pricing
(11:07):
hasn't gone up 50% across theboard, as they start to
understand the informationthat's coming at them, they see
the prices are the same thatthey were a few months ago.
They start to ease.
I do think that there is Rodneyjump in here anytime.
I mean you talk to more peoplethan us.
We're strictly focused on ourside of the business, that is,
(11:29):
tubular steel, sheet metal,things like that.
We're hearing from somesuppliers and manufacturers at
this point that they areexpecting it to tick up in price
, but most of the manufacturerswe work with are not outsourcing
the steel to begin with.
Rodney, you can probably giveus the lay of the land.
When they talk about steeltariffs, they're not talking
about stuff that's made here inthe States.
(11:51):
They're talking about stuffthat's brought in from other
places.
So maybe give us your overviewon that.
ADVERTISEMENT (12:01):
Oh no.
Sam, what's going on?
Are you okay?
Yes, I'm fine, Lisa.
I was just trying to get ascrewdriver and all this other
stuff fell down.
I'm ready to go buy a shed sowe can have some space in this
garage again.
I agree, I keep looking at theshed Mr Jenkins bought.
Let's ask him where I got hisHowdy neighbor.
(12:29):
We're wondering how do you likeyour shed?
I love it.
It's exactly what I needed, andI couldn't have asked for a
better service.
And where did?
You get it.
I can't remember, but let mecheck.
Something this nice willprobably have the builder's name
on it somewhere.
Hmm, no, I'm sorry, I can'tfind a name anywhere.
(12:59):
Well, we finally got a shed.
Yes, I just hope we're happy.
The thing is a lot more shoddythan I expected, and I'm sure I
told them I wanted a window, butthey didn't have it in the
paperwork so I couldn't argue.
Boy is this a lousy shed.
(13:22):
We haven't even had it twoyears, have we?
Barely.
It was just a bad deal all theway around.
Mr.
Jenkins told me the other daythat he likes his shed so much
he wants to get a second one,but he still can't remember
where he got it.
Your product is your bestadvertising.
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(13:43):
Identify your products, growyour business.
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com.
Rodney Creech (13:54):
Yeah, I mean, I'm a buy local guy.
You know, when I go out and eat, I don't want to go to the big
box store, I want to support momand pop shops.
And you know, when I'm out, youknow, as a business owner, it's
really changed my mindset, Ithink before I owned a business,
I wanted the cheapest I couldget, and you know I was always
trying to save money.
Well, when you become abusiness owner, you're like you
know what?
I want to support those smallbusinesses because I need them
(14:15):
to support me.
And I think you know, withtariffs it's the same thing.
You know everybody's wantingcheap supplies.
We all want the cheapestsupplies we can purchase so we
can pass that on to ourcustomers and be competitive.
And you know, and I think thenew administration says, you
know, America first, and I'm abig supporter of America first,
(14:37):
and we've not been that way fora long time, and so we may have
to pay a little extra forwhatever we're purchasing, but
we're supporting local and thoselocal dollars are going to go
of the United States and I don'tbelieve that the United States
should be taking care of anyother country.
(15:05):
We need to take care of our own, and I think tariffs is a fix
for that.
Again, I remember the presidentsaying there's going to be a
lot of pain for this gain and Ithink we've seen some of that,
but I think it's subsiding and Ithink that things are working
out pretty well.
Yeah, I think that things areworking out pretty well.
Jared Ledford (15:19):
Yeah, I think anything worth doing is worth
doing, right?
Yeah, and there's going to be alittle bit of a bumpiness when
you really get started doingsomething that's worthwhile, and
I think that this is somethingthat's needed to happen for some
time.
And really, as the rubber hitsthe road, as we start to get
movement, I'm not seeingpersonally the kind of disaster
(15:44):
that I thought I would, and Ericknows this.
I mean, I was not feeling realgood.
I mean I just wasn't A couplemonths ago.
I was like, man, this is reallyconcerning me.
Rodney Creech (15:54):
Well, keep in mind, politics is fear.
Jared Ledford (15:56):
And it depends on what side and what's what.
Rodney Creech (15:59):
And politics is fear, and I hate that, because
why can't we just be honest withthe people and say, hey, this
might or might not work, but youknow what?
Let's buckle up.
And I think what we're findingis the fear isn't working
anymore, and people are notputting as much faith in the
news.
They're watching podcastsbecause it's normal.
Americans talking to the people.
Jared Ledford (16:18):
Yeah, I've been really surprised oh, I couldn't
agree more with that.
I've been really oh, I couldn'tagree more with that.
I've been really surprised bythat.
You know I.
You know me, Rodney, I mean youknow me well enough to know I'm
a pretty traditional mediaconsumer.
You know I watch a lot.
I watch the nightly news.
I try to watch, you know I tryto watch a good mix at night too
.
And I can tell you, man, we'reknee deep in this.
(16:44):
Eric and I deal with this everysingle day.
We're getting messages frommanufacturers, from partners,
who are saying hey, keep an eyeout.
We don't know if we're going tobe able to honor discounts much
longer.
Right now, they're extendingdiscounts.
Eric Olson (16:53):
Yeah, our suppliers extended them today.
Jared Ledford (16:55):
Yeah, I think that they are feeling this is
July 7th, to mind you.
So I think we are seeing sortof a stabilization, right.
When the market gets bad news,the market reacts accordingly
and then the market always seemsto correct itself once that
news is absorbed and peoplestart to put places, you know,
put the pieces in place right.
(17:16):
That's why I was really glad,you know, not just coming off
July 4th to have Rodney here toreassure us.
He's seeing more people, he'stalking to more people as Eric
and I come around.
I think things are gettingbetter.
Is that what you're seeing?
Eric Olson (17:32):
For the past 30 days , I would say we've had a
higher-end sales month.
I think the optimism is good.
I want to touch on something.
I said the new, what the newssays, whoever that is.
I think people are getting realcontent.
Like they could say, oh, 50tariff.
(17:53):
But like if you just go to thestore for six months straight
and nothing budges, you'rereally not.
If you're just reading somesentence and you have to get
over it, that maybe it's not asdevastating as what was behind
the reason to write it, the waythat it was written.
So, I don't see shyness.
In fact, I see more peopledoing what you're doing, Ronnie,
(18:14):
which is going local, like,there's all these like, for
example, I'm just gonnaadvertise some beef tallow
lotion, some local business beeftallow lotion, and I'm, you
know, to me I'm like, I'mintrigued by these people are
like I don't want to make hourlyanymore, I just want to do my
own thing and um, and I buy rawmilk, I buy farm fresh eggs,
(18:38):
whatever the thing I bought thismorning was, and you know, I
find myself way more interestedin in like, instead of buying
lace potato chips, I boughtthese Massa.
I've thrown a shout out formassive tortilla chips.
It's just corn and uh and oiland it's always two ingredients
and uh it's a local businessthat uh sell on Amazon and so I
(19:00):
think people are more willing tobuy local products and spend
more money because they know theperson behind it.
They can call, talk to discussit, give them their feedback and
there is some value with that.
I think it's kind of circlingback to that mom and pop vibe.
Jared Ledford (19:19):
Isn't that it's coming.
That's the goal of tariffs,right, Rodney that?
Rodney Creech (19:22):
is the goal America first man.
Jared Ledford (19:26):
We're speaking it into existence right now.
Rodney Creech (19:28):
Yeah, yeah.
Jared Ledford (19:29):
Yeah, I mean.
Rodney Creech (19:30):
think about it.
We used to have a lot of steelmanufacturers here and due to
tariffs and due to unfair trade,those businesses closed up shop
.
What the Trump administrationis saying is we're open for
business.
You fire your location up.
Let's stop supporting othercountries.
Let's put America first.
And I do believe I can tell youme all right, I'm an American
(19:51):
flag guy through and through.
I wear it every day, I thinkabout it every day, I talk about
it every day.
And if somebody comes to me andsays we use all American-made
products and the other companydoesn't, more than likely I'm
going to support American-made,and I think we're to that point.
Five, ten years ago maybe notthe case.
I think a lot of people.
It doesn't matter whatpolitical party they are.
(20:13):
They want to put their countryfirst, or I hope they do.
Eric Olson (20:17):
Yeah, you know there's a.
I live in Germantown in one ofthe neighborhoods here and, and
there is a kid; and I broughtthis up with Jared before.
There was a kid who is anentrepreneur.
He has a couple of houses downand he and he keeps setting up
tables on his driveway to sellstuff.
He's like maybe 10 years old orsomething.
So, the other day he hadbracelets that he was making,
(20:38):
and he was selling them for likefive or ten bucks a piece.
Well, he second, he doubleddown on his business and so
simultaneously now he has abracelet table, but now he's got
a lemonade table too, so hewants you to get a drink.
So, even out of.
I know it seems like a joke thatI'm saying this, but like it's
true, the guy he's like you know, maybe I need to offer this.
(20:59):
On top of this, I need to addthis and that's what kids need,
like that's what people need tothink.
Like you create your own thing,you know, and then adjust it's
hot, offer lemonade.
I mean, it's really like thatsimple and don't outsource the
lemonade.
Yeah, don't outsource thelemonade.
Make it in your kitchen andsell it on the street.
Jared Ledford (21:21):
That's what we're doing, Eric, right, I mean the
steel tariffs.
So, I don't think Rodney knowsthis, maybe he does.
The steel tariffs forced us tomake an executive decision at
our business level to reallystart a second business, and
it's something that we've beendoing for some time.
We've been brokering all kindsof structures nationwide for
years now, but we're finallygoing to dive into pole barns,
(21:43):
and pole barns have reallybecome, you know, from an
agricultural standpoint.
So, speaking to a farmer,fourth generation farmer, you
know pole barns tend to be thereally the bee's knees when it
comes to ag projects.
They tend to do better withlivestock.
They tend to do better justacross the board.
But that's something that, ifnothing else, was accomplished
(22:06):
through the tariffs for DaytonBarnes it was able to see us go
and expand off into starting anew business, starting a new
pole barn business and reallymaking that a formal kind of a
thing.
So, it motivated us.
I mean, I'm sure it'smotivating you out there that
are doing new things, and that'sreally what it was designed to
do.
It was to really get usmotivated to do something.
(22:29):
Like Rodney said America first,start a new business, get out
and do something new.
Eric, you said that too.
It really excites me, man.
I mean honestly like I'mfeeling a lot better about it
than I was a few months ago.
Yeah, there's no tariffs onwood, it just grows.
(22:50):
Well, there's no tariffs onAmerican steel, no pun intended.
Yeah, you know, I mean that's.
That's the thing that I think alot of people have to really
kind of understand about thisprocess.
The people who are going tostruggle, the people who are
going to have issues, are theones who are getting Chinese,
Taiwan, all of the Mexican steel.
I mean all that stuff is goingto be imported and really going
(23:11):
to be increasing in price.
So, when you see these kind ofeverybody sees them in our
industry.
Right, these metal buildingcompanies that pop up with these
crazy prices and they're comingout of every which direction,
work locally.
If you are a metal buildingdealer and you're in North
(23:32):
Carolina, South Carolina, findthe right manufacturer to
partner with, find the rightteam to work alongside, make
sure that they're sourcingreally good American-made steel
and their pricing is going tostay probably flat.
The only increase in price isgoing to be due to demand and
it's not going to be 50%.
I can tell you that right nowthey're going to produce at a
(23:52):
level that they need to.
I think most of theseproduction facilities were
probably running below what theywere maximum capacity for
Rodney.
I don't know if you can addanything to that.
I mean, that's kind of the waythat we're seeing it is.
It's a supply and demand kindof a thing.
With American goods the priceis probably going to go up
marginally and that's justsomething to be expected.
(24:13):
Yeah, but not 50%.
Rodney Creech (24:16):
We're not seeing that?
Yeah, and again I think we goback to the fear factor.
I mean a know a couple weeksago when we had the Israel-Iran
happen everybody said go getyour fuel, guys.
They're going to be paying$4.50 for fuel and I saw today
for $2.55.
They sure did, and so I thinkit is you know.
Turn your news off.
Buy local, enjoy life yeah.
Jared Ledford (24:39):
That's all there is to it.
Yeah, I think it was.
What was it?
A Saturday, I was planning ondoing something with the kids
and they're like, yeah, don't gooutside, there's going to be
riots, there's going to be fires, there's going to be all this
stuff going on.
I was like, yeah, I'm justgoing to go to Young's Dairy.
Yeah, it's not going to be ariot there.
Matter of fact, we had a goodtime, and the weather was nice
(25:04):
no fires, no emergency.
Um, you know, God blesssouthwest Iowa man.
Yeah, you know, thank, thankGod, thank God for people like
you, Rodney, that got us throughsomething like COVID, where
they locked us in our houses.
And I know I'm getting a littlepolitical, but I can tell you
it was people like you thatfought alongside and said, hey,
you know, enough's enough, weneed to get back out.
And you know, that's the kindof stuff I'm fearful of as
(25:25):
someone who does watch the newsand does have a little bit of.
You know, I know to which Ispeak on a lot of subjects Jack
of all trade, master of none,right, but I can tell you I will
never be locked up in my houseagain.
That is never going to happento me.
Rodney Creech (25:41):
That will never happen again.
Jared Ledford (25:44):
I love where we live and I love the help that
people like you, Rodney, aregiving us man.
Rodney Creech (25:50):
Well, in the future, the governor has 30 days
.
We passed Senate Bill 22.
In fact, we had to do a vetooverride on Senate Bill 22.
And so, the governor will have30 days to make some decisions
and after that the legislaturetakes over.
And I can promise you I don'tmake a lot of promises, but I
can promise you that that'llnever happen again, because my
people don't want it and I willvote for my people and if they
(26:13):
want to make health decisionsfor themselves, that's what
they're going to do.
The government's not going todo it again.
Jared Ledford (26:17):
Yep and decisions that you make got you.
I think you won 70-30 in yourdistrict.
I mean, you are overwhelminglypopular in your district.
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Rodney Creech (28:21):
No Transcript.
.
.
.
.
and it's just theway I operate.
Jared Ledford (28:23):
Yeah, we welcome that man.
We welcome that.
I can tell you it's been a realpleasure, Rodney.
Been, an absolute pleasure tohave you on here with us.
Man, tell us a little bit as we, as we wrap up for today.
Tell us a little bit about whatyou're doing in the future.
Tell us a little bit about nextsteps, where they can check you
(28:44):
out, anything you got coming upthat you want to share with us.
Rodney Creech (28:50):
Yeah, I mean you know we had an exciting
announcement a few weeks ago.
You know I was asked to run forthe Senate about 18 months ago
and keep in mind politics thereis some planning that goes into
it, it's not something that justpops little bit.
You know I've always been a bigterm limit guy and I still am.
But in the state of Ohio wehave eight-year term limits in
(29:14):
the House and eight-year termsin the Senate, and what I can
tell you is I'm in my fifth yearas a state rep, and the first
four years you figure out wherethe bathrooms are, you figure
out personalities, you figureout how the place works.
So, you know I'm halfwaythrough my house career, if you
will, and I've just learned howto do my job and I still got a
long way to go.
And so, you know term limitshave changed everything.
(29:36):
I feel like you know we shouldprobably have 12-year term
limits.
The term limits are probably alittle too short.
You spend half your careerlearning how to do it and the
last half getting to do it.
So, you know I am in my fifthyear, got asked to run for the
Senate, talked to my wife aboutit.
You know people don'tunderstand the life that we live
.
You give up a lot.
(29:56):
You know my dad.
I farm with my dad.
Farming is my number onepassion in life.
A lot of times dad's homefarming by himself and I'm in
Columbus or out across thedistrict or out across the state
with engagements.
Long story short, you know Ilove it and when I got asked to
run for the Senate, talked to mywife.
(30:16):
She said yes, I committed to itand I've been working the
Senate district for about thelast 19 months and so really
excited.
And you know I just want to takewhat I'm doing in the state rep
district.
A Senate district is threestate rep districts, so a state
rep district represents 120,000people and the Senate district's
around 360,000 people.
You know I just wanna take whatI'm doing and affect two other
(30:37):
districts and represent thepeople that elect me.
It's not that complicated.
Listen at home and take thebeliefs, ideas and thoughts that
you hear from the majority.
You know I love it when I'm onsocial media and I type in and
they say you don't represent me.
Well, I represent the majorityand if you think that men should
(31:02):
be playing in women's sports, Iprobably don't represent you.
You're right, and so you know Igo up there and my theory is
I'm going to go up there, I'mgoing to vote my heart, I'm
going to do what's right, andthe day that the people don't
like me, I get a farm full timeand I consider that a huge win.
Jared Ledford (31:19):
Yeah, and I can tell you, to echo off, we don't
have people that want to runthat have any kind of common
sense about what they want to dowith if they win.
You know I, Rodney, you've beensuper, super helpful and
gracious to me as I'mconsidering running for council
in Brookville and you've beenvery motivating to me and
(31:40):
pushing me towards that, which Ireally appreciate.
But I can tell you, you know,we've got open seats and it
doesn't seem anybody wants torun and we've got who would want
to?
Eric Olson (31:50):
Yeah, I mean I mean you know, there you go.
Rodney Creech (31:54):
I mean, let me get this right.
So I'm going to give up my life.
I'm going to make twenty fivedollars for a council meeting
and lose some of my friends.
Jared Ledford (32:03):
That's right, that's right, that's right.
I mean, you know, for me,
Rodney Creech (32:07):
I mean you know, for me I'll tell you this.
I mean I make 70 grand a yearin state rep.
Okay, I put 30,000 miles on mycar a year.
I'm never home.
I miss family events because Iput my district first and you
know people can say well, youshould be a family man.
I am a family man, yeah, but Ican tell you what a lot of
people don't sacrifice to servethe public and I've chosen to do
(32:30):
that.
I love my job.
You have to make sacrifices andI think you know.
I tell people.
You know we have three farmersin the Ohio House.
You know our country wasfounded upon Christian farmers.
Doesn't matter if you like itor not, that's just the facts.
And today, if you look at theOhio State Legislature, we have
three farmers in the Ohio House.
We have no farmers in theSenate and one of the big jokes
(32:52):
is why don't we have any farmersat the Ohio house?
And my joke is farmers aresmart enough not to do it.
I just didn't, you know.
I just I'm just.
You know I didn't.
I took the bait and it's thebest thing I've ever done.
I love it.
You know I live for my district.
I really do.
Jared Ledford (33:06):
I can vouch for you.
My friend and I can tell you weare beyond appreciative.
We'll have you back on as youare rolling down the road and
helping the people in yourdistrict.
But, man, I can tell you,Rodney, it has been a real, real
pleasure to have you on thepodcast.
Eric Olson (33:22):
Eric, you got anything as we part out for this
week.
Brother, it's a pleasurehanging with you.
You are one of the most, if notthe most, charismatic farmers.
You couldn't even not that youcan tell a farmer, but you
couldn't tell if you're a farmeror not.
But it's, it's, it's nicebecause you kind of you're a rep
first, your family, you're, allthese things you can't tell.
(33:43):
So you're, you are, uh, you'rea beautiful mix of things.
Rodney Creech (33:46):
so, man, I'm blessed, I'll tell you.
I mean, it's just uh, I gottatell you, though, and you guys
didn't ask, but I got to tellyou this you know, the number
one question I get is why didyou get into politics?
Number one question I don'tcare, I was on a podcast last
week and number and I got totell you this when I live.
(34:06):
I'm a fourth generation farmer.
My grandpa lived in this house.
He moved in this house when hewas seven years old and when he
died he still lived in thishouse and my grandfather was a
township trustee.
And the only reason that I'minto politics is because my
grandfather was a trustee and Igot to watch him serve people
and you know.
So I'm really carrying on thefamily tradition.
(34:29):
I don't think people were bornto serve.
I think they have to learn toserve and, thank God, I had
great leadership from my familyto always put others first.
And you know, and there's a lotof great people out here in the
state.
I mean, when you look at thelegislature, the House and the
Senate, these people love it.
I may disagree with them on100% of everything, but at the
(34:50):
end of the day, they love theirdistrict as much as I love mine
and they're there to representtheir district just as I am.
That's the way I look at it.
I wish we could get youngerpeople in politics.
I wish we could get more peopleengaged in politics, but, like
I said before, who wants to doit?
It's just a tough sport.
It's a tough sport.
Jared Ledford (35:11):
When they're coming at you from all sides.
Man, nothing's off limits.
They can say anything they wantand get away with it.
And I can tell you, if you wantthe truth, come get it from
Rodney.
He'll give it to you straightevery time.
He's giving it to me straighteven when it hurts, and I really
appreciate it.
(35:31):
I really appreciate that.
But I mean to be fair.
You take it.
Rodney Creech (35:37):
You take the feedback.
Jared Ledford (35:39):
You know what I mean, and in a respectful way.
I think that I earned yourrespect because I'm respectful.
Right you know that's thebiggest thing.
I think you meet that you willtreat somebody how they treat
you.
I think you meet.
You meet that you will treatsomebody how they treat you, and
I can tell you I have enjoyedmy time with you, Rodney, and
I've enjoyed this very much, andwe'll get together for
breakfast or something soon, I'msure.
Rodney Creech (36:00):
Let's do that.
And the one thing, the onemessage I would like to send
before we get anything you wantis you know, remember, your
elected officials work for youand I think a lot of times, you
know, I remember when I was alittle township trustee and I
would see our congressman, I'mlike holy cow, that's our US
congressman.
What does that suit cost?
You know well.
(36:21):
Guess what my suits cost?
The same as everybody else's.
And you know I think we comeacross.
Sometimes I wear polo shirts, Iwear a hat anytime I can.
I'm a farmer, I wear hats.
I don't dress up, I don't actfancy.
Be sure and reach out to thosepeople that are elected.
Be sure and reach out to thoseschool board members.
(36:46):
If you're not happy with aschool issue, reach out to that
school board member.
If you're not happy with avillage or city issue, if you're
not happy with a state issue, Igive my phone number to
everybody with a state issue.
I give my phone number toeverybody.
Everybody has my cell phonenumber and you know, reach out
to us, because you know I havemade decisions based on input
for my constituents.
I've changed my votes becauseof constituent input.
So please know that yourelected officials work for you
and if they don't think they do,two options you can remind them
(37:09):
or run against them and youknow.
But I think we've got toremember that we work for the
people and the people need toremind us that.
Jared Ledford (37:16):
Yeah, yeah, hold your elected officials
accountable.
Rodney, I appreciate you man.
He's the Ohio StateRepresentative, district 40.
Rodney Creech he's running forstate senate.
We are finishing up on thisepisode.
I'm going to give a quickshout-out to our team over at
VersaBend.
Today's episode of the SteelKings podcast is brought to you
by the team over at Cold SpringEnterprises.
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We are going to wrap up thisepisode of the steel Kings
podcast.
I'm Jared, he's Eric.
We are the steel Kings withRodney.
We will see you guys next weekfor another episode and we
(38:23):
appreciate you guys.
Talk to you soon.
Eric Olson (38:26):
Peace out, go America and go red Go.
Jared Ledford (38:29):
America and go Reds.
Yeah, go Reds.
Talk at you later, guys, goReds.
OUTRO (38:35):
Before you go, the J Money team wants to thank you
for listening to today's SteelKings podcast.
Remember, money is king and ifyou need a financing option on
your portable wood sheds orsteel buildings, we are here to
help.
Just check us out at jmoneyllc.
com for more information anddon't forget to catch the next
episode of the Steel Kingspodcast and have a great day.
Hey, this is Joel Oney at J Money in the heart of the
Buckeye State, and I want topersonally welcome you to
today's episode of the SteelKings podcast with my good
friends Jared Ledford and EricOlson, better known as the Steel
Kings.
Be sure to check out jmoneyllc.
com for financing solutions foryour buildings.
(00:21):
And now let's get back to theSteel Kings podcast for your
buildings.
And now let's get back to theSteel Kings podcast.
Jared Ledford (00:31):
Hey, what's up, guys?
This is Jared, and over thereis my best friend, Eric, and we
are the Steel Kings coming atyou with another episode this
week of the Steel Kings podcast.
Eric, what's up, man?
How are you?
Eric Olson (00:38):
What's up, brother?
Happy July 7th.
We have wrapped up the funnestweekend of the year.
Jared Ledford (00:46):
Yes, sir.
Eric Olson (00:47):
Hottest weekend of the year, yeah.
Jared Ledford (00:49):
Hopefully you guys had a happy and safe 4th of
July, enjoyed fireworks withyour family and friends.
We just got off a podcast withour friend Rodney Creech, who is
the Ohio State Representativefor District 40.
And we were having, you know,God bless him for hanging out
with us.
We were having some technicaldifficulties with our, with our
feed and everything else, sowe're jumping back in here to
(01:10):
shoot a quick intro and justtalk about our week.
Um, hope you guys are doingwell.
Um, did you have anything goingon, man?
Did you do anything fun overthe fourth of July?
And we talked about that on thelast episode what we might be
getting into what you end updoing
Eric Olson (01:25):
Shout- out Hamilton, which is a huge city in Ohio,
mind you, I think nobody reallythinks that Hamilton's big city.
But Hamilton is a big city.
Um, they've got a quitedowntown park area.
Um, they had a.
They had a huge Julycelebration, had live music,
there was an ACDC Guns N' Rosescover band that played and there
(01:50):
was a ton.
There was thousands of peopledown there put on a big light.
So, to the town of Hamilton.
Man, they put on a good show.
The police presence was good.
There wasn't any major issues.
I saw man good stuff.
Jared Ledford (02:04):
Good.
Eric Olson (02:04):
So yeah.
Jared Ledford (02:06):
What about you?
I worked on the communitypicnic book.
Um, I grinded, you know, likenormal, I sat outside with the
girls for a short period of time.
Um, I'm just not a big fireworkguy.
I think I said that before.
I've said it a couple of timesFireworks are just not my thing.
Uh, I just never got into them,um, but the girls love them.
I wanted to encourage that.
(02:27):
There was a nice littlefirework display at the end of
our street, so luckily we didn'thave to go anywhere to see that
.
Uh, it was literally right upin our faces.
I was sitting there with myfire extinguisher ready,
thinking don't hit my house withthe fireworks.
That was what I was.
I'm that guy, I'm that.
Hey, shoot them off, just don'tshoot them off towards my house
.
Yeah, yeah, I'm just.
(02:49):
There's this one video wherethey're in the driveway and all
these people are like shootingoff fireworks and they just like
explode all over these people.
Eric Olson (02:57):
Yeah, that one.
Jared Ledford (02:59):
Right, right.
Eric Olson (03:00):
That one was.
Jared Ledford (03:02):
Yeah, about.
Eric Olson (03:04):
Having fun.
Now I'm calling home insuranceMaking Calling the 911.
Jared Ledford (03:10):
Calling dispatch or something.
But yeah, we're going to sharewith you guys our interview with
Rodney.
We're going to.
We're going to piece thistogether as best we can on our
side and maybe the team over atShed Geek Podcast will make it
look clean and neat andorganized for you guys.
As always, the Steel KingsPodcast is brought to you by our
studio sponsor, the guys overat J Money.
If you're building or sellinganything from metal buildings
(03:31):
and sheds to doors, windows orpools, j Money helps you,
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Big shout out to the team overthere, Joel and those guys.
(03:52):
They're doing a great job.
We are going to go ahead andshare with you our interview
with State Rep Rodney Creech andwe will see you guys next week
for another episode of the SteelKings podcast.
In the meantime, I'm Jared andhe's Eric.
Hang out and watch herinterview with Rodney and we'll
talk to you guys soon.
Peace out the technical fiascos.
(04:14):
This morning the steel Kingsare struggling with our virtual
backgrounds and stream yard, butwe are super happy to have you
with us, man.
Eric, jump in here, man.
How are you in here, man?
Eric Olson (04:25):
How are you doing today?
I'm not doing too bad.
It's so hot outside.
Jared Ledford (04:31):
It is.
Eric Olson (04:32):
I went to Monday morning prayer at 6 am and it
was too hot.
I was in a sanctuary, and theydidn't have the AC on and I was
like, oh my gosh.
Then I went to the gym.
Gym was hot.
Now I'm in my living room hot,you know.
It's a good day to stay insideand keep the door shut and crank
up that ac to about 68 find afan.
Jared Ledford (04:53):
Find a fan and find some ac I bought a.
Eric Olson (04:56):
You know, you know, uh, I gotta show you guys, I got
a little portable fan, it'sright well fair enough man real
talk we uh, we were talkingabout the 4th of July.
Jared Ledford (05:08):
Last week we talked about the movie the
sandlot.
We talked about what me anderic are going to do on our July
4th.
So, you're catching this acouple weeks after the 4th.
So, we hope you had a happy andsafe one with your families.
But I thought who better tointerview than a person who is
representative of our state,somebody who's out doing the
work every day for us?
(05:29):
Rodney, introduce yourself tothe, to the listeners and the
viewers.
We're super happy andprivileged to have you here with
us, man.
Rodney Creech (05:37):
Well, thank you so much for the invite.
You know, Rodney Creech, I'm inmy third term as a state
representative here in the stateof Ohio and previously served
as a county commissioner andtownship trustee in my area and
I just have a great passion forserving the people that I
represent, but in the real worldI'm a farmer and a business
owner.
(05:58):
A lot of times people look at meas a politician, but I'm a
fourth- generation grain farmerand I'm celebrating 20 years on
a local business.
And so, politics even though Ido it full-time because it's a
full-time job it's not mylivelihood.
I'm not a lifetime politician.
I can exit the game at any timeand go back into the real world
(06:20):
, and it's a great position tobe in.
Jared Ledford (06:26):
Well, I can tell you and I just want to preface
this with the Steel Kings stayneutral.
We're not a political party, wedon't.
We don't draw our lines on thatside of the fence.
But I can tell you from apersonal perspective.
You are my state rep.
We've had breakfast a couple oftimes.
We don't agree on a lot, right,but at the same time, you have
taken your time to absolutelyget to know me, hear my opinions
(06:49):
, hear me out and same with you.
You earned my vote, and I cantell you I love the fact that
you're doing the podcast with us.
I really appreciate it.
I want to give you a platformup front.
This guy is running for stateSenate.
This is a guy who wants tocontinue down the path, and you
heard it straight from his mouth.
He is not a lifetime politician.
I can avouch for his family'shard work over the years.
(07:12):
He lives 10 minutes from me,and he's built a thriving small
business that is serving a largearea of our area as well, so we
are super happy to have youhere.
Rodney, I'm going to jump rightin, man.
One of the things that we havebeen dealing with on our side of
the fence has been steeltariffs and I know we talked
(07:34):
about it from a from a stateperspective.
Not much going on there.
This is more of a federal issue.
But you know what are youseeing, hearing from
constituents?
I mean just you're out andabout all the time.
You know what are you seeinghearing from constituents.
I mean just you're out andabout all the time.
You know what are you seeingand hearing.
How is it affecting and what doyou think the long-term
ramifications are for steeltariffs?
Rodney Creech (07:52):
Well, you know, I think anytime there's changes
in administration, there'sconcerns on one side or the
other, or maybe both sides, andyou know tariffs have been
taking up the news, especiallyback at the beginning of the
year, the concerns of tariffs,and I think what we're seeing is
, you know, those concerns,although they were valid and
there was some short-term pain,possibly some mid-term pain for
(08:14):
long-term gain, I think we'rethere, and you know I just was
watching the news the othernight and some of the biggest
opponents of tariffs arestarting to come around and say
you know what this might workout.
And you know we have companiesthat have moved out of the
United States that are comingback.
Being heavily involved in theagriculture industry that's
where I spend the majority of mytime there are companies that
(08:36):
are moving back to the UnitedStates.
I know John Deere just made ahuge commitment several weeks
ago and so you know,unfortunately, for every action
there's a reaction and I thinkthere were some bad decisions
that were made in the past andhopefully these tariffs will
help correct some of that.
But my heart goes out to allthe businesses that have
(08:59):
unknowns, the businesses in mydistrict.
They're having to tighten theirbelts because they don't know
what the future holds.
But I think long term they'regoing to be doing well.
Jared Ledford (09:05):
Yeah, yeah, we're here.
I mean, you know we're abusiness in your district, I
mean we can speak fromexperience and we know it
firsthand.
You know, eric and I talkedabout it at length, probably
three, four episodes ago.
We really dug in deep on steeltariffs.
We're of the opinion that longterm, this is something that's
(09:26):
going to be positive for themarket, right, you know?
I think right now, you know,eric took the stance of the more
positive, I took the stance ofthe more negative and we just
kind of shot at the hip, lookedat some news reports and things
like that.
But I think from ourperspective, you know, we really
needed a self-correction, notjust from a supply chain
standpoint but also from apricing standpoint.
We sell steel buildings,prefabricated steel buildings,
(09:48):
nationwide.
That's a market that hadn'tseen a price increase, eric.
What do you think, man, thelast five years I mean even
during COVID it dropped.
Eric Olson (10:08):
So, I would say this is probably the first time I
would say, as owning DaytonBarns, so six, seven years now,
like first time I would say as aas owning Dayton Barns.
So, six, seven years now, likefirst time that that it's been
talked about as much.
Now our sales last month werelike insane.
OUTRO (10:14):
Well they're good, yeah, they were strong um, a lot of
comments there.
Eric Olson (10:18):
I think that, like tariff scare, if you're if
you're buying a 30 000 product,you're buying a 30 000 product.
Whether I you're buying a$30,000 product, whether I think
the price is $34K or $28K, Ithink really what this is
affecting that's the smallercarport people that they're
negotiating.
Okay, do I need to spend thatthis year?
Maybe we could do this nextyear or the year after.
(10:38):
So it's been unique navigatingit and discussing it with you
and others too.
Jared Ledford (10:45):
I think it's tough.
I think it's tough when themarket, when that initial
announcement comes out thatsteel prices are going up, I
think that everybody immediatelysays, oh well, I saw on the
news that steel is going up 50%,I'm not going to buy today.
But once they have time to notjust absorb the information
that's in front of them butreally see that oh okay, pricing
(11:07):
hasn't gone up 50% across theboard, as they start to
understand the informationthat's coming at them, they see
the prices are the same thatthey were a few months ago.
They start to ease.
I do think that there is Rodneyjump in here anytime.
I mean you talk to more peoplethan us.
We're strictly focused on ourside of the business, that is,
(11:29):
tubular steel, sheet metal,things like that.
We're hearing from somesuppliers and manufacturers at
this point that they areexpecting it to tick up in price
, but most of the manufacturerswe work with are not outsourcing
the steel to begin with.
Rodney, you can probably giveus the lay of the land.
When they talk about steeltariffs, they're not talking
about stuff that's made here inthe States.
(11:51):
They're talking about stuffthat's brought in from other
places.
So maybe give us your overviewon that.
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(12:59):
Well, we finally got a shed.
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Rodney Creech (13:54):
Yeah, I mean, I'm a buy local guy.
You know, when I go out and eat, I don't want to go to the big
box store, I want to support momand pop shops.
And you know, when I'm out, youknow, as a business owner, it's
really changed my mindset, Ithink before I owned a business,
I wanted the cheapest I couldget, and you know I was always
trying to save money.
Well, when you become abusiness owner, you're like you
know what?
I want to support those smallbusinesses because I need them
(14:15):
to support me.
And I think you know, withtariffs it's the same thing.
You know everybody's wantingcheap supplies.
We all want the cheapestsupplies we can purchase so we
can pass that on to ourcustomers and be competitive.
And you know, and I think thenew administration says, you
know, America first, and I'm abig supporter of America first,
(14:37):
and we've not been that way fora long time, and so we may have
to pay a little extra forwhatever we're purchasing, but
we're supporting local and thoselocal dollars are going to go
of the United States and I don'tbelieve that the United States
should be taking care of anyother country.
(15:05):
We need to take care of our own, and I think tariffs is a fix
for that.
Again, I remember the presidentsaying there's going to be a
lot of pain for this gain and Ithink we've seen some of that,
but I think it's subsiding and Ithink that things are working
out pretty well.
Yeah, I think that things areworking out pretty well.
Jared Ledford (15:19):
Yeah, I think anything worth doing is worth
doing, right?
Yeah, and there's going to be alittle bit of a bumpiness when
you really get started doingsomething that's worthwhile, and
I think that this is somethingthat's needed to happen for some
time.
And really, as the rubber hitsthe road, as we start to get
movement, I'm not seeingpersonally the kind of disaster
(15:44):
that I thought I would, and Ericknows this.
I mean, I was not feeling realgood.
I mean I just wasn't A couplemonths ago.
I was like, man, this is reallyconcerning me.
Rodney Creech (15:54):
Well, keep in mind, politics is fear.
Jared Ledford (15:56):
And it depends on what side and what's what.
Rodney Creech (15:59):
And politics is fear, and I hate that, because
why can't we just be honest withthe people and say, hey, this
might or might not work, but youknow what?
Let's buckle up.
And I think what we're findingis the fear isn't working
anymore, and people are notputting as much faith in the
news.
They're watching podcastsbecause it's normal.
Americans talking to the people.
Jared Ledford (16:18):
Yeah, I've been really surprised oh, I couldn't
agree more with that.
I've been really oh, I couldn'tagree more with that.
I've been really surprised bythat.
You know I.
You know me, Rodney, I mean youknow me well enough to know I'm
a pretty traditional mediaconsumer.
You know I watch a lot.
I watch the nightly news.
I try to watch, you know I tryto watch a good mix at night too
.
And I can tell you, man, we'reknee deep in this.
(16:44):
Eric and I deal with this everysingle day.
We're getting messages frommanufacturers, from partners,
who are saying hey, keep an eyeout.
We don't know if we're going tobe able to honor discounts much
longer.
Right now, they're extendingdiscounts.
Eric Olson (16:53):
Yeah, our suppliers extended them today.
Jared Ledford (16:55):
Yeah, I think that they are feeling this is
July 7th, to mind you.
So I think we are seeing sortof a stabilization, right.
When the market gets bad news,the market reacts accordingly
and then the market always seemsto correct itself once that
news is absorbed and peoplestart to put places, you know,
put the pieces in place right.
(17:16):
That's why I was really glad,you know, not just coming off
July 4th to have Rodney here toreassure us.
He's seeing more people, he'stalking to more people as Eric
and I come around.
I think things are gettingbetter.
Is that what you're seeing?
Eric Olson (17:32):
For the past 30 days , I would say we've had a
higher-end sales month.
I think the optimism is good.
I want to touch on something.
I said the new, what the newssays, whoever that is.
I think people are getting realcontent.
Like they could say, oh, 50tariff.
(17:53):
But like if you just go to thestore for six months straight
and nothing budges, you'rereally not.
If you're just reading somesentence and you have to get
over it, that maybe it's not asdevastating as what was behind
the reason to write it, the waythat it was written.
So, I don't see shyness.
In fact, I see more peopledoing what you're doing, Ronnie,
(18:14):
which is going local, like,there's all these like, for
example, I'm just gonnaadvertise some beef tallow
lotion, some local business beeftallow lotion, and I'm, you
know, to me I'm like, I'mintrigued by these people are
like I don't want to make hourlyanymore, I just want to do my
own thing and um, and I buy rawmilk, I buy farm fresh eggs,
(18:38):
whatever the thing I bought thismorning was, and you know, I
find myself way more interestedin in like, instead of buying
lace potato chips, I boughtthese Massa.
I've thrown a shout out formassive tortilla chips.
It's just corn and uh and oiland it's always two ingredients
and uh it's a local businessthat uh sell on Amazon and so I
(19:00):
think people are more willing tobuy local products and spend
more money because they know theperson behind it.
They can call, talk to discussit, give them their feedback and
there is some value with that.
I think it's kind of circlingback to that mom and pop vibe.
Jared Ledford (19:19):
Isn't that it's coming.
That's the goal of tariffs,right, Rodney that?
Rodney Creech (19:22):
is the goal America first man.
Jared Ledford (19:26):
We're speaking it into existence right now.
Rodney Creech (19:28):
Yeah, yeah.
Jared Ledford (19:29):
Yeah, I mean.
Rodney Creech (19:30):
think about it.
We used to have a lot of steelmanufacturers here and due to
tariffs and due to unfair trade,those businesses closed up shop
.
What the Trump administrationis saying is we're open for
business.
You fire your location up.
Let's stop supporting othercountries.
Let's put America first.
And I do believe I can tell youme all right, I'm an American
(19:51):
flag guy through and through.
I wear it every day, I thinkabout it every day, I talk about
it every day.
And if somebody comes to me andsays we use all American-made
products and the other companydoesn't, more than likely I'm
going to support American-made,and I think we're to that point.
Five, ten years ago maybe notthe case.
I think a lot of people.
It doesn't matter whatpolitical party they are.
(20:13):
They want to put their countryfirst, or I hope they do.
Eric Olson (20:17):
Yeah, you know there's a.
I live in Germantown in one ofthe neighborhoods here and, and
there is a kid; and I broughtthis up with Jared before.
There was a kid who is anentrepreneur.
He has a couple of houses downand he and he keeps setting up
tables on his driveway to sellstuff.
He's like maybe 10 years old orsomething.
So, the other day he hadbracelets that he was making,
(20:38):
and he was selling them for likefive or ten bucks a piece.
Well, he second, he doubleddown on his business and so
simultaneously now he has abracelet table, but now he's got
a lemonade table too, so hewants you to get a drink.
So, even out of.
I know it seems like a joke thatI'm saying this, but like it's
true, the guy he's like you know, maybe I need to offer this.
(20:59):
On top of this, I need to addthis and that's what kids need,
like that's what people need tothink.
Like you create your own thing,you know, and then adjust it's
hot, offer lemonade.
I mean, it's really like thatsimple and don't outsource the
lemonade.
Yeah, don't outsource thelemonade.
Make it in your kitchen andsell it on the street.
Jared Ledford (21:21):
That's what we're doing, Eric, right, I mean the
steel tariffs.
So, I don't think Rodney knowsthis, maybe he does.
The steel tariffs forced us tomake an executive decision at
our business level to reallystart a second business, and
it's something that we've beendoing for some time.
We've been brokering all kindsof structures nationwide for
years now, but we're finallygoing to dive into pole barns,
(21:43):
and pole barns have reallybecome, you know, from an
agricultural standpoint.
So, speaking to a farmer,fourth generation farmer, you
know pole barns tend to be thereally the bee's knees when it
comes to ag projects.
They tend to do better withlivestock.
They tend to do better justacross the board.
But that's something that, ifnothing else, was accomplished
(22:06):
through the tariffs for DaytonBarnes it was able to see us go
and expand off into starting anew business, starting a new
pole barn business and reallymaking that a formal kind of a
thing.
So, it motivated us.
I mean, I'm sure it'smotivating you out there that
are doing new things, and that'sreally what it was designed to
do.
It was to really get usmotivated to do something.
(22:29):
Like Rodney said America first,start a new business, get out
and do something new.
Eric, you said that too.
It really excites me, man.
I mean honestly like I'mfeeling a lot better about it
than I was a few months ago.
Yeah, there's no tariffs onwood, it just grows.
(22:50):
Well, there's no tariffs onAmerican steel, no pun intended.
Yeah, you know, I mean that's.
That's the thing that I think alot of people have to really
kind of understand about thisprocess.
The people who are going tostruggle, the people who are
going to have issues, are theones who are getting Chinese,
Taiwan, all of the Mexican steel.
I mean all that stuff is goingto be imported and really going
(23:11):
to be increasing in price.
So, when you see these kind ofeverybody sees them in our
industry.
Right, these metal buildingcompanies that pop up with these
crazy prices and they're comingout of every which direction,
work locally.
If you are a metal buildingdealer and you're in North
(23:32):
Carolina, South Carolina, findthe right manufacturer to
partner with, find the rightteam to work alongside, make
sure that they're sourcingreally good American-made steel
and their pricing is going tostay probably flat.
The only increase in price isgoing to be due to demand and
it's not going to be 50%.
I can tell you that right nowthey're going to produce at a
(23:52):
level that they need to.
I think most of theseproduction facilities were
probably running below what theywere maximum capacity for
Rodney.
I don't know if you can addanything to that.
I mean, that's kind of the waythat we're seeing it is.
It's a supply and demand kindof a thing.
With American goods the priceis probably going to go up
marginally and that's justsomething to be expected.
(24:13):
Yeah, but not 50%.
Rodney Creech (24:16):
We're not seeing that?
Yeah, and again I think we goback to the fear factor.
I mean a know a couple weeksago when we had the Israel-Iran
happen everybody said go getyour fuel, guys.
They're going to be paying$4.50 for fuel and I saw today
for $2.55.
They sure did, and so I thinkit is you know.
Turn your news off.
Buy local, enjoy life yeah.
Jared Ledford (24:39):
That's all there is to it.
Yeah, I think it was.
What was it?
A Saturday, I was planning ondoing something with the kids
and they're like, yeah, don't gooutside, there's going to be
riots, there's going to be fires, there's going to be all this
stuff going on.
I was like, yeah, I'm justgoing to go to Young's Dairy.
Yeah, it's not going to be ariot there.
Matter of fact, we had a goodtime, and the weather was nice
(25:04):
no fires, no emergency.
Um, you know, God blesssouthwest Iowa man.
Yeah, you know, thank, thankGod, thank God for people like
you, Rodney, that got us throughsomething like COVID, where
they locked us in our houses.
And I know I'm getting a littlepolitical, but I can tell you
it was people like you thatfought alongside and said, hey,
you know, enough's enough, weneed to get back out.
And you know, that's the kindof stuff I'm fearful of as
(25:25):
someone who does watch the newsand does have a little bit of.
You know, I know to which Ispeak on a lot of subjects Jack
of all trade, master of none,right, but I can tell you I will
never be locked up in my houseagain.
That is never going to happento me.
Rodney Creech (25:41):
That will never happen again.
Jared Ledford (25:44):
I love where we live and I love the help that
people like you, Rodney, aregiving us man.
Rodney Creech (25:50):
Well, in the future, the governor has 30 days
.
We passed Senate Bill 22.
In fact, we had to do a vetooverride on Senate Bill 22.
And so, the governor will have30 days to make some decisions
and after that the legislaturetakes over.
And I can promise you I don'tmake a lot of promises, but I
can promise you that that'llnever happen again, because my
people don't want it and I willvote for my people and if they
(26:13):
want to make health decisionsfor themselves, that's what
they're going to do.
The government's not going todo it again.
Jared Ledford (26:17):
Yep and decisions that you make got you.
I think you won 70-30 in yourdistrict.
I mean, you are overwhelminglypopular in your district.
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Rodney Creech (28:21):
No Transcript.
.
.
.
.
and it's just theway I operate.
Jared Ledford (28:23):
Yeah, we welcome that man.
We welcome that.
I can tell you it's been a realpleasure, Rodney.
Been, an absolute pleasure tohave you on here with us.
Man, tell us a little bit as we, as we wrap up for today.
Tell us a little bit about whatyou're doing in the future.
Tell us a little bit about nextsteps, where they can check you
(28:44):
out, anything you got coming upthat you want to share with us.
Rodney Creech (28:50):
Yeah, I mean you know we had an exciting
announcement a few weeks ago.
You know I was asked to run forthe Senate about 18 months ago
and keep in mind politics thereis some planning that goes into
it, it's not something that justpops little bit.
You know I've always been a bigterm limit guy and I still am.
But in the state of Ohio wehave eight-year term limits in
(29:14):
the House and eight-year termsin the Senate, and what I can
tell you is I'm in my fifth yearas a state rep, and the first
four years you figure out wherethe bathrooms are, you figure
out personalities, you figureout how the place works.
So, you know I'm halfwaythrough my house career, if you
will, and I've just learned howto do my job and I still got a
long way to go.
And so, you know term limitshave changed everything.
(29:36):
I feel like you know we shouldprobably have 12-year term
limits.
The term limits are probably alittle too short.
You spend half your careerlearning how to do it and the
last half getting to do it.
So, you know I am in my fifthyear, got asked to run for the
Senate, talked to my wife aboutit.
You know people don'tunderstand the life that we live
.
You give up a lot.
(29:56):
You know my dad.
I farm with my dad.
Farming is my number onepassion in life.
A lot of times dad's homefarming by himself and I'm in
Columbus or out across thedistrict or out across the state
with engagements.
Long story short, you know Ilove it and when I got asked to
run for the Senate, talked to mywife.
(30:16):
She said yes, I committed to itand I've been working the
Senate district for about thelast 19 months and so really
excited.
And you know I just want to takewhat I'm doing in the state rep
district.
A Senate district is threestate rep districts, so a state
rep district represents 120,000people and the Senate district's
around 360,000 people.
You know I just wanna take whatI'm doing and affect two other
(30:37):
districts and represent thepeople that elect me.
It's not that complicated.
Listen at home and take thebeliefs, ideas and thoughts that
you hear from the majority.
You know I love it when I'm onsocial media and I type in and
they say you don't represent me.
Well, I represent the majorityand if you think that men should
(31:02):
be playing in women's sports, Iprobably don't represent you.
You're right, and so you know Igo up there and my theory is
I'm going to go up there, I'mgoing to vote my heart, I'm
going to do what's right, andthe day that the people don't
like me, I get a farm full timeand I consider that a huge win.
Jared Ledford (31:19):
Yeah, and I can tell you, to echo off, we don't
have people that want to runthat have any kind of common
sense about what they want to dowith if they win.
You know I, Rodney, you've beensuper, super helpful and
gracious to me as I'mconsidering running for council
in Brookville and you've beenvery motivating to me and
(31:40):
pushing me towards that, which Ireally appreciate.
But I can tell you, you know,we've got open seats and it
doesn't seem anybody wants torun and we've got who would want
to?
Eric Olson (31:50):
Yeah, I mean I mean you know, there you go.
Rodney Creech (31:54):
I mean, let me get this right.
So I'm going to give up my life.
I'm going to make twenty fivedollars for a council meeting
and lose some of my friends.
Jared Ledford (32:03):
That's right, that's right, that's right.
I mean, you know, for me,
Rodney Creech (32:07):
I mean you know, for me I'll tell you this.
I mean I make 70 grand a yearin state rep.
Okay, I put 30,000 miles on mycar a year.
I'm never home.
I miss family events because Iput my district first and you
know people can say well, youshould be a family man.
I am a family man, yeah, but Ican tell you what a lot of
people don't sacrifice to servethe public and I've chosen to do
(32:30):
that.
I love my job.
You have to make sacrifices andI think you know.
I tell people.
You know we have three farmersin the Ohio House.
You know our country wasfounded upon Christian farmers.
Doesn't matter if you like itor not, that's just the facts.
And today, if you look at theOhio State Legislature, we have
three farmers in the Ohio House.
We have no farmers in theSenate and one of the big jokes
(32:52):
is why don't we have any farmersat the Ohio house?
And my joke is farmers aresmart enough not to do it.
I just didn't, you know.
I just I'm just.
You know I didn't.
I took the bait and it's thebest thing I've ever done.
I love it.
You know I live for my district.
I really do.
Jared Ledford (33:06):
I can vouch for you.
My friend and I can tell you weare beyond appreciative.
We'll have you back on as youare rolling down the road and
helping the people in yourdistrict.
But, man, I can tell you,Rodney, it has been a real, real
pleasure to have you on thepodcast.
Eric Olson (33:22):
Eric, you got anything as we part out for this
week.
Brother, it's a pleasurehanging with you.
You are one of the most, if notthe most, charismatic farmers.
You couldn't even not that youcan tell a farmer, but you
couldn't tell if you're a farmeror not.
But it's, it's, it's nicebecause you kind of you're a rep
first, your family, you're, allthese things you can't tell.
(33:43):
So you're, you are, uh, you'rea beautiful mix of things.
Rodney Creech (33:46):
so, man, I'm blessed, I'll tell you.
I mean, it's just uh, I gottatell you, though, and you guys
didn't ask, but I got to tellyou this you know, the number
one question I get is why didyou get into politics?
Number one question I don'tcare, I was on a podcast last
week and number and I got totell you this when I live.
(34:06):
I'm a fourth generation farmer.
My grandpa lived in this house.
He moved in this house when hewas seven years old and when he
died he still lived in thishouse and my grandfather was a
township trustee.
And the only reason that I'minto politics is because my
grandfather was a trustee and Igot to watch him serve people
and you know.
So I'm really carrying on thefamily tradition.
(34:29):
I don't think people were bornto serve.
I think they have to learn toserve and, thank God, I had
great leadership from my familyto always put others first.
And you know, and there's a lotof great people out here in the
state.
I mean, when you look at thelegislature, the House and the
Senate, these people love it.
I may disagree with them on100% of everything, but at the
(34:50):
end of the day, they love theirdistrict as much as I love mine
and they're there to representtheir district just as I am.
That's the way I look at it.
I wish we could get youngerpeople in politics.
I wish we could get more peopleengaged in politics, but, like
I said before, who wants to doit?
It's just a tough sport.
It's a tough sport.
Jared Ledford (35:11):
When they're coming at you from all sides.
Man, nothing's off limits.
They can say anything they wantand get away with it.
And I can tell you, if you wantthe truth, come get it from
Rodney.
He'll give it to you straightevery time.
He's giving it to me straighteven when it hurts, and I really
appreciate it.
(35:31):
I really appreciate that.
But I mean to be fair.
You take it.
Rodney Creech (35:37):
You take the feedback.
Jared Ledford (35:39):
You know what I mean, and in a respectful way.
I think that I earned yourrespect because I'm respectful.
Right you know that's thebiggest thing.
I think you meet that you willtreat somebody how they treat
you.
I think you meet.
You meet that you will treatsomebody how they treat you, and
I can tell you I have enjoyedmy time with you, Rodney, and
I've enjoyed this very much, andwe'll get together for
breakfast or something soon, I'msure.
Rodney Creech (36:00):
Let's do that.
And the one thing, the onemessage I would like to send
before we get anything you wantis you know, remember, your
elected officials work for youand I think a lot of times, you
know, I remember when I was alittle township trustee and I
would see our congressman, I'mlike holy cow, that's our US
congressman.
What does that suit cost?
You know well.
(36:21):
Guess what my suits cost?
The same as everybody else's.
And you know I think we comeacross.
Sometimes I wear polo shirts, Iwear a hat anytime I can.
I'm a farmer, I wear hats.
I don't dress up, I don't actfancy.
Be sure and reach out to thosepeople that are elected.
Be sure and reach out to thoseschool board members.
(36:46):
If you're not happy with aschool issue, reach out to that
school board member.
If you're not happy with avillage or city issue, if you're
not happy with a state issue, Igive my phone number to
everybody with a state issue.
I give my phone number toeverybody.
Everybody has my cell phonenumber and you know, reach out
to us, because you know I havemade decisions based on input
for my constituents.
I've changed my votes becauseof constituent input.
So please know that yourelected officials work for you
and if they don't think they do,two options you can remind them
(37:09):
or run against them and youknow.
But I think we've got toremember that we work for the
people and the people need toremind us that.
Jared Ledford (37:16):
Yeah, yeah, hold your elected officials
accountable.
Rodney, I appreciate you man.
He's the Ohio StateRepresentative, district 40.
Rodney Creech he's running forstate senate.
We are finishing up on thisepisode.
I'm going to give a quickshout-out to our team over at
VersaBend.
Today's episode of the SteelKings podcast is brought to you
by the team over at Cold SpringEnterprises.
(37:37):
They brought to you this greattool called the VersaBend.
This beast bends bows and threemoves, flat handles, multiple
tubing sizes and switchesbetween them in seconds.
No tools, no hassle.
Still that same price $19,500,with average shipping around
$600.
If you are in the state ofSouth Carolina, you do pay tax.
(38:00):
Everywhere else is tax-free.
Get ahead of the curve, visitcsecarport.
supply or call 864-446-3645.
Seriously, tell Wendell.
The Steel Kings sent you.
We are going to wrap up thisepisode of the steel Kings
podcast.
I'm Jared, he's Eric.
We are the steel Kings withRodney.
We will see you guys next weekfor another episode and we
(38:23):
appreciate you guys.
Talk to you soon.
Eric Olson (38:26):
Peace out, go America and go red Go.
Jared Ledford (38:29):
America and go Reds.
Yeah, go Reds.
Talk at you later, guys, goReds.
OUTRO (38:35):
Before you go, the J Money team wants to thank you
for listening to today's SteelKings podcast.
Remember, money is king and ifyou need a financing option on
your portable wood sheds orsteel buildings, we are here to
help.
Just check us out at jmoneyllc.
com for more information anddon't forget to catch the next
episode of the Steel Kingspodcast and have a great day.
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