Local News

GOP US Senate candidate Rogers tours Norway manufacturing facility

NORWAY -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers' "We Have a State to Save" bus tour made a stop Thursday at the Loadmaster refuse equipment manufacturing plant -- a low-key, friendly visit coming on the heels of his final debate with Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Since purchasing Loadmaster in 1992, David Brisson has steadily expanded a Norway facility that covers 25 acres and employs 110 workers. The company has the capacity for more growth but for a drawback, he said.

"We need people. We compete for talent," Brisson told Rogers, mentioning Iron Mountain manufacturers BOSS Snowplow and Systems Control.

Among the local officials joining the tour was state Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, who plugged the services of the Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District's Career and Technical Education Center in Kingsford in providing career paths for students. "We have a great tech center," he told Rogers.

The candidate, in turn, noted his father was a shop teacher who built their family home around them. Rogers is an Army veteran, former FBI street agent and former U.S. House Intelligence Committee chairman.

Iron Mountain Schools Superintendent Jerry Sardina joined the Loadmaster tour, explaining the school's plans for an industrial arts facility whose scope continues to widen. Iron Mountain Middle School is using a state grant to implement a curriculum that introduces students to manufacturing and engineering activities to build a pipeline into high school and tech center programs.

Rogers spent more than an hour at the 200,000-square-foot Loadmaster facility, reviewing manufacturing steps and greeting individual workers.

On the political side, Loadmaster has been prominent since company Vice President Andrew Brisson drove a decorated Loadmaster truck to a Donald Trump campaign rally in Green Bay, Wis., during the final days of the 2024 presidential campaign. Trump at one point climbed into the truck and fielded questions from reporters from the passenger seat.

The same white Loadmaster Legacy S was featured in the president's 2025 inaugural parade in Washington.

Rogers took time Thursday to further explain his differences with El-Sayed on healthcare -- a key domestic issue in a neck-and-neck contest that could determine partisan control of the Senate.

El-Sayed is a proponent of Medicare for All, guaranteeing automatic, single-payer health insurance for every American from birth until death. Supporters of the concept point to research from Yale University and others showing it would save both lives and money.

Rogers asserts Medicare for All would abolish private health insurance and damage existing Medicare for seniors. "It will mean less care and longer wait times," he said.

Rogers advocates for more transparency in pricing to offer comparison shopping for hospital care and insurance. "Make insurance companies compete," he said, adding companies should be forced to publicly report their denial rates and appeal outcomes.

As it stands, Rogers said, the Affordable Care Act is not working as promised, leading to restricted choices and higher costs.

The bus tour began Thursday morning in Marquette, stopped in Norway and then headed to Gladstone.

President Trump is scheduled to be in Michigan on Sunday for a rally with Republicans in Port Huron with just over a week until Election Day. Rogers has supported Trump's tariff strategy but recently called for an end to the trade war with Canada, according to Bridge Michigan.

Former President Barack Obama will rally with El-Sayed and other Michigan Democrats on Saturday in Detroit.

———

Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85226, or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.