US Representative Dusty Johnson Visits DSG

With the help of NAED’s advocacy in Government Affairs, U.S. Congressman Dusty Johnson (R-South Dakota), visited the DSG Sioux Falls location to tour the facility and discuss key topics with employee-owners.

Bud DeFlaviis, NAED’s Director of Government Relations, helped DSG set up the meeting by reaching out to the distributor about a branch visit.

“Bud was proactive, knowledgeable, and communicative as a resource at NAED. These are great attributes which, for member companies new to this, can make the often-intimidating concept of hosting an onsite congressional visit a seamless reality,” DSG told tED magazine in a release. DSG also pointed out that DeFlaviis checked in with the company frequently to make sure it had all the necessary resources for the visit.

This was Congressman Johnson’s second visit to a DSG location, having visited the Aberdeen location back in 2022 to learn more about the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

Thanks to DeFlaviis, DSG created a schedule of events for Johnson’s visit, which included a facility tour and a town hall meeting with employee-owners. The tour included visits with inside sales, outside sales, warehouse, quotations, operations, and administration. The town-hall meeting was open-ended, with all employee-owners encouraged to ask any questions to the congressman. That included questions on electrification and hiring in our supply chain.

If you want to set up a visit from your congressman or senator, contact NAED’s Director of Government Relations, Bud DeFlaviis, at bud@naed.org for assistance.