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RAI President, Mark Christopherson, Interviewed During Congressman Broun’s Plant Tour

Congressman Broun toured the Commerce Road steel fabrication plant RAI Steel, talking to employees and promoting his proposal to eliminate corporate income and capital gains taxes and allow businesses to write off 100 percent of their equipment’s depreciation the year they buy it.

Mark Christopherson, president of RAI Steel and its sister company, industrial contractors Reineke Athens Inc., said lowering taxes and streamlining regulations are the best ways Congress could help his business.

The RAI plant, which opened last year, employs 25 people, Christopherson said. Customers include Lockheed, Caterpillar, General Mills and Mission Foods. He said he anticipates 40 percent growth this year as the economy improves.

Christopherson said he began planning the new plant in 2007, at the start of a recession, to take advantage of low interest rates and a pool of available workers.

“People think when the economy’s down, you can’t expand,” he said. “I’m telling you that’s the only way to do it.”