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Rossi Visits Business that Benefited from Stimulus Loan

2010 Election, Politics   October 29, 2010 at 9:18 am Josh Feit

Earlier this week, Dino Rossi made a campaign stop at SEFNCO Communications in Sumner. SEFNCO is a telecom infrastructure company that builds custom broadband, cable, and cellular communications networks. They have about 225 employees.

Rossi toured the headquarters on Tuesday afternoon, greeted employees, and then met with SEFNCO CEO Scott Nall about supporting small business, according to a press statement from SEFNCO.

One thing the press release didn’t mention is this: Public records show that SEFNCO got a $238,990 Small Business Administration loan in May as part of a loan program in President Obama’s stimulus bill. The SBA got $730 million in Obama stimulus dollars to help make loans to small businesses.

For the second time this campaign season, Rossi has inadvertently campaigned on the shop floor of a company that has directly benefited from an Obama-era policy that Rossi has railed against during the campaign. He has called the $787 billion stimulus package a failure, saying it hasn’t created jobs and it ballooned the deficit. (The Seattle Times fact checked Rossi’s claims about jobs last week and reported that the stimulus did create jobs.)

We have calls into SEFNCO.

Rossi spokeswoman Jennifer Morris says, “As Dino has said numerous times, if a project is worth doing, it’s worth doing in the main body of the budget.”

Last month, when Rossi campaigned at  Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, we reported that the Whidbey Island ship builder had gotten $800,000 in stimulus money, in part, thanks to the work that Rossi’s rival Sen. Patty Murray did as member of the senate’s marititme appropriations committee, Murray’s office says.




  • http://www.joeszilagyi.com/ Joe Szilagyi

    Clueless and incompetent. Hopefully a third loss will exile him forever back to the private realm.

  • http://pstransitoperators.wordpress.com/ Jeff Welch

    Dino Rossi is a fucking idiot.

  • Josh Feit

    And you’re comment is pretty idiotic too, Jeff. Come on.

  • Anonymous

    I agree with Joe Szilagyi on the whole, maybe he’ll go back to the private realm after another loss. I for one can’t see how he’s been taken seriously as a Senate Candidate, I mean the guy can’t even seem to do a look into the background of the businesses where he gives his anti-stimulus speeches. He expects a voter to assume he’ll be better able to look into the specifics of a bill? Not such a good precedent here.

  • Anonymous

    I agree with Joe Szilagyi on the whole, maybe he’ll go back to the private realm after another loss. I for one can’t see how he’s been taken seriously as a Senate Candidate, I mean the guy can’t even seem to do a look into the background of the businesses where he gives his anti-stimulus speeches. He expects a voter to assume he’ll be better able to look into the specifics of a bill? Not such a good precedent here.

  • http://pstransitoperators.wordpress.com/ Jeff Welch

    Sorry Josh. Just speaking from the heart. If you disagree – would love to hear about the grand intelligence that is Dino.

    Seems to me I just summarized your article in 6 words.

  • http://spifflines.blogspot.com/ John Bailo

    Hey, I saw Patty Murray visit a business that got no stimulus money or loans.

    Does that cancel it out?

  • JD

    It’s a complete non issue for a business person. Why should he not want to win votes there or sway the business leaders? Now if he went in the front door to the shop floor and starting mouthing off about how right he is then maybe.

    This type of reporting is too obamaesque enemies versus friends. There are some gray lines out there

  • Fgruben

    I would say the same about Patty Murray, but swearing in public is to childish to do.

  • JT

    Yeah, this is a ridiculous argument. Rossi can support a business, even if it did take part in a transaction related to the stimulus. That action doesn’t define the business.