Charles City Plant Owners and Family Members All Endorsing Binkley in the Upcoming Caucus
CHARLES CITY, IOWA (Jan. 11, 2024)–Diversified Fastening Systems in Charles City, Iowa, has hosted an array of influential visitors, from Governor Kim Reynolds to Senator Chuck Grassley, but none have arrived with the kind of special connection that presidential candidate Ryan Binkley did during his recent plant tour.
That’s because the local Crawford family members who have been running the manufacturing company for decades are all caucusing for Binkley on Monday, after personally interacting with him for months through Morgan Bonwell, granddaughter of company founder, Dan Crawford.
“It was exciting. My family has gotten to know Ryan really well over the last year,” said Bonwell, Binkley’s Iowa state campaign director. “They’ve seen him and come to his events and even chatted with him on the phone while we’re riding in the car. He’s part of their family now.”
Bonwell’s uncles, Toby Crawford and Trevor Crawford, along with her aunt, Trisha (Crawford) Hemesath, and mother, Tracey (Crawford) Streich, have been running the company since Dan Crawford retired and then passed away. As the four family members took Binkley through the plant, he talked to the owners and workers about their concerns.
“I understand how hard it is to face all the challenges of business,” said Binkley, co-founder and CEO of mergers and acquisitions firm Generational Group. “Inflation is out of control, and health care inflation is 40% more than regular inflation. That hits business owners and workers hard. We have to get the waste out of the system. I have a reform package to get rid of the monopolies and remove the power from Big Pharma.”
The Crawford siblings told Ryan how their father, Dan, started the business, designed patented products for customers, and grew the company to provide jobs for dozens of locals.
“We don’t like how our business is affected by the current administration,” Toby Crawford said. “Ryan really listened, and he really cared. He knows how important it is for us to protect our company, our employees, our vendors and our customers.”
Streich said she was drawn to Binkley because of his strong faith in God and his position as co-founder and co-lead pastor of Create Church in Dallas along with his wife, Ellie.
“It’s so important to me to hear Ryan talk about putting God back in our country again,” Streich said.
“We really need someone leading the country who has the wisdom and heart of a pastor,” Hemesath said. “We’re just all so grateful that Morgan introduced us to Ryan. We know he’s going to do great things for our country.”
Bonwell has followed in her grandfather’s entrepreneur footsteps by starting her own political consulting company, Right Strategies. Though she currently lives near Des Moines, Bonwell grew up in Charles City and was profoundly influenced by her grandfather, who founded the manufacturing plant that specializes in metal component parts for the building, electronics and automotive industries.
“During the tour with Ryan, I was thinking how cool would that be if Poppy could have seen that I’m working with a presidential candidate my second year in business,” said Bonwell, who was recently named one of the Top 30 Under Thirty: America’s Rising Republican Operatives by data firm Cygnal.
“I was really proud bringing Ryan to Poppy’s shop to see what he built. He built it from nothing. Even after he retired about 15 years ago, he would go in every day.”