Koch business coming to Harry Reid’s turf

By Kyle Roerink

Thursday, March 12, 2015 | 5:30 p.m.

They are U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s archnemeses in Washington. And they’re coming to Nevada.

A subsidiary of Koch Industries, the massive chemical and refining conglomerate owned by billionaires Charles and David Koch, will establish an IT office in Reno that will create 20 jobs.

The news, announced by the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, comes as Reid begins a 2016 campaign that is likely to be the most hard fought of his political career and certain to draw millions in spending against him paid by the Koch brothers, two of the wealthiest and politically active conservatives in the country.

Reid has used the Senate floor to wage war against the Koch brothers and will likely use his 2016 campaign to do the same. He’s painted them as oil barons who exemplify the political privilege and influence that big business and enormous wealth have over the middle class. Reid, an outspoken clean energy advocate, has said the GOP is “addicted to Koch” campaign contributions and fossil fuels, playing on an illicit drug reference and alluding to the brothers’ far-reaching network of PACs and other groups they bankroll. From January and July of 2014, he mentioned their name more than 250 times during floor speeches, according to Politico. He addresses them as Charles and Dave, Koch Brothers or power-drunk billionaires.

Reid has yet to comment on their arrival and for now the mood in Nevada is apolitical. In Reno, local business leaders were happy to have the subsidiary, KBS, on board.

"Koch is No. 2 on Forbes' list of America's largest private companies, so to be selected by a company of this caliber just reinforces the latest success in the region following recent announcements by Switch, Tesla, Apple and others,” said Mike Kazmierski, CEO of EDAWN.