A former farmer, turned governor, with a practical passion for roads. Governor Otter has battled legislators, the public, transportation executives and assorted critics about his vision for rebuilding and improving Idaho’s roads. In a sit-down with him recently, he explained his passion and it relates to his background in ag.

 “Idaho is a merchant state. Some people say we don’t want that project in Idaho because it’s a merchant, it’s gonna be a merchant plant, it’s gonna be a merchant operation, there isn’t a farm or a ranch or agricultural processing plant in Idaho that isn’t a merchant plant. We can’t eat all the French fries we make in Idaho. We can’t use all the computer chips that we make in Idaho. Every plant, every production facility that we’ve got in Idaho is a merchant plant. You can make the best product in the world but if you can’t get it to the consumer, what’s the sense of making it. The way we get it to the consumer is down that band of concrete that btakes us to the world marketplace shelf.”