Grassley Visits Local Industrial Leader
Senator Chuck Grassley (R) visits with Clow management and employees last week.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – How do you best represent those you are elected to serve? You visit with them and the places they work to find out how to best serve them. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has consistently done that year after year, touring all 99 counties in the state. That very tour has now gained its own notoriety by presidential candidates, who call the tour “The full Grassley”.
This past week, Senator Chuck Grassley (R) stopped by Clow Valve Co. in Oskaloosa to see how fire hydrants are produced, and to talk with members of its work force to find out what their concerns are. Grassley took the scheduled week to work on fulfilling his yearly trip around the state.
Grassley’s community meetings are normally held in public facilities, such as last year when he met with constituents at Smokey Row. Grassley took Clow up on the invitation to visit their facility. “I always take an opportunity not only to visit and learn about a business, but I want to hear from the workers that can’t get off work to come to my town meetings,” said Grassley.
Transportation in Mahaska County has been a big talking point for several years now, with improvements to Highway 63, a new regional airport, along with other projects like a potential southeast connector for Oskaloosa. “Transportation of all forms, rail, highway, any other method, you might even call bandwidth now as transportation in some sense. It’s very necessary for the economic development of a community. Access to rail, access to air, access to good highways are very very important,” Grassley said.
The conversation on transportation had come up during his question and answer session with Clow employees, because at the end of September the current highway bill comes to an end. Grassley said he wouldn’t be too surprised to see a one year extension of the bill happen because of election year politics, and with that, no desire to raise taxes on gas. “One way or the other, we’re going to continue to build highways after September the 30th.”
Grassley gave his impression of Clow and its over a century of business in Oskaloosa. “That’s staying power. The productivity of its workers and the quality of its workers speak well of a company.”
“If I could put two words on a license plate to describe Iowa, and what Iowa’s about, I would put on there quality and productivity. That best describes the product and workforce here at Clow,” Grassley said in closing.
