Branstad Visits Cablevey As Part Of 99 County Tour

Cablevey opened their doors to Governor Branstad and the Oskaloosa community on Wednesday to help inform others about the company and their business.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – No, they won’t be able to help you with your cable television. Cablevey can help you feed your livestock, fish or convey your food items like coffee and rice. The tube conveyor uses cable driven disks within the tube to transport product.

Iowa Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds stopped by the Oskaloosa gem on Wednesday morning, where they were taken on a tour of the facility by Cablevey President Phil Hall and CEO Gary Hall.

The history between the Halls and Branstad runs back generations, when they both participated in trade-missions to places like China and South America.

Before Branstad took the podium, Phil Hall gave the Governor an over-sized calculator. “I know he’s always battling with the state-house over a budget, so I figured this would be something that would help him,” joked Phil Hall.

“We were very impressed with how clean this plant is,” said Branstad. Nearly every visitor commented on the neat and tidy appearance of the manufacturing facility. “We were very impressed with your facility.”

Branstad remembers the trip that Phil and Gary’s father took with him to China in 1984. “That was the sister-state of Hebei Province.”

That trip helps to set a course to the relationship Branstad and current President of China Xi Jinping have developed over time. “He was treated so well when He [Xi Jinping] came to Iowa, that he calls us old friends. So it’s not too bad to have an old friend as the president of the largest country in the world.”

“And your dad helped us build that relationship,” said Branstad to Phil and Gary Hall.

“Obviously it’s a world economy,” said Branstad. “We’re proud to have a family owned business, located here in Oskaloosa, that’s doing business all over the world.”

“It is a tremendous opportunity for us to see first hand company’s just like Cablevey that are located all across our state,” said Lt. Governor Reynolds. She said companies like Cablevey “are doing great things.”

After the main message of the morning, Branstad talked about his visit with the Halls and Cablevey. “It’s a great company,” said Branstad. Branstad said that he would continue to work to see companies like Cablevey grow, and to help grow Iowa’s economy.

Branstad says he has recovered from the illness that caused him to become ill and subsequently transported to the hospital, where he stayed overnight out of an “abundance of caution”.

Cablevey President Phil Hall said that he felt very fortunate to have the governor come and visit their facility.

“Cablevey has exported their product to 54 countries, and participate in 42 trade shows yearly, ” says Hall. But many in Oskaloosa are unaware of what is best described as a gem in the community.

“The Governor has been a big proponent of exporting for a long time,” says Hall. Utilizing an overseas market in order to sell product has been important for Cablevey, “so he’s been a help to us”.

Hall says that the company is “becoming more active in the community” and uses the YMCA Winter Open as an example of their growing community involvement.

Hall says he sees Cablevey being able to grow more in the Oskaloosa community as a business. “We feel like the facility we have here right now is maxed out. We’ve pretty much used every bit of space we can, and now we’re saying, ‘what do we need to do in order to expand’.”