Musco’s Growth in Oskaloosa Is About More Than New Buildings

Musco corporate headquarters in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

OSKALOOSA — Many people in Oskaloosa know Musco for lighting football fields, ballparks, racetracks and major sporting events. Its lights appear at high school stadiums, youth sports complexes, NASCAR tracks and large public facilities across the country and around the world.

But the company’s growing footprint in Oskaloosa is about more than making lights.

Musco leaders say the company continues to invest in Oskaloosa because it remains the company’s global headquarters, its home base for product development, and a place where team members, customers, and visitors from around the world come together.

The company now has more than 2,100 team members worldwide, including about 850 in the Oskaloosa area. Those local team members work in more than manufacturing. Musco’s work in Oskaloosa includes engineering, product design, testing, electronics, service, controls, training and business support.

That is one reason the company’s downtown growth matters to more than just Musco team members.

When a company with hundreds of local workers stays in the center of town, those workers are more likely to eat at local restaurants, shop downtown, buy groceries, use local services and take part in community events. Musco leaders said keeping the company in downtown Oskaloosa has been a deliberate choice, even though building on cheaper land outside town may have been easier.

The company believes its downtown location helps support the surrounding community. Musco team members work near local stores, restaurants and businesses. Customers and company employees from other parts of the country and world also visit Oskaloosa for meetings, training and tours.

Company representatives said visitors often comment on Oskaloosa’s friendly people, the downtown square, the community’s diversity and the slower pace of a smaller city. Some visitors who come for work have later returned with family members to show them the community.

For Oskaloosa residents, it is easy to see Musco as a company that makes stadium lights. The company does that, but its work has become far more technical.

Musco designs complete lighting systems. That includes the lights, poles, wiring, controls, software, and equipment that direct light where it is needed. The company’s engineers work to ensure light reaches the playing field, road, airport, or work area without creating unnecessary glare for drivers, neighbors, or nearby homes.

The company’s systems are used for sports, transportation, public infrastructure and large outdoor areas. Musco representatives pointed to the Interstate 35 and Interstate 80 interchange in Des Moines as one example of its roadway lighting work. The company is also involved in a project to replace older lighting at Daytona International Speedway with LED technology that can provide both track lighting and color-changing entertainment effects.

That wider range of work helps explain why Musco has been expanding its facilities in Oskaloosa.

One of the company’s next major projects is a new product reliability building at the former Spencer site, located in the 600 block of 1st Avenue West in Oskaloosa. The building is expected to open this fall.

The approximately 30,000-square-foot facility will be used for product development, testing and electronics work. Half of the building will include large testing chambers that allow Musco to test its equipment before products go into the field.

Testing is important because modern lighting systems use electronic, control, and communication equipment. Those electronics must meet federal and industry standards. They cannot interfere with other equipment, such as radios, phones, vehicles, or nearby electronic systems.

In the past, Musco engineers sometimes had to travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, to use a testing chamber large enough for the company’s lighting systems. That process could slow down product development. Engineers had to schedule time at the facility, travel to Nebraska, test the equipment, and return to Oskaloosa if changes were needed.

The new building will allow Musco to do much of that work in Oskaloosa. Company leaders said it should help engineers test products faster, solve problems sooner, and move new products to market more quickly.

The other half of the building will focus on testing and refurbishing electronic parts.

Musco offers a 25-year warranty on most of its U.S. lighting systems. That warranty covers both parts and labor. Because of that promise, the company continues to work with many of its products long after they are installed.

The new facility will allow Musco to inspect returned electronic parts, find failures, and repair equipment when possible. In some cases, a part worth several hundred dollars may have failed because of a small and inexpensive electronic component. Instead of throwing away the entire part, the company may be able to repair it and reuse it.

That work could help reduce waste, control costs, and improve the speed at which the company handles warranty issues for customers. Musco representatives said the building will also create additional jobs, although they did not provide a specific number.

The company is also continuing to expand inside Penn Central Mall.

Musco plans to use the former Love INC space for its controls and service groups. Those departments have grown as the company has moved further into LED systems, electronics and advanced lighting controls.

The company said the mall will likely continue to change as retail businesses across the country adjust to online shopping and other shifts in how people buy goods. Musco’s expansion into parts of the mall adds office and service space, while the company says it still wants the center court to remain a public space. Musco leaders said they understand that the mall has long been used for events and gatherings, and as an indoor public space during bad weather.

Another future project involves the area near the former Ecumenical Cupboard site. Musco representatives said the space will include green space and room for food trucks. More details are expected later.

The company said the goal is to better connect its downtown buildings and create an area that can be used by both team members and the community.

Musco is marking its 50th anniversary in 2026. Company leaders said the business was founded on the idea of providing good jobs and supporting the community where those jobs are located.

That message matters as the company grows.

The company’s recent investments send a clear signal about its direction.

Musco is not moving its headquarters away from Oskaloosa. Instead, it is adding specialized testing, engineering, service and support work in the center of the community.

For Oskaloosa, the impact is not only measured by new buildings. It is measured by whether the company continues to provide stable jobs, bring visitors into town, support local businesses and keep its long-term growth connected to the community that helped build it.

Reporting note: This article is based on an interview with Musco representatives Shelly Herr and Jeff McNulty, along with prior Oskaloosa News reporting on the company’s recent downtown expansion.