Grassley tours local manufacturer

May 26—CLINTON — U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Wednesday visited Nestle Purina facilities in Clinton as part of his 43rd annual tour of Iowa's 99 counties.

"We toured their plant and then we had a town meeting with their employees," Grassley told the Clinton Herald.

The fourth of five meetings in Iowa that day, Grassley met with 22 Nestle Purina employees for a question-and-answer session on topics of the employees' choosing.

"They told us how they partner with the community college here to help enhance the productivity of their workforce," Grassley said. "We discussed the Farm Bill, they thanked us for what I did to help them get money for the manufacturing."

The dialogue also addressed infrastructure and workforce growth. Nestle Purina in October 2022 completed a $156 million expansion that added 96 jobs to the existing 570-person workforce. In December, the company announced another $110 million investment and the creation of an additional 15 jobs.

"If they could hire more people, they'd hire more people," Grassley said. "That last bit comes up at almost every business I go to. We have a workforce shortage in Iowa and I'm guessing even nationally."

Grow Clinton President and CEO Andy Sokolovich, who was also present for the Senator's visit, calls Nestle Purina's continued commitment to the growth of the Clinton plant inspiring and impressive. He says Grassley departed the plant with a more robust understanding of the capabilities and enhancements made to support an annual increase in the pet food industry.

"First of all," Grassley told the Herald, "they do a heck of a lot of research on pet food, a lot of modern technology in their manufacturing of pet food, productivity per worker is very, very high, and one thing they impressed upon me, the extent to which they use corn in their manufacture of pet food. They only use Iowa corn."

Grassley has held at least one meeting in every county each year since he was first elected to serve in the U.S. Senate. First elected to the Iowa state legislature in 1958, he served there until Iowans sent him to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974. The longest-serving Senator in Iowa history, Grassley was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980.