Senator Charles Grassley makes visit to Kol-Gol, Inc. part of his annual 99-county tour

by Joe Moses

Senator Charles Grassley toured the Kol-Gol, Inc. manufacturing facility in rural Waukon Tuesday, March 19 as part of his annual 99-County Tour in which he hears the concerns of Iowans he represents. Kol-Gol, Inc. is a custom metal forming company specializing in a variety of metal products including point of purchase displays, agricultural fixtures and powder coating hanging solutions.

Grassley toured the factory floor prior to conducting a question and answer (Q&A) session with Kol-Gol, Inc. employees and representatives of various organizations. Allamakee County Board of Supervisors Chairperson Larry Schellhammer discussed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declarations with Grassley and the need to develop a fast track to set aside restrictions and red tape for declarations in lower populated counties to speed up the process for making purchases and rebuilding. Schellhammer indicated that Allamakee County by itself, as a border county, would be unable to be included in a declaration for an event with an eastern impact including areas in Wisconsin. Grassley and Schellhammer further discussed restrictions and the timeline involved in receiving funding following a disaster declaration. With time constraints for the Q&A session, Grassley invited Schellhammer to continue this dialogue and to follow up with him with more information at a later time.

Retired pharmacist and Waukon Economic Development Corporation Board member Joe Cunningham thanked Grassley for his efforts in pursuing greater transparency in prescription drug prices. Cunningham discussed the role of pharmacy benefit management (PBM), the third party administration of prescription drug programs for various types of health plans, which Cunningham indicated has had a negative impact on small town pharmacies through their unwillingness to negotiate contracts. Grassley provided a contact for Cunningham to provide additional information on this matter and for discussion to continue.

Executive Vice President/General Manager Paul Foxwell with Allamakee Clayton Electric Cooperative discussed that Kol-Gol, Inc. is a successful rural business, but there are some businesses that struggle in the local small town/rural economy. Foxwell discussed that availability of broadband internet service may be an economic equalizer with Allamakee Clayton Electric Cooperative doing what it can to support broadband. Foxwell indicated that broadband service is expensive to provide on a per consumer basis with FCC programs that can be applied for regarding funding being very competitive.

Foxwell questioned Grassley about what else can be done to bring broadband to the local rural area. Grassley indicated that infrastructure is key with broadband currently being discussed in a bipartisan way. Grassley briefly addressed funding and that broadband has been discussed as part of infrastructure bills.

Jeremy Kolsrud with Kol-Gol, Inc. questioned Grassley about what can be done to help rural hospitals. Grassley discussed that the bed occupancy rate at many rural hospitals or critical access hospitals is at four percent, with proposed legislation that would provide a different reimbursement rate for those hospitals voluntarily giving up residential beds but retaining emergency rooms and other services.

Grassley addressed a variety of other matters including tariffs, trade policies, border security and alternative energy during the Q&A session before providing feedback on a variety of matters to The Standard in a brief media session. Grassley further discussed prescription drug pricing and the need for greater transparency. He addressed insulin price increases with some recent positive news from global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, which has pledged to offer a lower priced generic insulin.

Grassley discussed the importance of Iowa’s agriculture economy with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) providing breakthroughs for dairy producers, with some work and negotiation yet to be done regarding tariffs imposed by Mexico on U.S. pork and corn.

In conclusion, Grassley commented on the Kol-Gol, Inc. tour he received by indicating that this was the fifth or sixth small company that he has toured so far this year, those companies being very productive and creating a lot of good paying jobs. Grassley stated, “I’ve come to the conclusion, Iowans don’t like to brag” as he discussed other recent company visits and learning about Kol-Gol, Inc. and its success for the first time.