Senator Charles Grassley (R) spoke with several community leaders during a visit to a manufacturing facility in Washington Friday.

As part of his annual 99-county tour, Sen. Grassley toured Atlas Molded Products, a nationwide polystyrene company that makes foam products for architectural functions, protective and cold chain packaging, and several other uses. The business employs 55 people in Washington, which is the sole Iowa location of 17 facilities across the country. Grassley shared why he incorporates visits to businesses like Atlas into his schedule, “People who work here can’t come to those town meetings so I try to go to quite a few businesses a year on my 99-county tour, to go to people who can’t come to me. That would be high schools, that would be businesses like this, it would be maybe small business people, organizations, and hospitals.”

Following a tour of the facility Grassley received questions on topics including higher oil prices, labor force, the proposed railroad merger’s impact on Washington, and Iowa’s funding of private and charter schools, from employees and visitors including Washington County Hospital and Clinics CEO Todd Patterson, Washington Schools Superintendent Willie Stone, and Washington Mayor Jaron Rosien.