OSKALOOSA, Iowa (KCRG) - From the fire hydrant outside your home to lighting ground zero after 9-11, products developed and made in Our Town Oskaloosa have a presence around the world.
KCRG visited Musco Lighting and Clow Valve Company to see how their products play a role in every day life.
Life sustaining water products are being made in Our Town Oskaloosa at Clow Valve Company.
“What we do, we make fire hydrants and valves, which you see pretty much all around the world. You can go one town to another town. You will see a Clow fire hydrant,” said employee James Penelton.
James Penelton has worked at Clow for 31 years. His work days are now spent in this new $86 million foundry expansion aimed at doubling production capacity.
“The beginning part of our process is all the molds and the castings of the sand and then the molten metals goes down into those,” said HR Manager Annie Thomas.
The final products are sold to distributors who sell them to municipalities, which is how Clow fire hydrants end up in your neighborhood.
HR manager Annie Thomas says Clow employs more than 500 people.
“One of the things we’re most proud of is it is American made, and it’s made right here in Osklaoosa,” said Thomas.
From water products to lighting. Little league fields, stadiums, racetracks, bridges - Musco Lighting makes it happen. Originally founded as a hand tool company, in 1976 the founders bought the failing Muscatine Lighting company with a commitment to always have a presence in the community. While Musco is headquartered in Oskaloosa, manufacturing is in Muscatine.
A major moment for Musco happened in 1982: lighting a nighttime football game between Notre Dame and Michigan.
“It was a risk because it was gonna cost a lot of money to manufacture the trucks, but it certainly paid off because it led to a lot of additional interest into what we can do,” said Beth Danowsky.
Community Development Manager Beth Danowsky says Musco is known for lighting hometown little league fields and prides itself on adapting to customers’ needs.
“Early on we had a flood light type fixture, if you will. We put that on a field in Boulder, Colorado and they called right away and said this isn’t going to work because our neighbors are complaining about the lighting. So the evolution of lighting for us is just figuring out how to get all of the lighting on the field and away from neighborhoods or roads where it could be a distraction or hazard,” said Danowsky.
While little league fields are still the largest part of Musco’s business, it has expanded into large arena lighting, transportation and infrastructure, and field turf.
In partnership with U.S. soccer, Musco committed to designing and building 500 mini-pitches across the country to expose more kids to soccer leading up to this year’s World Cup.
Musco Lighting was named the official lighting provider of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. Musco will bring field lighting and broadcast lighting to the summer games in 2028.
The next time you drive by a lighted playing field or a fire hydrant, remember Our Town Oskaloosa.
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