“Do you take a lot of bus tours of communities?” Kalen McCain, News Reporter for the Southeast Iowa Union, asked as we bounced along inside the Kalona Chamber tour bus.

“Not a lot, no,” U.S. Senator Joni Ernst replied from her window seat at the front as we headed out to SouthTown.

The bus tour, organized by City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh on behalf of the City of Kalona, occupied half of the senator’s roughly one-hour visit on Wednesday, April 5.  The purpose of the visit was to provide Sen. Ernst with a view of life in Kalona and highlight the City’s successes, as well as allow engagement with community business leaders.

From the start the mood was light and jovial.  Along with the senator and her staff, Mark Robe (Mayor), Jenelle Bender (Mayor Pro Tem), Greg Schmidt (Council Member), Schlabaugh, Casey Peck (KCTC), Adam Kos (developer), Mary Audia (WEDG), McCain, and Ron Slechta (The News) piled into the bus, informational booklets in hand.  

The tour began with a pass by the 2022 Student Built House, and then continued through the Pleasantview campus, past the 2023 Student Built House site, and then out to SouthTown.  Schlabaugh described each project as we passed by.

As we climbed through the rolling new housing development, Sen. Ernst asked, “Mary, we’re going by your house?  Do you have hors d’oeuvres and wine?”

Bus riders chuckled.  “Next time, next time,” Audia promised.

“That’s recorded,” Sen. Ernst pointed out, eliciting more laughter.

Schlabaugh pointed out the recreational property and future trailhead site at SouthTown, as well as the many new housing opportunities, including North Ridge, Incline Grove, Vista Ridge, and Cypress Pointe developments. 

The joking continued during lulls, and Sen. Ernst was appreciative of the community’s efforts and progress.  She shared about the types of housing other communities in Iowa have created, including those who are experimenting with 3-D printing houses and converting old school buildings into condominiums.

Passing by CIVCO, downtown, and the Historical Village, the bus made its way to Slabach Construction, where the riders disembarked and entered the large complex for the older half of Sen. Ernst’s visit.

Banquet tables filled with food lined a wall, and chairs were set up in front of a podium, behind which was an enormous American flag.  Sen. Ernst was introduced to Herman Slabach, owner of the manufacturing business, who spoke to the larger group of employees and other community members who had gathered there. 

“We were one of the first ones to start installing fiber optic, we used to travel all around the country installing,” Slabach said.  In more recent years, his business has changed, and his employees stay closer to home.  

“Kalona is an awesome place,” he said.  “I don’t know anyplace else I’d rather live.”

After a short speech, he handed the microphone to Sen. Ernst, who began, “What I want to know from the employees is, is it set up like this all the time?  Does Herman come out here every morning and stand in front of the flag?”  The crowd laughed. “That’s pretty inspiring.”

“I appreciate your business as well, and the fact that you’ve had multiple generations here, and congratulations on that,” she said.

She continued, “But truly, this has been a great tour today.  I am so glad to be able to see some of the opportunities for housing that you have here. A lot of folks and communities are faced with challenges. Every community has challenges, but it is the ones that will survive that figure out how to take the challenges and make them opportunities. Ryan showed some of the blighted homes that now have been renovated and turned into beautiful housing opportunities for young couples or families. 

“[You’re] exploring some of the housing areas now for the retirement community or those that are downsizing, which is incredibly important, because we have an aging population in Iowa, there’s no way around it. And a lot of those older couples or older individuals are still really active and engaged. They just don’t need a big home. So finding ways to accommodate them as well is really, really important to communities if you don’t want to run them off to big metro areas, and we don’t want to do that. 

“Thank you so much for the opportunity to come out today and see some of the opportunities that you’re developing.”

After fielding a few questions from the group, Schlabaugh presented Sen. Ernst with a gift basket of some of Kalona’s finest products. 

As we departed the building, Sen. Ernst gleeful about receiving cheese curds, The News asked her about her visit to Kraft Heinz in Muscatine earlier in the day – a factory at which media were not permitted.

“Oh, it was fantastic!” she said. “They have a new Heinz 57 that’s coming out.  It’s got jalapenos.”