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Sun and a few passing clouds. High 86F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph..
Mostly clear skies. Low 61F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
US Representative Ashley Hinson (Center) with AP Casting partners Burk “Skeet” Miehe and Dan Proctor.
Austin Gomez pours aluminum into a sand mold.
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US Representative Ashley Hinson (Center) with AP Casting partners Burk “Skeet” Miehe and Dan Proctor.
Austin Gomez pours aluminum into a sand mold.
BRANDON – At one point there were over 100 foundries in Iowa. Today, there are less than twenty. One of these foundries is A.P. Castings in Brandon. On Tuesday, Feb. 15, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson visited A.P. Castings as part of an economic tour of Northeast Iowa.
About 50 years ago the late Grover ‘Mike’ and Ann Denton started Denton Castings in the former Brandon Consolidated Schools building at the east end of Main Street. Their two sons, Mike Jr. and Tom kept the business running until last October, when Dan Proctor and Burk “Skeet” Miehe bought them out and renamed the business to AP Castings. A company in Minnesota wanted to buy the company for the contracts they had and close the foundry, but Proctor and Miehe wanted to keep the foundry in Brandon open, so they bought it – lock, stock, and barrel.
Mike Jr. stayed on for a little while after Proctor and Miehe took over, but he soon realized they had everything under control and was able to retire with peace of mind.
AP Castings currently has 18 employees, of which six are three father/ son pairs. They are looking for more employees as they have contracts for several companies around the state and Midwest, including Waverly, St Paul, and Sukup Manufacturing (fan blades). They cast products different aluminum grades, but also brass.
“Our brass is known for its low lead content,” said Proctor.
Proctor is proud to support the Brandon community as well as the Independence School District. A few years ago they cast miniature iron skillets to mimic the giant skillet (Iowa’s Largest Frying Pan) on display by the Brandon Community Center.
At the end of the tour, Congresswoman Hinson asked Proctor what the biggest challenges for the foundry were. He spoke about labor shortages, partially due to their centralized location near larger communities such as Cedar Rapids, which have more job opportunities. He mentioned that the ending of COVID-funded unemployment should help encourage more people to get jobs, including at A.P. Castings. Although difficult at times, Proctor said they do their best to use United States suppliers, not only to support domestic businesses, but also to avoid overseas shipping issues.
Hinson emphasized her focus on encouraging manufacturers and other domestic businesses to create those critical parts within the United States to keep jobs and trade within the country.
“This is a ‘mom and pop’ company in a ‘mom and pop’ town,” said Proctor.
Finally, when asked what her favorite takeaway from the tour was, Hinson responded it was learning about the multi-generational workforce, both in the sense of younger people taking up manufacturing jobs, but also the more specific three pairs of father-son employees. She also said she liked the volume of workers in the small foundry and was excited for the business’ growth.
Sun and a few passing clouds. High 86F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.
Mostly clear skies. Low 61F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
Mostly cloudy skies. High 78F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
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