Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg visited a staple in the Jefferson community at American Athletic Incorporated, Spalding and Russell Brand Athletics Tuesday.

AAI/Spalding Vice-President of Operations Mark Lane gave a brief history of the company, which was established in 1954 as the American Trampoline Company, and now has over 100 employees. They are strictly an institutional company that makes AAI equipment for gymnastics and cheerleading, Spalding equipment for basketball, other gym accessories, and a carbontek shoulder pad for Russell. In 2016 alone, Lane said they were involved over 32,000 games at the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association, along with 750 meets for gymnastics worldwide.

Reynolds talks about the most impressive thing for her while visiting the global company in Jefferson.

“To think that we’re in the Olympics, we’re in the NCAA, to think about that being made right here in Jefferson, Iowa is just really amazing and something that we can be very proud of. I said I’ll be watching TV and sports a lot differently from here on out because I’ll be looking for AAI and I’ll be looking for all the logos and I’ll just be thinking, ‘Well that product was made right here in Iowa and in Jefferson, Iowa.’”

Lane then took Reynolds and Gregg on a tour of their main facility in Jefferson. AAI was one of several stops for Reynolds, who is currently on her “Building a Better Iowa: Workforce” campaign. She surprised to hear that there are no job openings at AAI.

“That is one of the biggest barriers that we face to economic growth in our state and really nationally. Again, it says a lot about the company and the longevity, but still no openings. That’s probably, quite honestly the first time I’ve heard that in a long, long time.”

Following Reynolds’ stop in Jefferson, she visited Poet Biorefining and Raccoon Valley REC solar field in Coon Rapids, along with a final stop in Denison for a Home Base Iowa announcement.