Osceola and Clarke County, Iowa manufacturer, Altec spent some time on the Des Moines Business Record’s Made in Iowa Podcast.
Podcast host Leisa Fox joins the Clarke County Development Corporation (CCDC) at the ORBIT Center to welcome Nathan Grismore, HR Manager at Osceola’s Altec Body Plant. Together, they pull back the curtain on Altec’s operational success and how they built a growing manufacturing community around culture and reliability — beyond their amazing products and plant floor.
Nathan Grismore of Altec pulls back the curtain on a manufacturing operation built around reliability, not just in its products, but in how its people operate every day. Supporting critical industries like electric utilities, telecom, and tree care, Altec’s equipment keeps essential services running. Nathan emphasizes that this level of performance starts on the inside—by equipping employees with the tools and trust they need to identify issues, raise concerns, and continuously improve both products and processes. It’s a system designed to ensure that what happens on the shop floor directly strengthens what happens in the field.
A key driver of that culture is Altec’s commitment to real-time communication across the organization. Employees are empowered with clear, accessible ways to report safety concerns, flag engineering challenges, and raise HR questions without delay. That immediacy removes bottlenecks in problem-solving and ensures issues are addressed before they escalate. More importantly, it builds trust—employees know their voices are heard and acted upon. The result is a more engaged workforce, faster innovation cycles, and stronger retention. In an industry where speed, safety, and precision all matter, this kind of open communication isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a competitive advantage.
For more about Altec’s Osceola Body Plant, you can visit their website at: https://www.altec.com/altec-osceola-body-plant
For additional Made in Iowa Podcast episodes, be sure to check out the Des Moines Business Record’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Businessrecord
