Ernst Celebrates Agriculture Traditions, Recognizes Iowa Servicemembers, Showcases Heartland Innovation, and More

RED OAK, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) recently traveled from Montgomery County to Dubuque County to meet with fairgoers, servicemembers, small business owners, farmers, and more on her River to River Tour – part of her ongoing commitment to hear from Iowans in every corner of the state. Ernst also hosted three cabinet members in the state as part of her efforts to bring the stories and concerns of Iowans to the highest levels of the Trump administration.

Click HERE to download photos from Ernst’s visits.

Nothing compares to the great Iowa State Fair, and Ernst spent several days on the fairgrounds talking to Iowans and celebrating our state’s agriculture traditions. In addition to showing Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin around the fair, Ernst also caught up with Brownfield Ag News and Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network to talk about issues that are top of mind for the Iowa agriculture community. Agriculture remained a theme when Ernst traveled to Williamsburg to present J&S Farm Supply with her Small Business of the Week award, as reported by KGAN.

In her role as Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Ernst works hard to unlock opportunities for Iowa small businesses – something she highlighted in a Cedar Rapids roundtable with Loeffler where Iowa small businesses owners praised recent Trump administration tax cuts. As covered by KXEL, she also hosted her third annual Entrepreneur Expo to connect Iowa small business owners with the federal marketplace that featured record attendance, over 50 expert exhibitors, representatives from state and federal agencies, and Loeffler and Zeldin. The administrators also joined Ernst at Mid-States Companies in Nevada where they toured the fabrication facility and touted the many wins for Iowans in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Later, Ernst was joined by the Telegraph Herald as she visited with the owners of Tucker Freight Lines, a small business in Dubuque.

Ernst touted Made in America manufacturing and opportunities for young Iowans as she toured Legacy Manufacturing in Linn County with the Gazette, Rinker Materials in Marshall County with the Times-Republican, and the Applied Engineering Building on the University of Northern Iowa’s campus with KWWL and the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.

Iowa’s leadership in innovation was on full display as Ernst and Loeffler toured Perspective Therapeutics in Coralville, one of Iowa’s most successful small businesses that leveraged funding from the Small Business Innovation Research program to develop cutting-edge cancer treatments. Ernst also joined Secretary of Energy Chris Wright for an insightful tour of the Ames National Laboratory where they learned about research on and extraction of rare earth elements for use in American manufacturing. Later that day, she had the chance to witness firsthand how Iowa small businesses contribute to this process during a visit to Critical Minerals Recycling in Boone, as reported by KWBG.

As the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate who served in the U.S. Army Reserves, it was especially meaningful for Ernst to honor Army Reserve soldiers as they deployed to serve our country in the Middle East. She gave remarks at the send-off ceremony for the 103rd Sustainment Command in West Des Moines. Learn more about the ceremony from KCCI and WHO 13. As reported by WQAD and KCSI, Ernst also had the chance to recognize the heroism of Alvin Hays, a World War II veteran from Montgomery County, Iowa who served as a member of the U.S. Navy’s first special warfare commandos, the Scouts and Raiders.