U.S. Representative Dave Loebsack (D-IA) Wednesday visited a Crown Castle tower site in Le Claire, Iowa, part of his Congressional District. The tour of the monopole cell tower site was organized by representatives from the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE), the Association’s Wireless Industry Network and Crown Castle.
Loebsack represents Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District and is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, where he has championed communications and workforce development legislation.
The tour was held to coincide with the reintroduction of the bipartisan Communications Jobs Training Act of 2019. The legislation is slated to be reintroduced in the 116th Congress this week by Loebsack and Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) from Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District.
During the event, Loebsack learned about the network equipment that’s installed on the tower. He also visited with the NATE and Crown Castle representatives at the site. They discussed the work conducted on a daily basis building, maintaining and deploying communications tower sites and related wireless infrastructure. Loebsack saw the gear and personal protective equipment that tower technicians use to carry out their jobs in a safe and efficient manner, and learned about the NATE STAR Initiative program.
“It was an honor to host Congressman Loebsack today at the Le Claire tower site,” stated NATE WIN Iowa State Liaison Pete Hagstrom from Finish Tower. On behalf of NATE’s 12 member companies in the state of Iowa, we appreciate the leadership role Congressman Loebsack is playing in Congress to promote workforce development initiatives that are critical to the industry’s growth,” added Hagstrom.
“I am excited to partner with Congressman Mullin and NATE to champion the Communications Jobs Training Act, which provides competitive grant funding for schools to develop and administer training for communications tower service, construction and maintenance,” said Loebsack. “In the coming years, Iowans will see new towers popping up across the state and it will be important that we have a workforce trained to erect and maintain these towers.”
“The nation’s demand for connectivity is growing, and so is the need for skilled and highly trained communications tower workers. Crown Castle endorses the proposed legislation as a means for creating quality jobs to meet the current and future workforce demand,” said Siely Joshi, Government Affairs Manager, Crown Castle.
To see photos from Loebsack’s Iowa tower site appearance, visit NATE’s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages.
March 21, 2019
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