Eastern Iowa Grain Inspection & Weighing Service, Inc. (EIGIS) traces its roots back to Joseph Slater Sr. When Joe returned from the Army to his hometown of Buffalo, New York, he started his career as a Grain Inspector. During one of his visits to see his wife’s family in Iowa, a service friend told him the Davenport Grain Exchange was looking for a manager. Joe accepted the manager position and relocated to Blue Grass, Iowa in 1951. In 1965, while working for the Davenport Grain Exchange, Joe started the Muscatine Grain Inspection Service which would be renamed in 1973 to Eastern Iowa Grain Inspection & Weighing Service, Inc. The Davenport Grain Exchange was dissolved in 1977, so Joe Slater as owner of EIGIS requested the designation for Davenport, Iowa.

Joe believed that accurate and consistent grades was the cornerstone of a successful official agency. Doing things right the first time was his motto, so he invested heavily in training all his employees. Over time his customers learned that they were fortunate to have an official agency with these values. Being highly regarded for accurate and consistent grades by their customers is a great source of pride for EIGIS and has sustained them during difficult times.

In the early years, the work was primarily barge inspections and when the upper Mississippi River closed for the winter there was little work. To keep his employees busy doing the slow months, Joe found other jobs for his inspectors. Longtime employee, and historian, Gary Wiebler says they even tore down barns for the wood. Realizing that the agency needed year-round business, Joe pursued truck and rail inspections. When other areas became available Joe would submit his application and FGIS continued to award more territory to EIGIS. The agency has now grown to operate in eastern Iowa, northern Illinois, and the entire state of Wisconsin.

Joe was always adamant about being involved with associations such as AAGIWA, formerly the National Association of Chief Grain Inspectors, which Joe held several positions including President. Joe was also the founder and past President of the Iowa Association of Grain Inspectors and also served as president of a regional association called the North Central Grain Inspection Agencies Association. Joe believed it was important for EIGIS employees to meet with other agencies to determine how best to resolve issues all the agencies were encountering.

All private and State official agencies owe a debt of gratitude to Joe Slater. Joe testified before congress in the mid-1970’s in defense of the private and State agencies when congress was seriously considering federalizing all domestic grain inspections. It has been said that if it wasn’t for Joe’s testimony, the domestic official system would be entirely different.

Joe passed away in 1994 and his youngest son, Dave, became Agency Manager and part-owner of EIGIS. Although Dave was relatively young (early 30s), he had worked at the agency through his high school and college years. The transition was seamless for the employees and customers. Dave was a natural and the motto he lived by was “Treat every customer and employee fairly, equitably and with dignity and respect.” He embraced all his father’s values and he constantly engaged all employees throughout the organization to find better ways to perform their jobs. Dave encouraged everyone to come forth if they had a better way of doing anything. Dave lost his life in a tragic boating accident in October, 2012 at the age of fifty and is still deeply missed today.

EIGIS has always pursued new ways to make the inspection process more efficient and safer. The agency was the first to have a diverter type sampler on the upper Mississippi River, and when a professor from Iowa State University had an idea to develop a truck probe, Eastern Iowa was there to help get it approved by FGIS. This was the precursor of the mechanical truck probe used throughout the industry today. EIGIS’s passion for improving the official inspection system continued with their work to obtain video rail car stowage examinations, and most recently their work to obtain FGIS approval to perform video barge stowage examinations.

Treating employees fairly by providing adequate compensation and working with them to provide time off for family and other important events has always been a part of the family business. Mark Fulmer, current EIGIS Agency Manager, says on any given day an employee may need to work a 30-hour shift inspecting a shuttle train, so there needs to be give and take between the company and the employees is essential.

EIGIS is headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, and has area offices in Dubuque, Iowa, Oquawka, Rochelle, & Rockton in Illinois, and Beaver Dam & Chippewa Falls in Wisconsin. The agency employs approximately 85 employees, who inspect primarily corn, soybeans, and soft red winter wheat, along with a few other grains on an occasional basis. The agency performs rail, truck, barge, and container inspections. They have 22 onsite rail laboratories, one inbound truck laboratory at a dog food manufacturer, and provides container services at multiple locations to make them one of the top agencies in the country for volume. EIGIS also have a cooperative agreement with FGIS to inspect Distillers Dried Grains, Spices, Corn Soy Blend and other many other processed commodities under the Agricultural Marketing Act.

Trade relations is an important part of their success. EIGIS is committed to providing grading seminars to the trade. While some may think this only provides the trade with the means to do their own grading, EIGIS uses this opportunity to show the trade how difficult grading is and that the official system is an asset, rather than a liability to the trade.

Linsey Moffit-Tobin, Quality Assurance Specialist, says the agency is committed to outreach programs. EIGIS has been deeply involved in Iowa’s “Ag in the Classroom” Program by explaining grain inspection through interactive exercises to the next generation at fairs and in schools. Recently, we did a presentation on grain inspection to 1,100 third graders. EIGIS annually participates in 3-4 conferences including the Moses Organic Conference to inform participants about the official system. Exploring how the official system can be improved through technology and expanding into other commodities such as hemp is a never-ending pursuit for EIGIS.

EIGIS began as a family owned company and remains a family owned company today. The values that Joe and Dave instilled are still in place today and with those values there is no doubt that the company will be a success for many years to come.

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