[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 7, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S55]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING POCATELLO ELECTRIC

 Mr. RISCH. Madam President, as a member and former chairman of 
the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, each month 
I recognize and celebrate the American entrepreneurial spirit by 
highlighting the success of a small business in my home State of Idaho. 
Today I am pleased to honor Pocatello Electric located in Pocatello as 
the Idaho Small Business of the Month for January 2020.
  Max Schaefer opened Pocatello Electric in 1902 and sold the business 
to Ed Hall in the 1930s. The business became well known for its ``free 
air and water at the curb,'' which meant air for automobile tires and 
water for horses. Al Vigliaturo began working at Pocatello Electric in 
1947 and eventually bought the business from Hall in 1973. Vigliaturo's 
son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Suzie Vigliaturo, bought the business 
in 1989 and continue to run daily operations.
  Pocatello Electric offers a wide range of home appliances, accessory 
items, and mattresses for purchase in its 7,500-square-foot showroom in 
historic Old Town Pocatello. For more than 117 years, the business has 
remained committed to providing exceptional customer service. Employees 
assess the needs of each customer to ensure buyers select products that 
will fit their unique needs. The delivery team provides professional 
delivery and installation, and the service team provides continued 
service and repairs for all products purchased in-store. Pocatello 
Electric has received the Idaho State Journal's Readers' Choice Award 
for best appliance store each year since 2004 and its best customer 
service award 3 years in a row. The business recently hosted a No Child 
Hungry event, which brought the Pocatello community together to pack 
10,000 meals that were delivered to local food pantries, homeless 
shelters, and soup kitchens.
  Congratulations to Mike Vigliaturo and all of the employees at 
Pocatello Electric for being selected as the Idaho Small Business of 
the Month for January 2020. You make our great State proud, and I look 
forward to your continued growth and success.

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