AEM Manufacturing Express ends 80-community tour

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) announced that the AEM Manufacturing Express has completed its cross-country tour this week, returning home to Wisconsin for its final stops. The tour, launched on July 1 in Knoxville, Iowa, celebrates the 2.3 million men and women of the U.S. equipment manufacturing industry and highlights their role in building, powering and feeding the world.

The AEM Manufacturing Express has spent the past four months traveling across 22 states, with stops at 80 equipment manufacturers across the Midwest, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Throughout the tour, the AEM Manufacturing Express showcased the cutting-edge technology and innovations driving the equipment manufacturing industry.

Participating equipment manufacturers included companies such as AGCO Corporation, CNH Industrial, Caterpillar Inc., Cummins Inc., Deere & Company, Komatsu, Kubota, The Toro Company, Vermeer Corporation and Volvo Group. The tour has also featured the participation of more than 100 elected officials and community leaders.

AEM Manufacturing Express. (Photo: Becky Schultz)

The final stops took place in Wisconsin, home to AEM’s Milwaukee-based headquarters. The AEM Manufacturing Express tour was brought to a celebratory close at an event hosted by Husco, a hydraulic and electro-mechanical component manufacturer, at its global headquarters in Waukesha, with manufacturing workers, elected officials and industry leaders gathering to celebrate equipment manufacturers’ impact on the communities where they live and work.

“Returning to Wisconsin, the AEM Manufacturing Express is coming home to celebrate the equipment manufacturing industry and the 180,000 workers that are the backbone of the state,” said Kip Eideberg, AEM’s senior vice president of Government and Industry Relations, adding, “This cross-country tour has demonstrated that when the equipment manufacturing industry is strong, America is strong.”

“The AEM Manufacturing Express has been a unique platform to celebrate the grit and determination of the men and women of the equipment manufacturing industry,” said AEM President Megan Tanel. “As we wrap up this historic journey… we are proud to have told the stories of so many individuals who help build and sustain our modern world.”