To celebrate the company’s 75th anniversary this year, Vermeer Corporation will host a community day open house event on the Pella campus on Saturday, September 23, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CT. The public is invited to attend; all are welcome to join the celebrations.
“The intent of Community Day is to open our doors to local communities and give them a behind-the-scenes look at our newest investments here on the Vermeer mile, including self-guided tours of the new Global Parts Distribution Center. Visitors will also be able to go through the newly remodeled Vermeer Museum, as well as see the original Founders’ House, where Gary and Matilda Vermeer lived, and shop at The Hangar, the exclusive Vermeer store,” said Liz Sporrer, Vermeer senior manager for talent brand experience and corporate communications.
The Global Parts Distribution Center, commonly known as the GPDC, is a 312,000-sq-ft state-of-the-art facility dedicated to packaging and shipping parts to customers worldwide, located on the grounds of the corporate headquarters to leverage the manufacturing capabilities of the Vermeer mile, where most Vermeer products are assembled. Building on a legacy of customer support, this new building is located at the end of the old runway where company founder Gary Vermeer once delivered parts to Vermeer customers by plane.
The Vermeer Museum, located within the Global Pavilion, showcases the history of Vermeer Corporation. Originally opened in 1998, the Museum had been closed for renovations and has recently reopened, offering an experience to guests wanting to learn more about the Vermeer family, the markets the company serves, the hardships it has faced and how the organization is moving towards the future. New displays include features on the impact of the 2018 tornado and a prototype of the original horizontal directional drill. New interactive screens allow visitors dive deeper into details about how Vermeer Corporation was started and how it contributes to today’s industrial and agricultural marketplaces.