Following its first stop at Weiler in Knoxville on Monday, the next stop for a national tour promoting equipment manufacturing was at Vermeer Corporation in Pella Tuesday.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers brought its Manufacturing Express bus to the Vermeer Pavilion, which was the second stop of more than 80 scheduled across the country between now and mid-October.

At the event, Senator Chuck Grassley and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig both spoke about the importance of companies like Vermeer in Iowa and on the relationship between agriculture and manufacturing.

“For you people who work so hard at Vermeer, there are two things I could put on a license plate that would describe the workers of Iowa – two words. One would be ‘quality.’ The second would be ‘productivity.’ I’m proud to represent the workers of Iowa in the United States Senate and to be able to brag about the things you see here and a lot of other manufacturing in Iowa. I’m glad the Association is here to highlight Vermeer,” Grassley opened his remarks with.

Vermeer President and CEO Jason Andringa says he and his family have a long standing partnership with AEM, and he’s thankful for the support the organization provides to the company and others like it nationwide. Former Vermeer Chairs Mary Andringa and Bob Vermeer and founder Gary Vermeer are enshrined in the AEM Hall of Fame.

Hear more about the event on both Let’s Talk Pella and In Touch with South Central Iowa starting this Thursday.