The AEM Manufacturing Express concluded its 4-month tour this week, after having stopped at a total of 80 equipment manufacturers since July 1, when it launched the tour in Knoxville, Iowa. The bus traveled across 22 states in the Midwest, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic, making final stops this week in Wisconsin, home to AEM headquarters. The organization referred to the completion as “a celebratory close as manufacturing workers, elected officials, and industry leaders gathered to celebrate equipment manufacturers’ impact on the communities where they live and work.” AEM leadership emphasized the important policy priorities reinforced at each stop.

Throughout the tour, the AEM Manufacturing Express showcased the cutting-edge technology and innovations driving the equipment manufacturing industry, and its leadership championed the hard work of its members with an “I made America” theme across all stops.

For its part, the editorial team at Lessiter Media, reporting on behalf of Farm Equipment, Rural Lifestyle Dealer, Ag Equipment Intelligence and Precision Lifestyle Dealer, joined the AEM Manufacturing Express at two of its stops, including Woods Equipment in Oregon, IL and Kuhn in Brodhead, Wisc.

In addition to insights into innovation heard from representatives at Woods Equipment and Kuhn, an emphasis on key policy initiatives, ongoing advocacy and member relations was clear in the messaging from AEM leadership. Here’s a snapshot of the comments from Wade Balkonis, AEM Director of Grassroots Advocacy.

“We want to be out here to celebrate the 2.3 million men and women in the workforce and thank them for being a part of this industry, and to make sure they know that their voice is powerful, that they really have the backbone of our economy, helping us build power to feed the world,” says. “This is a nice way for us to scale, see about one in 10 of our members as an association, bring out our fellow association employees to get to know the industry better, and again, really take a chance to highlight our member companies and what they do uniquely in their communities. Many of these locations are the lifeblood of their communities,” he added.

Keyed into pro-manufacturing policies, Balkonis said they were collecting signatures on a petition that helps support rural America workforce development and infrastructure spending.

Workforce Development Challenges

“The number one challenge we hear from our member companies is workforce development. As markets have started to stabilize a little bit, a lot of them will say, “We need welders, we need machinists, we need general laborers.” And we’re struggling to find ways to make sure that folks realize that this is really a family-sustaining job opportunity and it’s a great career path for young people. Workforce development needs to start all the way down at the elementary school level, and there’s no silver bullet, but we’re very supportive of loosening things like health grant funding to go to your education apprenticeship programs. It shouldn’t just tie the money for your education when there are all these job opportunities in our industry.”

According to Balkonis, the rural America piece is two-fold. “One, it’s supporting farmers and the adoption of things like precision agriculture equipment, which obviously reduces our inputs for better outputs. But really also it ties into things like telecommunications. Our farms are smarter than ever and still one in three American farms aren't connected to the internet. So, we think that will continue to be a priority, and that lends itself really nicely to infrastructure, whether it’s our equipment is helping build that infrastructure, maintain that infrastructure, or frankly the infrastructure has to be successful because we have to get these goods to market,” he said.

Regarding the Infrastructure Bill, which has resulted in thousands of local projects since its passage, he added, “For the infrastructure investment component right now, it’s really making sure that when the dollars get allocated from the federal government to the state departments of transportation, we’re aware of those projects and we’re helping our member companies position equipment and opportunities in a way that they can help succeed."

Emphasizing Infrastructure and Supply Chains

We need the supply chain to continue to function. We need our ports to be accessible and open. Continuing to make sure that that’s a focus, even though the infrastructure bill was passed a few years ago, we want to make sure that the dollars are being spent and that smart adjustments are being made to help our members continue to succeed.

“We’re really focused on those investments in the physical infrastructure,” Balkonis noted, “Expanding ports, increasing capacity, ensuring there are efficient policies so that ships can be used to transfer goods from within the United States.

“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 in Milwaukee, we are proud to have told the stories of so many individuals who help build and sustain our modern world. We look forward to finishing strong in the community where our organization is rooted.”

“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. “This cross-country tour has demonstrated that when the equipment manufacturing industry is strong, America is strong.”

Participating equipment manufacturers include iconic companies such as AGCO Corporation, CNH Industrial, Caterpillar Inc., Cummins Inc., Deere, Komatsu, Kubota, The Toro Company, Vermeer Corporation, and Volvo Group.

Related content: Cross-country AEM Manufacturing Express Stops at Woods Equipment