For the first time ever, the AEM Manufacturing Express visited the Celebration of Construction on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In its first appearance of 2025, the interactive mobile initiative highlighted the 2.3 million men and women who “make America” by helping build, power, and feed the world.
Alongside towering equipment and exhibits from over three dozen equipment manufacturers and industry trade groups, those passing by the AEM Manufacuring Express learned about the vital role of the equipment manufacturing industry and the ways they can support the industry through AEM’s grassroots initiative, I Make America.
In the nearby I Make America tent, hundreds of visitors signed a petition in support of equipment manufacturers and played the ‘Manufacturing Challenge,’ a series of video games that invites participants to answer manufacturing-themed questions. Those who took the challenge received I Make America water bottles, hats, and stickers.
Next Stop: Texas
After making 80 stops across 20 states last year, the AEM Manufacturing Express will be spending August in Texas, the heart of the equipment manufacturing industry. Texas has the largest number of equipment manufacturing employees, with the industry supporting approximately 345,000 jobs and adding $49.5 billion to the U.S. GDP.
The tour will be making over 20 stops at manufacturing facilities across the state. At each stop, the tour will engage communities, showcase local manufacturing success stories, and highlight the innovative equipment made in Texas.
Tour participants will also get the opportunity to join the I Make America grassroots movement and learn more about how they can support policies that will strengthen the equipment manufacturing industry in Texas and nationwide.
For more information about the Manufacturing Express and AEM’s I Make America initiative, please contact Kristen Prather at kprather@aem.org.
