The Manufacturing Express is back!
AEM’s ever-popular traveling celebration of the men and women who make up the non-road equipment manufacturing industry has hit the road for the third consecutive year. Throughout the month of September, the AEM Manufacturing Express will make its way across the Northeast with two overarching goals in mind:
- Celebrate the people making an impact in the industry
- Showcase the ripple effects of investing in American manufacturing
Since launching in 2024, the AEM Manufacturing Express has traveled thousands of miles, made more than 100 stops, and made countless connections with skilled workers, community leaders, and lawmakers about the future of manufacturing.
The Northeast tour kicked off a little more than a week ago, on Sept. 1, with a visit to Terex Corporation/Smart Equip in Norwalk, Connecticut. Kicking off the first of three stops in “The Constitution State” last week, the opening stop with the two AEM member companies gave AEM the chance to celebrate the people behind the specialty vehicles and industry technology solutions that help build, power, protect, and serve communities every day.
One day later, on Sept. 2, the AEM Manufacturing Express made its way to Milford, Connecticut, for a stop at AEM member company Indeco. A leading brand in the construction, demolition, and forestry industries throughout the world, Indeco is marking a momentous anniversary this year: celebrating 50 years of being in business. But Indeco’s story doesn’t end there. The company is proud of its well-established track record of making an environmental impact through the work their products enable every day in the field. From demolition and recycling to scrap processing and forestry management, the company's products help contractors recover materials, reuse resources, and reduce waste that would otherwise end up in landfills.
During last week’s AEM Manufacturing Express event, a few dozen Indeco employees enjoyed yard games along with pizza from nearby New Haven. In addition, colleagues from other regions and business partners and distributors joined in the celebration of Indeco and its five-decade-long track record of support for the industry.
Then it was off to Shelton, Connecticut on Thursday, Sept. 2, for a stop at OEM Controls, Inc. Celebrating 60 years in business, OEM Controls possesses a storied history of influence in several industries. The company manufactures hydraulic joysticks for equipment, which can include everything from aerial work platforms, agriculture equipment, garbage trucks, even trains and ships. The company prides itself on creating rugged and customized solutions to whatever their client needs. That focus on customization is why their factory has over 200,000 unique part numbers, and 21,000 unique configurations for joysticks alone.
What started as a small distributor ran out of founder S. Brian Simons’s apartment in Westport has today evolved into a 75,000-square foot-facility with more than 200 workers in Shelton. The full team came out to participate in last week’s AEM Manufacturing Express’s event, which included food from Connecticut staple Super Duper Weenie, music, and free swag from both OEM Controls and I Make America.
Check out some photos from the OEM Controls event:
The inaugural week of the 2026 AEM Manufacturing Express tour closed with a trip on Friday, Sept. 4 to AEM member company Kuhn North America in Vernon, New York. Just shy of two years ago, the tour visited Kuhn’s Brodhead, Wisconsin, manufacturing facility for a visit during the AEM Manufacturing Express’s inaugural run. The Vernon facility, however, serves as Kuhn’s Northeast regional distribution center, and the five company representatives that call this location home met with AEM last week and discussed the important role distributors play in the greater non-road equipment manufacturing industry.
After a long Labor Day weekend, the AEM Manufacturing Express was back on the road on Tuesday for a stop at AEM member company New Holland in New Holland, Pennsylvania, and McClanahan Corporation in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Additional stops are planned for this week at Rockland Manufacturing in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and Grote Industries (Safety Star Technologies) in Avon, New York.
Stay up to date on all the tour’s happenings by visiting the official website of the AEM Manufacturing Express, and watch for recaps and member company features every week in the AEM Industry Advisor throughout the entire month of September.
