This story was written by Shawn “Rozy” Rozmarynowski, a welder at Woods Equipment.
Earlier this month, my wife and I traveled to Las Vegas to attend CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE 2020. They say it’s North America’s largest trade show, and it sure did look like it! Everywhere you turned, there was tons of construction equipment. From excavators to cranes to paving machines, they had it all, many proudly displaying I Make America magnets.
During the show, I stopped by one of I Make America’s three dedicated booths and joined the AEM team as they unveiled their most ambitious advocacy program to date. Hitting the road this summer, AEM’s Manufacturing Express will travel the country and talk to equipment manufacturing employees like me about the impact our industry has on America. I know visiting the men and women who make America and the communities where we all live and work will be a great way to show how vital equipment manufacturing is. In fact, did you know our industry supports 2.8 million U.S. jobs, contributing $288 billion each year to our economy?
That’s a big deal. And that’s why they are doing this bus tour. They want to make sure we know the power we in an election year like this one. We can, and will, make a difference in the voting booth. Elected officials and candidates should remember that when they are campaigning to earn our 2.8 million votes this November.
From the time I first smelled the burning metal coming out of my high school shop class, I knew I wanted to build equipment. I love what I do and I love the equipment manufacturing industry. For me, it was really exciting to be at CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE and I cannot wait for AEM’s Manufacturing Express to hit to road.
