Original Source: Sun Current
In taking time to mark another decade in the company’s long history, The Toro Company welcomed a special guest to its 110th anniversary gathering in Bloomington.
The longtime Bloomington company’s history dates back to 1914 and marked the anniversary July 10 by welcoming the AEM Manufacturing Express, a coach bus that hit the road July 1 and will visit more than 80 members of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers in more than 20 states.
Although Toro has a long history in Bloomington, the company’s first plant was in St. Paul, moved to Minneapolis in 1918 and began laying its Bloomington foundation in 1952 with the creation of its suburban Research and Development Center. The Bloomington site was initially for testing of equipment, product development and agronomic research, but the corporate headquarters followed in 1962. The Bloomington campus has evolved over more than six decades but continues to serve as the company’s home for research and development, according to company history.
The AEM tour bus began its trek across the eastern and central portion of the United States in Iowa and coordinated its visit to Toro with the company’s celebration of its benchmark anniversary.
The Milwaukee-based association represents equipment manufacturers and service providers in construction, agriculture, forestry, mining and utility, according to its president, Megan Tanel.
The association represents more than 1,000 global and domestic companies across North America, advocating on their behalf, such as working with lawmakers preparing legislation that affects its members or helping shape regulatory initiatives to ensure the members can meet requirements in a sustainable and cost-efficient manner, she explained.
The organization also organizes trade shows for its members to showcase their products, she added.
The association’s bus tour intended to advocate for the manufacturing industry prior to the 2020 election, but the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to the plan that year. But four years later the bus is on the road, with the tour serving both as a celebration of the manufacturing industry, which employs 2.3 million men and women while bringing the association’s message to local and federal lawmakers regarding the importance of policies that benefit the industry, Tanel explained.
Toro is an active member of the association in several facets of the manufacturing industry, through both its Toro products and other companies underneath the Toro umbrella, such as Oklahoma-based Ditch Witch, she noted.
Products developed and tested at the Bloomington headquarters lined the company’s “backyard” during a presentation recognizing the company’s anniversary.
Product teams develop solutions to meet the needs of the company’s customers, from mowers, yard tools and snow blowers for residential use to commercial lawn and landscaping equipment for golf courses and snow removal equipment for commercial uses. The products conceived and tested in Bloomington are manufactured worldwide, including two sites in Minnesota, Shakopee and Windom, said Peter Moeller, the group vice president for underground and specialty construction businesses.