Gary Vermeer  [1919-2009]

Industrial/Commercial Leader

Gary Vermeer of Pella, Iowa founded Vermeer Manufacturing in Pella, Iowa in 1948. He came from a farming background, was a farmer himself, and was mechanically inclined. Prior to founding Vermeer Manufacturing, he saw the need on the farm for a farm wagon that could unload itself by tilting the load box to an incline and so letting the load slide off, similarly as was then common with bulk load trucks used for sand, gravel or farm produce such as corn or grain. Vermeer then developed and built a simple mechanical wagon hoist to make the labor-intensive job of unloading grain wagons easier for his own farming operation. Since the redesigned farm wagon made so much sense, and since none were then available from farm equipment manufacturers, Vermeer, at the insistence of his farm neighbors, decided to go in the business of manufacturing the redesigned farm wagons. And that was the beginning of Vermeer Manufacturing.

Since 1948, Vermeer Manufacturing has grown to a large equipment manufacturing firm with seven manufacturing facilities, now manufacturing agricultural equipment, compacting equipment, environmental equipment, terrain leveler and surface excavation equipment, trenching equipment, hay balers, stump cutters and numerous other types of equipment for farming and related applications. In 2007, Vermeer manufactured 125 different product models and employed about 2000 employees. It had a worldwide independent industrial dealer network consisting of 112 North American and 70 international dealer locations.

Gary Vermeer, the founder of Vermeer Manufacturing retired in 1989, and turned the management of the business over to his son, Bob Vermeer, and his daughter, Mary Vermeer Andringa. The two siblings serve as co-CEO’s of the company. Vermeer Manufacturing was begun and has kept its headquarters in Pella, Iowa, a community originally founded by Dutch immigrants in the mid nineteenth century. Pella is located in central Iowa, about 30 miles south east of Des Moines. To this day Pella remains a community proud of its Dutch roots.

 

 REFERENCES

The History of Vermeer Manufacturing, http://www.vermeerag.com/history/

Vermeer Manufacturing, http://www.vermeer.com/vcom/AboutUs/construction-industrial-equipment.htm

 

E-BOOKS AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON; GOOGLE: Kindle Store Pegels

 

PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICANS, CURRENT AND HISTORIC

EIGHT PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICAN FAMILIES: THE ROOSEVELTS, VANDERBILTS AND OTHERS, 2015

FIFTEEN PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICAN FAMILIES: THE VAN BURENS, KOCH BROTHERS, VOORHEES AND OTHERS, 2015

PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICANS IN U.S. GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP POSITIONS, 2015

 

DUTCH PEGELS INVOLVED IN WARS

ALLIED EUROPE CAMPAIGN—1944/1945: TACTICAL MISTAKES, 2017

THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE NETHERLANDS: MEMOIRS, 2017

FRENCH REVOLUTION, NAPOLEON AND RUSSIAN WAR OF 1812, 2015