AEM Elects 2009 Officers, Directors

Martin Richenhagen, president and CEO of AGCO Corp., Duluth, Ga., has been elected the 2009 chairman of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), the North American-based international trade group representing the off-road equipment manufacturing industry.

Also elected as 2009 AEM officers were First Vice Chairman Tiffany Sewell-Howard, CEO of Charles Machine Works, Perry, Okla.; Second Vice Chairman Chuck Martz, president and CEO of Link-Belt Construction Equipment, Lexington, Ky.; Treasurer Robert Kluver, president and CEO of Angus-Palm, Watertown, S.D.; and Secretary Dennis Slater, AEM’s full-time president.

AEM has also elected industry executives to serve on its Board of Directors, as well as naming its sector vice chairmen. Douglas DeVries, senior VP ag marketing, North America, Australia and Asia of Deere and Co., Moline, Ill., has been named vice chairman of agriculture.

Serving as vice chairman of construction is Lynne Woodworth, president and CEO of Stone Construction Equipment, Honeoye, N.Y.

Persons elected to serve on the AEM’s Board of Directors include Christopher Barnard, president and CEO, Wacker Neuson Corp., Menomonee Falls, Wis.; Steven Booher, president, Productive Resources, Columbus, Ind.; Dave Burdakin, president and CEO, Paladin, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Gary Godbersen, president, CEO and chairman, GOMACO Corp., Ida Grove, Iowa; and Robert Kolb, VP marketing, Americas Region, GEA WestfaliaSurge Inc., Naperville, Ill.

Also elected to the Board of Directors were Andre Kriening, president, Sunwest Screen Graphics, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Gary MacDonald, executive VP, MacDon Industries, Winnipeg, Canada; Rodney Miller, CEO, McCormick International USA, Norcross, Georgia; Richard Patek, VP aggregates and mining, Astec Industries Inc., Chattanooga, Tenn.; John Patterson, chairman and CEO, JCB Inc., USA, Pooler, Ga; and Jeffrey Reed, president, VSS Macropaver, Modesto, Calif.

Other Board members include Howard Sellick, president, Sellick Equipment, Harrow, Ontario, Canada; Duane Wilder, president, Liebherr Construction, Newport News, Va.; and Lynne Woodworth, president and CEO, Stone Construction Equipment, Honeoye, N.Y.

The AEM officers, with the association’s board, set the guidelines and operating policies of the association on behalf of its members in areas, including technical and product safety support, equipment statistics and market information, public policy representation, trade shows, global business development services, education and training, workforce development and worksite safety/educational materials, according to the association.