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The dedicated team members who manufacture the Mauldin Paving Products enjoyed a wonderful lunch of burgers, chicken sandwiches, beverages and games.
Calder Brothers Corp. in Greenville, S.C., makers of the Mauldin Paving Products line of machines, hosted a special event Aug. 27, 2024, to celebrate how much equipment manufacturing contributes to society in 2024.
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Throughout July and August, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) made an 11-state trip across the South to visit many of its member companies, including Calder Brothers Corp., manufacturers of Mauldin Paving Products, with the objective of touting the industry’s impact on this country and the economy as a whole.
AEM did so via its Manufacturing Express, an interactive mobile road tour that traveled thousands of miles and made dozens of stops this summer.
“The intention and mission of the AEM Manufacturing Express is to thank the men and women of the equipment manufacturing industry and highlight the importance of manufacturing in this country, in particular the production of construction and agricultural machines,” said Glen Calder, vice president of operations for Calder Brothers.
“One of the fascinating truths about the world is that everything we have, everything we see, and everything we touch is either grown or mined,” he added. “As an equipment maker, we are proud to be a part of AEM, an organization that is responsible for feeding, clothing, and powering the world.”
According to a recent AEM news release, the equipment industry has the numbers to support its significance to American citizens and their economic health.
“Eleven percent of manufacturing jobs are supported by equipment manufacturing, which represents 2.3 million men and women, and contributes $316 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product annually,” the group noted on its website. “From creating family-sustaining jobs and driving innovation, to supporting the movement of people and goods and helping to power vital public services and utilities, there is so much to celebrate, recognize, and admire about the industry.
AEM added that the goal of its largest-ever public engagement initiative was met “and will continue to remain the same: tell the story of the people, organizations, and programs driving equipment manufacturing forward.”
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(L-R) are Cameron Calder; Kip Eidenberg of I Make America; and David, Glen and Wayne Calder.
Due to Calder Brothers’s status as one of South Carolina top manufacturers, a number of prominent political leaders in the Palmetto State have visited the Greenville plant over the years and met with its officials and factory-floor employees as part of the AEM group, Calder said.
“We have had the privilege of hosting former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, former U.S. Congressman Trey Gowdy and current Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, among others,” he said. “When Gov. Haley visited, that was part of our drive to get the federal infrastructure package passed, something of which we could all be proud and help give us the manufacturing edge that we currently lack.”
Now celebrating 30 years in business under Calder family leadership, Mauldin makes a range of asphalt pavers, road maintainers, asphalt rollers, motor graders, truck-mounted asphalt and water tanks and trailer-mounted liquid asphalt and emulsion tanks for contractors across the country through a vast network of dealerships. CEG
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