For the third year in a row, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), an international trade group representing off-road equipment manufacturers and suppliers, hosted a national bus tour to honor and celebrate the men and women in the construction, manufacturing and equipment industries.
The tour, known as the AEM Manufacturing Express, recently visited nearly two dozen manufacturing facilities across Connecticut, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania in August and September. This year, AEM selected Rockland Manufacturing, located in Bedford, Pa., as one of three companies in Pennsylvania to acknowledge and celebrate.
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Rockland Manufacturing, a family-owned manufacturing company within Bedford County, designs and produces more than 250 specialized attachments for nearly any application for heavy equipment.
“By offering one of the largest product lines in the industry, along with impeccable reliability, guaranteed ship dates and rapid lead service times, Rockland has quickly expanded to 500 employees and four facilities based out of Pennsylvania and Texas,” the company said.
Rockland Manufacturing serves more than 2,000 dealerships nationwide and their products can be found all over the world and on nearly every continent.
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Founded in 1953 by Sam Pratt and now owned and operated by his son Bo, Rockland Manufacturing made its mark after creating the first wheel loader rock bucket and world's largest dozer blade. Today, the company's unique scheduling system and old-school mentality of working hard and keeping things simple have only furthered their success, according to the company.
“If you understand your customer, do the little things right and bring them more value over time, they'll keep coming back,” said Bo Pratt. “What we do is not fancy, but it's hard work to get it right.”
Although the company quickly became recognized for its innovation, Pratt said it's the people that keep Rockland successful. That's why Pratt invited the AEM Manufacturing Express to Rockland Manufacturing for a celebration of their hardworking and committed employees.
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AEM and Rockland employees joined together at Rockland Manufacturing's Bedford, Pa., facility on, Sept. 10, 2026. Along with encouraging speeches from Megan Tanel, president and CEO of AEM and President Bo Pratt of Rockland, three employees, Chase Dutil, Travis Zelanko and Tim Fairbanks, also spoke at the event.
“As of today, only 8 percent of Americans are in the manufacturing industry,” Pratt said. “We're unique and we're pros. What we do is very necessary and not everybody can do what we can do. We should be proud of that, I'm proud of that.”
Travis Zelanko, who started with the company back in 2017 said, “It's really an impressive industry and it can take you wherever you want to go. If it weren't for you [Rockland employees], Rockland wouldn't exist.”
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In addition, employees enjoyed foods trucks, complimentary Rockland gear and the opportunity to win prizes in several drawings. AEM also encouraged Rockland employees to become industry advocates by joining the “I Make America” program. The event concluded by Rockland adding its logo to the official AEM touring bus, which showcases the nearly 100 manufacturers AEM visited over the past three years.
