Page 7 - WOW Summer 2023

To Pella Iowa We Went

By: April Wise
April Wise (Career Advisor) and Chad Schmelzer (Business Development
Representative) had the pleasure of visiting one of our top employers,
Vermeer Corporation on May 1-3, 2023. We were given a tour of the
facility and saw where and what Hobart Institute of Welding Technology
graduates are welding and the environment they are in. Hobart Institute
has had an ongoing relationship with Vermeer for over 5 years now,
and Vermeer has visited Hobart Institute of Welding Technology on
multiple occasions conducting presentations, interviews, weld tests
for our students and attending many of our job fairs. Vermeer has weld
tested and hired nearly 30 students for their Pella IA location where
they manufacture and support high-quality industrial and agricultural
equipment. Vermeer’s Pella plant has more than 400 welders at their
facility. We had the pleasure of eating lunch in the original home of
Vermeer's founder, Gary Vermeer with four of our Hobart Institute
graduates that have worked there for a span of over 5 years.
We had the luxury of seeing the town of Pella, where our graduates live,
along with many activities that they can experience (lake, fishing, hiking, the competition in a caring culture focused on quality, safety, continuous
camping, and boating). We had the enjoyment of experiencing the town improvement, and customer satisfaction.
of Pella’s Tulip Time which is hosted by the Pella Historical Society & Vermeer machines are made to equip customers to do more across a
Museums. diverse group of important markets including underground construction,
Vermeer is best known for the manufacturing of the round hay baler, an infrastructure, surface mining, tree care, environmental, and agriculture.
invention that revolutionized agriculture in 1971 as it turned the labor- The 3-day hospitality we received from the folks at Vermeer was amazing.
intensive process of hay baling into a one-man operation. We were welcomed in like family and were given an amazing tour of
As a leading manufacturer of industrial and agricultural equipment, their facilities and the town of Pella. It was a wonderful experience
Vermeer relies on a team of more than 4,000 to make a real impact. and one we can use when speaking with soon-to-be graduates about
Headquartered in Pella, Iowa, Vermeer employs team members opportunities with Vermeer.
around the world, with regional offices in the
Netherlands, Brazil, and Singapore; additional
manufacturing facilities in South Carolina, Florida,
and South Dakota in the United States, as well as
the Netherlands and Tianjin, China; and more than
600 dealers located around the world.
Vermeer has continued to listen to, and meet,
the needs of customers across the globe for
more than 70 years. Proud to be a family-owned
and-operated company, they serve as a leading
example of a successful family business.
The team is steadfast in their commitment to
safety, as well as finding, training, and developing
a workforce built for the future. Welders at
Vermeer take on the challenge to find a way to
get the work done better today than yesterday.
They invest in technology, tools, training, and
facility improvements that keep them ahead of

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