The Wells County Chamber of Commerce staff and ambassadors recognized American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) as the February Member of the Month, located at 131 W. Harvest Road in Bluffton. AAM has a total of 260 employees at the Bluffton location.
Brandon Hoggard, plant manager, was excited to share the recognition with his hard-working individuals and said it has been a conscience effort the past couple of years to invest and participate in community activities.
“Even with everything going on, it has been important to touch the lives of people in Wells County. We want to be here for a long time, give back, and participate because we want to be in the community.”
AAM has been participating in sponsorship activities with various organizations, involved in the Street Fair Parade and Industrial Tent, Manufacturing Day with local schools, and much more.
“Manufacturing Day was exciting to teach students about being a part of the manufacturing environment and what we do here,” said Hoggard. “Overall, giving back is important to be a part of Wells County and we are looking forward to doing more in 2022.”
AAM acquired the Bluffton plant from Metaldyne six years ago. AAM is a leading global tier 1 automotive supplier to Ford, Toyota, GM, and is currently launching a new product for Harley Davidson. Since 1994, AAM is a global company across 17 countries, and operates in 80 facilities. The Bluffton facility specializes in precision machining for transmission components for Ford, high precision aluminum machining, steel and cast iron.
Hoggard said that the future goals for the automotive industry have been shifting from the internal combustion engine and moving towards electrification.
“AAM has many different research projects, investments, and partnerships with a variety of companies moving our supply base from the internal combustion processes to electrification. We know that Bluffton can be a part of that due to the high precision machining done here. Overall, the goal is to continue to provide a need for what we are making today but grow into the electrification business. It is exciting times, and they are definitely investing heavily in that avenue to continue to grow our business.
“This honor is so good for us because we know we have had some rough times in the last few years; however, our concentrated efforts are paying off and being recognized by our community is a huge honor for us,” explained Hoggard. “We don’t want to just be here to make parts. We want to grow our people and develop them, giving employees the skills to continue to grow and be a part of the community. Wells County is a great place to live.”
“We are excited to be here and will continue to do everything we can to support our community and give back how we can,” concluded Hoggard.
