When President Donald Trump and Vice-President Michael Pence toured the grounds of the White House during Made In America Day on Monday, July 17, one of the pieces of American-made equipment they saw on display was an Altec bucket truck that was completed by the Altec Industries plant at Botetourt Center at Greenfield.
Botetourt Economic Development Director Ken McFadyen alerted The Herald to the honor and Altec’s John Herrig II confirmed that the truck at the White House was indeed a Botetourt product.
“Our installation process consists of engineering the final vehicle specifications and then mating the chassis, unit, body, and sub-base into the final product,” Herrig wrote in an email. “In this case, the chassis was purchased from a vendor, the unit was built in our Missouri operation, the body was built in our Alabama operation, and the sub-base was built and vehicle installation occurred here in Botetourt.”
Altec’s home office is in Birmingham, Ala. Besides domestic sales, the company exports to more than 100 countries.
Made in America Day highlighted US-made products at the White House. President Trump signed a proclamation declaring July 16-22 “Made in America Week” to celebrate homegrown products from each of the 50 states.
After the July 17 ceremony, Trump and Pence got close-up looks at the bucket truck produced by Altec, whose customers include utilities, telecommunications firms and other businesses.
“I’m proud to be hosting so many incredible American companies and featuring their products at the White House for the ‘Made in America’ Showcase,” Trump said. “Throughout our country’s history, our gifted and skilled tradespeople have made ‘Made in America’ a gold standard for quality and craftsmanship, but for too long our government pushed aside their interests and allowed their jobs to be shipped overseas.”
Accordig to its website, Altec was founded in 1929. Its CEO, Lee Styslinger III, has served as an advisor on trade to presidents, including Trump. He’s currently serving on a commission on American manufacturing.
