WASHINGTON -- Mary Vermeer Andringa, president and chief executive officer of Vermeer Corporation in Pella, Iowa, began her two-year term on January 1, 2009, as vice chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the nation’s largest industrial trade association.
Andringa was elected vice chair at the NAM’s semi-annual Board of Directors meeting in October 2008. She succeeds Michael Campbell of Arch Chemicals in this voluntary position that traditionally paves the way for the NAM chairmanship.
Andringa is setting a new precedent as the first female vice chair of the NAM Board of Directors. Andringa will be the third executive from a small or medium manufacturing company to lead the manufacturers’ association. She will also be the third executive from Iowa to lead the NAM, following Richard Kautz of Grain Processing Corporation (1976) and Daniel J. Krumm of Maytag Corporation (1990).
“I am honored to serve America’s manufacturers in these tumultuous economic times,” Andringa said. “I look forward to working with the Obama Administration and the new Congress to help craft policies and legislation that will enable manufacturing to be a significant part of our nation’s recovery and long-term economic growth,” said Andringa.