The Pella family that reinvented haymaking with the round baler.
Gary Vermeer, a Pella-area farmer, invented a wagon hoist in 1943 to make unloading corn easier, and in 1948 he started a manufacturing business with his cousin Ralph Vermeer.
In 1971 the company unveiled the large round hay baler, which turned haymaking into a one-person job and produced bales nearly ten times larger than before — revolutionizing the industry.
Vermeer is privately held; the revenue and employee figures here are third-party estimates, not company-disclosed. The family's personal wealth is not publicly disclosed.
Vermeer Corporation has stayed under family control for more than 75 years. Gary's children Robert Vermeer and Mary Vermeer Andringa served as co-CEOs; his grandson Jason Andringa now serves as President and CEO, and granddaughter Mindi Vanden Bosch as vice president of operations.
Gary Vermeer died in 2009 at the age of 90.
Vermeer is based in Pella, Iowa. Family-controlled for more than 75 years, now led by the third generation
1948.
Gary Vermeer — founder and inventor of the large round hay baler
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