On a chill Thursday morning in September, The AEM Manufacturing Express rolled through Bedford, Pennsylvania. Nestled near the southern point of Tussey Mountain, downtown Bedford embodies the quintessential American small-town. Taking a walk down Pitt Street and you’ll see many different family-owned businesses in classic brick buildings: candy shops, Irish pubs, even a old-school movie theater. The town gets a lot of seasonal tourism, usually day-trippers from nearby Pittsburgh. But all of those local business owners would agree that their local economy would not be as vibrant without the local equipment manufacturer that provides so many jobs to the community: Rockland Manufacturing 

Rockland produces attachments for a variety of machine types, including excavators, loaders, skid steers, and more. Altogether Rockland manufactures more than 250 types of attachments. In fact, you’re likely to find a Rockland attachment on much of the equipment produced by other manufacturers we have visited on this tour, including Volvo, Kobelco, and John Deere.  

“We really look at what we do as a portfolio that serves a range of markets,” said Scott Smith, Product Manager at Rockland Manufacturing. “That could be anything from mining, that could be agriculture, that can be coal. That can be general construction, demolition, infrastructure and utilities, logging, and forestry. Generally speaking, if it is a type of work that you see a loader, dozer, excavator or skid steer at, we have something in it most likely.” 

The company’s portfolio has grown significantly since its inception. Back in the late 1940s, an equipment salesman named Tom Billings grew frustrated with the poor durability of the land-clearing rakes on the market. He took matters into his own hands and built one himself behind a gas station in Massachusetts. That model was the first iteration of the Rockland RF-3. The success of that model earned a local reputation and led to the formal creation of Rockland Manufacturing in 1953. Sixty-five years later, the RF-3 rake is still the ONLY heavy-duty land clearing rake covered by a lifetime warranty. 

Since then, the company has continued to advance attachment innovation. That includes products such as the first wheel loader rock bucket, the world’s largest dozer blade, and hydraulic thumbs, which have since become an industry standard.  

The event with the Manufacturing Express was a chance to both show off their excellent equipment and give attention to the fantastic team they have here at the Bedford facility. Next to their stage were a few of Rockland’s iconic attachments, in both signature black and yellow. As part of the kickoff ceremony, three different workers from the line came on stage to talk about their positive experiences here working at Rockland and how proud they are of the work being done here in Bedford.

“I’ve enjoyed working here tremendously,” said Chase Dutell, Nightshift Production Plant Manager at Rockland and one of their select speakers. “I’ve worked with great new hires and new people. Gotten to travel through different departments: welding, fitting, machine shop. Our team here at Rockland builds a quality product. The quality products we build everyday builds quality infrastructure. Buildings, Bridges, roads: All those have to be built using the buckets and equipment that we manufacture here today.” 

In the 1970s, Rockland opened up shop in Bedford, Pennsylvania and today employs 480 people at that facility. As the company continues to grow itself, they are focused on growing the next generation of manufacturing workers in Bedford to support them. Rockland has partnerships with the local vo-tech schools, even helping develop criteria for their curriculum to focus on heavy fabrication. 

The company even has workers from its shop help train students on their welding tests, and helping Pennsylvania’s future manufacturing workforce build the skills needed to thrive in the industry. 

That investment in the next generation is helping ensure Rockland can continue doing what it has done for more than 70 years: adapt to the needs of the industry and build the products that keep it moving. From a single land-clearing rake built behind a Massachusetts gas station to more than 250 types of attachments manufactured in Bedford today, Rockland’s story is one of constant evolution and a reminder that American manufacturing’s ability to innovate starts with the skilled people who make it possible.