Midwestern

Huron Manufacturer Of The Year Explains Big Break

An award winning Seaforth Company has orders from customers around the world.

Progressive Turf Equipment started with seven workers at a repair shop in Seaforth in 1977, but a big break for the business came in 1989.

Luke Janmaat says he was at the International Plowing Match in 1989 when someone in the sod industry asked him to build a lawn mower, and the business took off from there.

They now employ about 35 people and they sell lawn care products to anyone who cuts grass anywhere in the world.

He says most of the business comes from the U-S, including Alaska but they also sell to China, Japan and throughout Europe.

Janmaat adds the exchange rate on the Canadian dollar is helping business a little right now as well.

Janmaat recently won the Huron Manufacturing Association's Manufacturer of the Year

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