Case Study - Vermeer Market Based Strategy
In 1943, at the height of World War II, American farmers were facing a shortage of farm help. Farming at that time was still a very labor-intensive industry. The shortage of workers pushed some innovative farmers to find better ways to work more efficiently. One of those farmers was a man named Gary Vermeer from Pella, Iowa. To help his operation, Vermeer invented a mechanical wagon hoist that made unloading a grain wagon quicker and easier.
It didn’t take long for other farmers in the area to ask Vermeer to build hoists for their operations as well. Five years later, with the support of his cousin Ralph, Gary Vermeer built the idea into a business—and Vermeer Manufacturing Company was born.
In the years that followed, Vermeer continued to listen to people and look for new ways to help farmers work more efficiently. The company introduced the Pow-R-Drive hammermill to help farmers grind grain using their tractors’ power take-off (PTO). PTO-powered irrigation systems and trenchers followed and helped the company open international markets.
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