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AEM President highlights her new role and organization priorities

Megan Tanel began her role as president of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers at the beginning of the year.

Since then, she tells Brownfield “we have such a strong team here at AEM and we have such great engagement and support from our boards and with our membership that it has made the transition to (president) really smooth for me and it made this first month pretty amazing.”

Tanel has been with the organization for nearly 30 years. She joined AEM in 1995, serving in different roles including senior vice president of exhibitions and events in 2016 and senior vice president of the construction and utility sector in 2020.

She says AEM is focused on its strategic priorities including building a positive perception of the industry.

“The recent challenges with finding the right workforce and replacing some of those who have retired or decided to transition into other roles and industries has only brought the need more to life,” she says. “For us, it’s engaging with our members and sharing their stories and showing how positive the work that we do is and the things that our members who are original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) do and how it has a great impact on the rest of the world. We represent over 2 million men and women whether it’s contractors, farmers, manufacturers, or whatever it may be, it’s a great place to be and we have great stories to tell.”

Another priority is accelerating industry growth. AEM launched a toolkit last year to help organizations attract a next-generation workforce and retain talent.

“Whether that is looking toward a different mindset or different business model to attract more women, minorities, people who come from an inner-city as opposed to a rural location, and military,” she says.

Tanel says advocacy is also top of mind.

“With the big win with the unfracture bill being approved, and we’re still enjoying that, and now it’s rolling up our sleeves and figuring out what that means and how we take that into policy,” she says.

She says AEM is also focused on sustainability, regulatory and compliance, supporting member company decision making, facilitating customer-facing efforts and events.

AEM is in the third year of a four-year strategic plan. Tanel says discussions about the next strategic plan will begin soon.

“It’s a great time to take a breath, see where we’re at, put the plans together for the future strategic plan, and then we’ll launch the hard work of establishing that plan next year,” she says. “We’re in a good place.”

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Audio: Megan Tanel