The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and the I Make America campaign celebrated the campaign’s first anniversary, and to mark the occasion, industry supporters held a virtual march on Washington, D.C.

AEM called on its supporters to send letters, sign a petition, and call their elected officials in Congress to demand they take a stand for U.S. jobs by passing a comprehensive, well-funded highway bill.

On Sept. 29, 2010 in Washington, D.C., AEM – along with Mike Rowe of Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs –  launched I Make America, a national grassroots campaign to promote manufacturing jobs through infrastructure investment and export agreements as proven ways to create and sustain jobs for American workers. The campaign has enlisted the support of more than 13,000 people nationwide so far, AEM’s 850+ member companies, and industry organizations.

“I thank the entire equipment manufacturing industry, our member companies and partners, and our I Make America supporters for your efforts to demonstrate to Congress the human face of their continued inaction on infrastructure investment,” says Dennis Slater, president of AEM. “Our work is far from over.”

I Make America will continue to demand Congress takes action and passes a well-funded, multi-year highway bill. Their inaction is hampering American workers and manufacturers’ efforts to get back to work rebuilding and modernizing our roads, bridges and highways. America’s stagnant economy, high unemployment and the declining resources in our communities demand a sense of urgency from our political leaders in D.C.

“This week we are encouraging everyone to contact their representatives via our Virtual March on Washington to turn up the heat on Congress and demand action,” adds Slater. “We need leadership, not partisan bickering, to ensure our nation’s competitiveness—here and abroad, now and in the future—is not threatened.”

For more about the Virtual March, go to www.aem.org/News/Advisors/AEM/index.asp?A=522.