Great Plains Manufacturing has been approved for membership in the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), the USUBC executive committee announced recently.

The USUBC has a membership of over 120 companies and organizations who have business operations, investments or other development programs in Ukraine.

Great Plains has over 1,000 employees and maintains its corporate headquarters in Salina, Kan., and has 8 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Salina, Assaria, Kipp, Abilene, Lucas, Salina, Ellsworth, and Tipton, Kansas.

Great Plains Manufacturing, Inc. produces a wide range of agricultural seed planting equipment and tillage equipment which are designed perfectly for
agricultural operations in Ukraine. Great Plains Manufacturing has been exporting agricultural equipment to Ukraine for several years.  They work through several independent, privately-owned, agricultural distributors in provide new equipment, spare parts and service.

GREAT PLAINS MANUFACTURING DIVISIONS
The Great Plains Division manufactures agricultural seed planting equipment, tillage equipment, and crop sprayers. In 1986, the Land Pride Division was started.

This diversified the company's product mix to include finish mowers, rotary tillers, rotary cutters, landscape seeding equipment, zero-turn mowers, and a number of dirt-working implements. The company's products are sold through over 2,000 independent dealerships across the United States and are exported worldwide.

GREAT PLAINS RECENTLY ACQUIRED SIMBA INTERNATIONAL
On April 30, 2010 Great Plains International completed the acquisition of SIMBA International of Sleaford, England. SIMBA is a leading manufacturer
of advanced tillage equipment and markets its products in Great Britain and throughout a number of countries world-wide. 

Great Plains expects to see a growing market for the SIMBA product line in Ukraine.  SIMBA employs about 90 people and operates a 61,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Sleaford.

ROY APPLEQUIST, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
Great Plains Manufacturing, Inc. was started on April 1, 1976. 

Roy Applequist, founder and president, has lead the company during these past thirty-four years, and has taken the company from a small local manufacturing enterprise to being today a world leader in agricultural technology.

Roy was in Washington recently to attend the Presidential luncheon with Viktor Yanukovych sponsored by USUBC.

Great Plains Manufacturing has a full time representative in Ukraine, Andriy Vorobyov plus it has a staff of 4 employees.  Andriy works with the distributors of Great Plains equipment in Ukraine.  USUBC has been working with Andriy over the past few months.  

Daniel Rauchholz, President of Great Plains International, Salina, Kan., will represent the company on the USUBC board of directors.

ATTENDING AGRO 2010 - JUNE 15 TO 19, 2010, KYIV 
Great Plains Manufacturing executives Roy Applequist and Daniel Rauchholz are in Kyiv this week attending the 22nd International Agricultural Exhibition-Fair AGRO 2010 from June 15 to 19. Great Plains has a display booth at AGRO 2010 showing their agricultural machinery.

AGRO is the Leading Trade Fair for Agriculture, Agricultural Machinery, Livestock Farming, Food Industry, and the Renewable and Alternative Energy Sector in Ukraine.

In 2009 some 500,000 visitors from 33 countries came to the show while 2,167 exhibitors from 24 countries presented their newest products and services at AGRO. More than 55,000 sq.m of exhibition area at the Expocentre of Ukraine outdoors and in 10 pavilions were covered last year.

KANSAS - THE WHEAT STATE
"I am very pleased to have such an outstanding business from my home state of Kansas join USUBC," said Morgan Williams, director, government affairs, Washington office, for the SigmaBleyzer private equity investment management group who serves as president of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC).

"The business connection between such companies as Great Plains Manufacturing in the USA and agricultural producers in Ukraine is a win-win
proposition. Properly managed agricultural enterprises in Ukraine can both increase crop production and decrease costs by using Great Plains equipment.

Farm managers in Ukraine have told me with such tangible benefits the equipment will pay for itself in two or three years at the most," Williams
reported.

SUBSIDIARIES OF GREAT PLAINS MANUFACTURING
Two other important subsidiaries of Great Plains Mfg., Inc. are; Great Plains Trucking which operates 60 trucks, delivering products to our North American dealers, and Great Plains Acceptance Corporation, which provides product financing.

Great Plains Manufacturing encompasses eight manufacturing facilities with a total of approximately 1,250,000 square feet. The majority of the company's over 1,000 employees live in central Kansas.

Computerization, combined with automated manufacturing systems, provide an environment that ensures high quality products made with precision and efficiency. Great Plains workers are well trained and even more, they practice a family-oriented mid-western work ethic, where quality is attached to personal pride.

Additional information about Great Plains Manufacturing, Inc. can be found on their website: www.greatplainsmfg.com.

USUBC MEMBERSHIP NOW 120 AND STILL GROWING
One-Hundred Twenty Members, June 2010, Membership in January of 2007 was 22. The complete list of USUBC members can be found at: http://www.usubc.org/members.php.