"We're not exactly high profile," says president and CEO Don Armacost, Jr., son of the Kansas City businessman who acquired the company from Wilbur Peterson and staked its future on a commitment to quality. "My father often said he didn't want to be the biggest in the business, just the best. He always looked for ways to improve quality--better materials, better methods, better ideas. That philosophy has served us well, and we look forward to where it will take us in the years ahead." Today the company headquarters in a state-of the-art, 450,000-square-foot facility housing everything from manufacturing and assembly to management, sales, engineering, warehousing and more. Many of the company's superb, non-union workforce of more than 650 people are second- and third-generation Peterson associates.

An ever-growing line of over 2,200 Peterson safety lighting and accessory items serves automotive and heavy-duty truck markets worldwide. Known for innovation, Peterson enjoyed its first major breakthrough with the revolutionary VIBAR® socket. The company has also led in developing rustproof, stainless steel housings; virtually indestructible Lexan® lenses; unique solutions to seal bulbs against moisture and chemicals; LED optic and circuitry technology; plus other product and packaging innovations too numerous to list.

As an ISO 9001:2000 certified company, Peterson Manufacturing is the flagship of the Peterson Corporate Group, a family of 11 companies and over 3,000 associates working in global, transportation- related industries. With the focus on quality as their common theme, these highly specialized companies are important parts of the Peterson corporate success story:

Anderson Marine – Peterson's marine lighting division.
Mission Plastics North – plastic injection molding.
Mission Plastics Arkansas – plastic injection molding.
Maxi-Seal – electrical harness systems for trucks and trailers.
Vector Tool & Engineering – tooling for plastic injection molding.
D&D Aviation – air charter services.
Kansas City Aviation Center – aircraft sales, fuel.
Renzenberger Inc. – railroad crew transportation services.
Motorsports Marketing – retail motor sports collectibles.
Transworld Products, Inc. – global product sourcing.

As Peterson reflects on its 60 years of operation, Armacost says the company is not only proud of its success, but also enormously grateful for its dedicated people and loyal customers.