Peterson Manufacturing of Grandview, Mo., is celebrating its 60th anniversary with special events and customer promotions scheduled for this summer and fall.

Over the past six decades, Peterson has grown from a small, automotive aftermarket supplier of such items as safety lighting and tire pumps, to a quarter-billion-dollar, multi-faceted corporation serving transportation-related industries around the world. Yet for all of its impressive growth, the family-owned company is virtually unknown by millions who see and use Peterson products every day of their lives.
"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.
Today the company headquarters is in a 450,000-square-foot facility housing everything from manufacturing and assembly to management, sales, engineering, warehousing and more. Many of the company's more than 650 employees are second- and third-generation Peterson associates.
An ever-growing line of more than 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.
As an ISO 9001:2000 certified company, Peterson Manufacturing is the flagship of the Peterson Corporate Group, a family of 11 companies and more than 3,000 associates working in global, transportation-related industries.