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The rural and agricultural heritage of Suffolk is one of the core aspects of the city. With farming being a key to its economic success in the past, farming equipment is very much a necessity to continue the harvest. Established in 1963, Amadas Industries specializes in engineering and manufacturing farming equipment in the Suffolk area and beyond, producing peanut diggers, peanut combines, crop transporters and cotton stalk puller/choppers.

“We are a manufacturer. We take raw steel. We take raw materials, and we machine it, weld it, cut it, assemble it and come up with a finished peanut combine or a finished piece of agricultural machinery,” Amadas Vice President/Sales and Marketing Ted Williams said in an interview.

Along with Suffolk, Amadas operates facilities in Albany, Georgia and Cordoba, Argentina, helping with their production of equipment for worldwide distribution. Williams said their work with John Deere Dealers helps make it happen.

“We have a dealer network that we sell through, the majority of which are John Deere dealers. We sell domestically in all of the peanut areas and then we also have equipment in over 50 countries worldwide,” Williams said. “In certain countries we have agents, not necessarily a distributor, but an agent. What we want is someone that can sell, service, support, provide parts to the customers in those regions. In other areas, we have sold directly to users where we did not have dealers or agents.”

However, Amadas Industries headquarters remains here at 1100 Holland Rd., along with a Suffolk plant at 302 Kenyon Rd. In addition to its focus on helping the Suffolk community, Williams says they are always looking for good people and are always hiring.

“We want to be a good community partner,” Williams said.  “We want to provide a good place to work and a good, safe environment where people feel comfortable, where they can make a good living.”

He said they also support the community in various aspects — the schools, the charities.

“We try to be a good corporate neighbor,” Williams said.