Our Marmon Wasp Engineers were looking forward to their visit to Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting, and the event didn’t disappoint! Accompanied by a replica of the revolutionary 1911 Marmon Wasp race car, team members Ryan VanLeeuwen and Thérèse Stevens set out to share one of the sources of our inspiration with the other visitors and to celebrate the innovations of Marmon’s past, present and future.
Visitors to the Marmon booth had the opportunity to meet our Marmon Wasp Engineers, take photos with the replica Marmon Wasp and learn about what made it so groundbreaking, and even grab some fun Marmon swag featuring Warren Buffet himself.
“Many of the visitors to the Marmon booth didn’t have any previous knowledge of the Marmon Wasp,” said Thérèse. “When I told the story of how the rearview mirror was invented by Marmon Engineer and Driver Ray Harroun, they could relate to something they use every day.”
Thérèse and Ryan, two of the Marmon Wasp Engineers, in front of the Replica Marmon Wasp at the Marmon booth.
The replica Marmon Wasp drew a crowd. One visitor in particular made an impression on Thérèse: an older man who had always wanted to see the original Marmon Wasp but whose health had kept him from traveling to the Indiana Motor Speedway Museum. “He told me that seeing this Marmon Wasp was a dream come true,” she said. “The story was so heartwarming that I almost cried when I saw him back in front of the Marmon Wasp later that same day. He looked so happy.”
The Marmon booth at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting.
And even in a room full of innovators, our engineers still stood out from the crowd by showing how the Marmon Wasp replica exemplifies our commitment to demonstrating the path forward. Bill Contaxis, Executive Vice President, Marmon Holdings, Inc. and Group President, Colson Medical, noted how the Marmon Wasp Engineers were bringing our story to life, saying that they “[wove] Marmon’s stories wonderfully into Marmon’s heritage story of innovation and the Marmon Wasp.”
We left the shareholders meeting inspired by the enthusiasm we saw from the attendees when they heard the story of the Marmon Wasp and are excited to bring that inspiration and momentum into the future at Marmon.
Thérèse and Ryan, two of the Marmon Wasp Engineers, talking with shareholders at the Marmon booth.
Are you feeling inspired too? Click here to learn about our history of innovation from 1911 through today, and here to discover the world of opportunity that is within reach at Marmon.
