AME’s Man Behind the Sawing Machine
Recently, Advanced Machine & Engineering (AME) announced a $3.5M facility expansion with a groundbreaking event on Tuesday, December 19th, 2017.
The expansion is expected to bring around 100 new, manufacturing jobs to the Rockford community, plus additional business for local suppliers—a great accomplishment for a company that was founded more than 50 years ago by Willy Goellner.
Goellner sat down with WTVO’s, Christie Nicks, to share his story of courage, strength, and determination—from the young boy who lost his family to the havocs of war; to the man who immigrated to the U.S. with his family and started a business that grew into a worldwide enterprise by 2017.
Goellner’s daughter, Marika, wanted to know more about the man behind the machine, so she convinced her father to start writing his story in 1996. After 20 years of writing, Goellner finally published his autobiography, “Against All Odds: From There to Here,” this past fall.
His book helps raise money and awareness for ALS (Lou Gherig’s disease) research -- a disease in which Goellner’s wife, Irmgard, lost her life to in 2016.
“Against All Odds: From There to Here” is currently available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the book’s website. Hardcover, soft cover, and ebook versions are all available. In memory of Willy's wife Irmgard, donations can be made on the ALS website: www.alsachicago.org.
“It has been said that behind every successful man is a good wife. This is very true in my case. I truly can say that without her support, we would not have survived and stayed in business.” - Willy Goellner, Founder and Chairman of AME, Against All Odds: From There to Here