Stiles Machinery Inc. is pleased to report on the 42nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Combois.

Hosted by its Spanish member MAESMA the international member countries of Combois e.V. met in Bilbao, the commercial center of the Basque region of Spain and home of the famed Guggenheim museum designed by Frank Gehry.

Combois was founded in 1967 with the mission to facilitate the exchange of woodworking technology and know-how between leading machinery suppliers from different countries and to raise the standards of customer service through the development of innovative approaches to customer care.

Although most member countries suffered from the worldwide economic downturn delegates reported that stabilization had occurred in almost all markets and that encouraging trends towards new technology investments were developing in many areas.

Currently, Combois members represent the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Chile, China, Denmark, Dubai and the Middle East, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Portugal, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, South Africa and USA. New members from other regions of this world are expected to join in the near future. The current members jointly employ a workforce of over 1,100 highly specialized individuals and achieve a combined sales volume of over EUR 500 million.

Stiles is the exclusive member for the United States and proudly announces that the 2010 AGM event will be held in Chicago, IL, and Grand Rapids, MI, next September.

Combois Presidium pictured in the photo (from left to right): Jesper Nicholaisen (Vice President Denmark), Peter Kleinschmidt (Vice President USA), Fritz Peine (President Germany), Juan Manuel Alvarez (Host, Spain).