Over 1,400 employees gathered at EMD’s headquarters and manufacturing campus in La Grange, Ill. to celebrate the company’s fifth year of independence since being spun off from General Motors Corporation in April 2005. Honored guests included U.S. Congressional Representatives Dan Lipinski and Judy Biggert, along with Mayor Jeffrey Tobolski of McCook and Mayor Robert A. Conrad of the town of Countryside. A variety of activities were held to mark the occasion including a formal program that featured the remarks of EMD’s president and chief executive officer, John S. Hamilton. Hamilton observed, “Five years ago there were feelings of uncertainty regarding the future of the organization.