![]() The company produced farm equipment, including straw choppers, portable grain elevators, and sprayers, but also depended on welding, grinding, and general repair work in the off –season. Close friend David Johnson bought into the company while he was still serving in the navy, and Edgar ’s brother Allan Hetteen became a partner in the early 1950s. Metal supply was at a premium at the end of World War II, and Edgar Hetteen was a skilled and inventive metal worker who could help people make do with what they had. But Hetteen Hoist & Derrick, the forerunner of Polaris, was established in 1945 not for the manufacture of snowmobiles, but as a problem –solving job shop that became known for its fabrication of one –of –a –kind machinery for farmers in the region. This relatively remote area, located closer to Winnipeg, Manitoba, than to Minneapolis, inspired a climate of persistent innovation. Polaris Industries was born in Roseau, a small community within a few miles of the northernmost point in the contiguous 48 states. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Polaris operated manufacturing facilities in Roseau, Minnesota, Osceola, Wisconsin, and Spirit Lake, Iowa, and sold its products through approximately 1,900 North American dealers and a network of international distributors that marketed Polaris products in 65 countries around the world. A decade later, on December 23, 1994, Polaris completed its transformation from a limited partnership to a corporation, just as the company was ending its sixth straight year of record sales and earnings. A mid –1981 leveraged buyout that took the form of a limited partnership prevented an otherwise imminent plant shutdown, but it was several years before Polaris was again running smoothly, this time as a revitalized company uniquely situated in a far leaner industry. And during the late 1970s and early 1980s -a period of flagging sales and selloffs that shook the industry as a whole -Polaris ’s future looked just as grim. In 1964 it nearly went bankrupt with the failure of the Comet, its first front –engine sled. The snowmobile industry leader has had its share of troubles during its history, however. ![]() In 1989, for instance, MacNeil –Lehrer News Hour called Polaris America ’s version of Mercedes –Benz. A pioneering force in the American snowmobile industry, Polaris has since its inception enjoyed a strong reputation for quality and innovation. Appropriately, Polaris ’s operations remained centered where they began, in Minnesota -a state that boasts 60 percent of all snowmobile production worldwide (Polaris being responsible for 35 percent, and Arctic Cat for the remaining 25 percent). manufacturer of all –terrain vehicles (ATVs) and personal watercraft (PWC). ![]() is the largest manufacturer of snowmobiles in the world and the largest U.S. SICs: 3799 Transportation Equipment, Not Elsewhere Classifed 3732 Boat Building and Repairing 2329 Men ’s and Boy ’s Clothing, Not Elsewhere Classified 2339 Women ’s and Misses ’ Outerwear, Not Elsewhere Classified ![]()
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