How it started
History
Arctic Cat was formed by snowmobile pioneer Edgar Hetteen in 1960 after leaving his previous self-started business, Polaris Industries. Arctic Cat grew to become a major manufacturer of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. The company's first name was Polar Manufacturing, but it soon changed to Arctic Enterprises. The company made its first snowmobile in 1960.
In 1968, a 15,000-square-foot winter-wear factory was opened in Rainy River, Ontario, employing an additional 60 workers. In 1970, they started the Boss Cat line.
Arctic Cat went bankrupt in 1982 but two years later, a new company, Arctco, it was created to continue the production of Arctic Cat snowmobiles. In 1996, the company changed its name to Arctic Cat.
The brand's headquarters has relocated several times, but Arctic Cat continues most of its manufacturing, along with snowmobile engineering, in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The company also manufactures engines at a facility in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
On January 25, 2017, it was announced that Textron would acquire Arctic Cat for $247 million in a cash transaction.
From Wikipedia’s article on Arctic Cat, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3