Built to Last: Arctic Cat, Thief River Falls, and the People Who Wouldn't Quit

Speaker A: Foreign.

Speaker B: There's a town, uh, in the northwest corner of Minnesota. About 9,000 people, one remaining stoplight, thanks to all the new roundabouts, thousands of annual visiting burgers, winters that bite down to 40 below zero. And for more than 60 years, when the rest of the world has seen this town's name in print, it's usually preceding home of Arctic Cat. The story of Thief River Falls. And Arctic Cat is one that starts with a restless founder who'd already built one company and walked away from runs through a bankruptcy that gutted the town. A, uh, rebirth powered by people who refused to let the brand die. And just last year, a second m near death and a second resurrection sealed on a date that's almost too perfect to be tr. My guest today is Troy Halverson, director of product strategy for Arctic Cat. Troy grew up in Thief river falls. In the 1970s, he watched his dad build snowmobiles. He got turned down for a job at Arctic Cat out of high school, did six years in the Marine Corps, and finally got the job of his dreams in 1997. Troy's been there ever since. There's nobody better to tell you what this company means to the people who build it and to the town that it's built around. So settle in. This episode is about loyalty, about a place, and about what it actually takes to make something that lasts. My name is Randolph Briley, and this is Explore Minnesota. More come.

Speaker A: Explore Minnesota. It's a hootin. Don't you know about the marvelous Minnesotan Tour? Creating and promoting different spaces and adventures to explore our great outdoors. And since you're here, you'll hear the reasons to enjoy all of our season. Since the North Star State's 10,000 lakes and all space in between is the perfect place to venture with your friends and family.

Speaker B: To understand Arctic Cat, you have to start with a restless man named Edgar Hatin. Edgar helped start Polaris up in Roseau, then walked away and went looking for his next thing in Alaska. He came up empty. But one night, he had a memory and an idea. A group of businessmen down in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, who had once tried to lure him their way. Troy picks it up here.

Speaker C: There was a group of, um, businessmen from Thief River Falls that had wanted Edgar to move the business down to Thief River Falls. LB Harts and Lois Swenson and Bill Lefebvre, some of the guys that were very instrumental in the history of, of FIFA Falls, um, after Edgar left Polaris and he went up to Alaska, uh, to try to get some work up There and didn't really find anything that was right for him. And he remembered those businessmen from Thief River Falls that wanted to start, uh, a company in, in Thief River. So he ended up connecting back with those folks and, and uh, decided to start. Start Articat in the for falls. It didn't. It started off as polar Manufacturing and they were. I actually looked at some old Thief River Falls Times articles and found that it was April 23, 1962 that Arctic Enterprises became Arctic Enterprises. So which, which kind of gives it some cool, um, foresight for the future. And I'll explain that in a bit.

Speaker B: Hold on to that date. It comes back around.

Speaker C: My dad worked at Articat as I was growing up through the 70s and growing up in the 70s, there's not a lot to do in the wintertime, um, when you live out in the country. So um, fortunately we had snowmobiles from my dad that he had from work. And he used to say when we asked to go ride, he said, well, if you can start it, you can ride it. So that's what we did during the winter times is road snowmobiles.

Speaker B: He applied right out of high school, got turned down, spent six years in the Marine Corps, used the GI Bill and got the job of his dreams in 1997. A different route, but it tells you this was never just about the employment m. Through the 60s and 70s, Arctic Cat was one of the giants of a crowded industry. Then the bottom fell out.

Speaker C: And then some things happened in the early 80s through economics as well as bad snow years and um, already bankrupt in. I think it was 82, I remember correctly. I was, I was a kid at the time. Like I said, my dad worked there. So, um, it was kind of a big impact on the community, obviously to lose such a large business and then also just the passion of our brand and what it meant to the. The snowmobile industry was a pretty big blow.

Speaker B: This is the moment that defines everything after. Because a bankrupt brand in a small town usually just ends. This one didn't and Troy is clear about why.

Speaker C: There was a lot of some very dedicated individuals that knew they didn't want to see Arquette die. So Roger Sky. Roger was one of them. Lo Swenson and well, there's a number of them, Dave Thompson and um, a bunch of guys that were just passionate about the brand and keeping Articat alive. So Edgar Hettyn obviously was one of those people as well. So they got it going back again. I think it was 84. And so that was very big time for the community because it was uh, a rebirth. We had such, continued to this day have such a loyal customer base of our product that they're very die hardy Cat people. And people get tattoos of Arctic. It tells you how special special the brand is to a lot of people.

Speaker B: Here's the hard truth about a winter machine. Build the best one on earth and if the snow doesn't come, nobody buys it.

Speaker C: No matter how good your snowmobile is, people won't buy it if there's no snow. So uh, we've had some, some winters where we've had some problems there. It's important for us to have other product in our pipeline as well. That's why the watercraft industry was a pretty good one for us with the Tiger shark. Our first ATV was in 1996. So that was kind of a milestone year as well. We just celebrated our 30 years of being in the off road industry.

Speaker B: And critically they kept the building of it close to home.

Speaker C: So as we move forward into the, into the recession time period starting seeing rumblings of Suzuki wanting to get out of the engine building business. Fortunately for us we'd already started uh, the process of doing our own engine. So we have a facility down in St. Cloud, Minnesota. So that was another kind of a big milestone for, for Already Cat to be able to have an engine factory still in Minnesota. Some of our competitors were going outside the state and doing different things or outside the countries and stuff. And I think that's one thing that Already Cat's always pride itself with is that you know, most of our stuff is domestic. Our production is all domestic, you know, here in Thief River Falls for our snowmobiles. So that's something that was pretty important to us.

Speaker B: In 2017, Textron, the company behind Cessna, Bell Helicopters, even the V22 Osprey bought Arctic Cat. Good people, good tools, Troy says. But power sports is a particular world.

Speaker C: Tektron um, decided that they were going to get out, pull up, get out of the power sports industry altogether. So basically we were told that our company was either going to get sold to somebody else or we were going to cease to be a company. And so there was a lot of uh, anxiety in the company. A lot of people ended uh, up

Speaker B: losing their jobs, severance packages down faces around the plant, in the town. Because Troy says when you work somewhere like Arctic Cat, it becomes part of your DNA. And during those months the town let him know.

Speaker C: A lot of people knew I worked at Articat just because how I dress. Like right now I'm wearing an Articat shirt. And that's pretty much if I go out on to the grocery store, you know, I got um, my Arctic Cat gear on and ah, people stop me and say, hey, how's things going with Articat? I hope, really hope they turn around. We're praying for you guys. And, and so in the back of my mind, um, you know, that meant a lot. You know, the, the actual, the outpouring in the community as well as the. Our competitor model or competitor companies like Polaris, you know, reached out and, and they're like, hey, we're rooting for you guys because you know, they, they know that it's important.

Speaker B: Troy's a glass half full guy and he kept believing someone would step in. He had someone in mind. A former Arctic Cat executive named Brad Darling.

Speaker C: Brad Darling, who's, who's our president and CEO. I knew him from before I worked for him and um, I knew that he was interested in. He had a group of investors interested in purchasing Articat from Textron. So I was pretty excited about that because if you get a guy like Brad who is passionate about the industry but is very intelligent and uh, business savvy, there's no way we can't be successful. Um, so, so for Brad to get involved in it and with the investors to take the chance on, on um, bringing Arctic Cat back to life, it was a huge thing.

Speaker B: And here's where the story does the thing. You couldn't write without somebody calling it too convenient.

Speaker C: Going back to what I originally told you about when Arctic Enterprises became Arctic Enterprises was April 23, 1962. Arctic Cat was acquired by Brad and his group of investors. April 23, 2025. So that was pretty cool. That's why that date kind of means a lot, um, in our stories.

Speaker B: 63 years to the day and they didn't ease back in, they sprinted.

Speaker C: April 24th, Brad, we were working together, getting a lineup, um, out to our dealers so that they could place their orders. And uh, we were in production by, uh, we started our back into production with our Wildcat XX in July and we're back building snowmobile snowmobiles again in that August, September timeframe. What really helped us too is we just put together a new platform for our snowmobiles called the Catalyst platform, which is, works extremely well and it's very exciting product for us. And to be able to kind of hit that running with, with a new leadership team, uh, it just everything lined up. So it worked out extremely well. And uh, and I think our, our hope and Optimism really paid off in our prayers that, that we would be a company again.

Speaker B: So m. So what does this company mean to a town of 10,000? Troy says you can't really separate the two anymore. And it isn't even the only major maker in town. Right down Brooks Avenue sits Digi Key.

Speaker C: Both our companies are on Brooks Avenue. So we have Battle of Brooks Avenue, uh, where we play hockey against each other. And we've got a traveling trophy that we made that's an exhaust pipe and it's decorated with electronic components. So it's kind of a big thing that, uh, you know, we get to all play at the Ralph Inglestead arena here in Thiever Falls and, and make a big deal out of it. And it's a, it's a charity. You know, people donate money for the ticket sales, goes to charity, and they do some pretty cool stuff. But anyway, it's a rivalry that we've had now for a while and I will say I'm very excited because this year we actually won. There's a lot of cross pollination there between some of the employees and in their families. So my daughter actually works at Digikeed.

Speaker B: A trophy welded from an exhaust pipe and circuit boards played for charity in a town where Troy's own daughter works for the other side. That's not marketing. That's a community. If you spend time in Minnesota, you know the shape of it. It's the same bond Red Wing has with Red Wing shoes. When people picture a manufacturer, they picture an assembly line. Arctic Cat has one. And Troy will tell you it's honorable work, but the careers there run in every direction.

Speaker C: It kind of spans the spectrum. You know, there's a lot of people that are young people that come out of high school that maybe don't quite know what they want to do with their life yet. So, you know, the great thing is you come work at Articat, you can work on the assembly line and, and make, um, some money, um, while you decide what you want to do. And I think that there's some people that just love assembling stuff, which is a very honorable job. Ah, to have that. You're creating a product that people will find enjoyment from. So what better thing can that be? Um, so people like the challenge of being able to build stuff. So they start off, maybe start off with the assembly line and they may stay in the assembly line and they work through some of the. Some of them become leaders, some before men or lead people or managers. Uh, and some people just are just happy to be able to come to work and do a good day's work and collect paycheck and know that the product that they're building is going to benefit somebody. And then there's the people that, um, started already cat maybe work during the summertimes while they're going to go to school if they want to go to college. Troy sky, who's our director of operation, is a great example of that. He got a job here working summers right out of high school. Once he graduated, he, he just stayed at Articat and worked up through the ranks from, uh, from, from a foreman to a. To now he's the director of operations for Articat and he's got over, you know, 40 years with the company. Ben Longus, who is, who leads our product development team for snowmobiles. He started off with a, uh, as an intern. Uh, now he's, now he's leading a development team. And then there's many stories like that. Um, but also it's not just engineering or manufacturing. There's, there's accounting, there's finance quality. There's something for everybody here at the company, it seems.

Speaker B: So that's the part of the outdoor industry I think gets missed. The work gives you the dignity of building something real, but you're not building widgets. You're building the thing that gets a family outside on a Saturday in February. This is at heart of Minnesota story, and Troy ties it to something deeper than products.

Speaker C: There was a quote and, and it said, it's from Edgar Hatin. I haven't validated it, but it said snowmobiling is just shy of a religious experience. From the first time you get on a snowmobile, winter will hold no terror for you. And that kind of really sums it up for, for us in our northern. Obviously our winters can be very brutal. But to be able to go outside and enjoy winter, like you said, it's a religious experience because there's so much beauty in the winter itself.

Speaker B: But notice what comes with that. Troy is careful here. Building machines for the outdoors means being a good neighbor to people who don't ride them.

Speaker C: We have to be respectful of, um, of our product in a way that does not impact their enjoyment of the outdoors. So like, we build our product to be quiet and um, and not to be obtrusive to people that aren't necessarily going to participate in it. Or if you're going by people's homes and stuff, you don't want to make it, make it to where they get annoyed because somebody came by Their place with loud exhaust pipe or something like that. So we try to build our product, um, in a way that it's not going to impact people that aren't necessarily into the sport, but also just really building our product in a way that, um, allows people to experience outside and not have to sit inside and watch TV or play on their phones or something like that. I mean,

Speaker B: Minnesota has one of the best snowmobile trail systems in the country, and it doesn't run itself. Arctic Cat puts money in nationally through the manufacturers association alongside Polaris and BRP and others. But Troy says the real worry right now isn't money.

Speaker C: A big topic of conversation is, is not so much the funding of the trails that's been such a big issue because we have that, uh, RTP program that, that is able to really get some money to the clubs and stuff, but. But actually finding people that will work for that, be part of the clubs that the snowmobile generation is starting, is continuing to get older and older. But these, these folks are so involved in their clubs and their associations, it's just amazing. We could not, we would not be where we are as an industry without those type of people. But unfortunately they're getting older, so we need more young people to get, uh, involved in the clubs and being able to take over for the older people.

Speaker B: So the fix runs both ways. Get kids in early and get the older members to make room.

Speaker C: We provide product, um, for the youth with our ZR120 and our ZR200 that they can start out in. Obviously they're still pretty young, so they're not involved in, in clubs, but they get involved with their moms and dads and stuff and kind of learn the sport and then they grow into the sport. And on the reverse side of it, there's some older folks that are in the clubs and they don't want to give up the reins. You know, they. They think, well, it's just a young punk kid. It's like, well, those young punk kids, they need to become adults and they're going to become adults and let's help them take that next step. So it's, it's really bringing the young and the old together and knowing that, um, it's about respect with each other and being able to do things that, you know, that we don't want to. We don't want to lose the access to some of the things that we have.

Speaker B: M. Every industry is being asked about electric for snowmobiles. Troy's answer is grounded in physics, not ideology.

Speaker C: Electric vehicles don't like the cold, so that depletes the battery life. So, um, you can only drive so far and then you're not going to go out on a trail ride. You know, people go out on a 200 mile trail ride and they're in the middle of the forest somewhere. There's no place to plug their vehicle in. That could be troublesome. But I think what it does is it just pushes us to make product that, um, you know, is good on fuel, is quiet, um, is clean. From an emission standpoint, electric vehicles have their place. And if you want electric vehicle, that's no problem. But from our industry, with our industry, it just, it ends up adding a lot of cost that we probably, if we can find another solution, we'd rather do that and not put that extra cost burden onto our consumer. So. So, you know, if we can make an electric vehicle in the future that's inexpensive and it's not going to be a problem to recharge, then, you know, those are things we'll work for. But right now, our customer isn't really looking for that.

Speaker B: It's a customer first answer dressed as an engineering one. Which brings me to the question I most wanted to ask. Not about market share, but about the next 50 years of Arctic Cat and Thief River Falls.

Speaker C: Well, I probably won't be around 50 years from now. My kids will be and my grandchildren and um, you know, the community existed before Arctic Cat did. But it's become such a part of our com. Of our community that it would be pretty sad not to be part of the community. Um, I, I just, I can't think of, of a life without Arctic Cat in, in Thiever Falls. So I think there's a lot of people that feel that way. So it means, it means a lot.

Speaker B: I can't think of life without Arctic Cat and Defibril Fall Falls either. And after sitting with Troy, I understand why nobody up there can m. So what do we take from this one? A few things stuck with me. First, the thing that saved this company twice wasn't a balance sheet. It was people who refused to let it die. In 1982 and again in 2024, loyalty turned out to be a survival strategy. Second, don't bet your whole future on one season. Arctic Cat made it because it diversified beyond winter and kept building of its products close to home in Minnesota, where the jobs actually live. Third, a great outdoor brand in its hometown aren't two things. They're one, a trophy made of an exhaust pipe and circuit boards tells you more about Thief River Falls than any economic report could. And finally, the work only continues if the next generation picks it up on the trails, in the clubs, and on the line. The machines are built to last. Whether the culture around them lasts is up to us. So thanks to Troy Halvorson and everyone in Arctic Cat for letting us into the story and for 63 years of getting Minnesotans outside, no matter what the thermometer reads. If this one moved you, do us a favor. Follow Explore Minnesota More. Wherever you get your podcasts, leave us a review and share this episode with someone who'd appreciate a good north country comeback story. We've got more places, more makers, and more reasons to get outside coming your way. Until next time, go enjoy the free air life. There's no such thing as bad weather. I'm Randolph Riley, and this has been Explore Minnesota More.