Raven Industries History

With the financial backing of Cyrus Hoigaard, a Minneapolis businessman, Raven was launched in February 1956, and quickly built a reputation as an innovative manufacturer of scientific balloons. The Air Force, Office of Naval Research and various universities began placing orders with Raven; the flight services group provided customers with superior balloon launching and recovery operations. These high-altitude balloons with capsules carrying mice, monkeys and cosmic ray measuring devices, extended our knowledge of space.

Business was stable, but not outstanding, for the first year. With sales of $95,000, Raven lost $13,000 that year, the only loss in the history of the company.

Ed Owen became the company’s first full-time president in 1961. During his tenure, sales rose to a high of $12.3 million. In a newspaper article on his retirement, Owen attributed the growth, image and reputation of the company to the many loyal Raven employees.

With Owen’s retirement, Dave Christensen was named President of Raven Industries in 1971 and remained in that position until 2000. During his term, Raven was three times named by Forbes Magazine as one of the "Best Small Companies in America." Raven reached an important goal in 1992 - $100 million in sales, a major accomplishment since it represented a doubling of sales over the previous five years.

Ron Moquist became the third Chief Executive Officer of the company in 2000 and executed an aggressive strategy for success. The "Shrink, Fix, Grow" strategy as it was called was designed to get Raven Industries out of low-margin businesses like pickup-truck toppers and focus on more profitable products such as high-tech farm equipment. As a result, Raven was able to return more than $64 million to shareholders through cash dividends and stock repurchases from fiscal 2000 through 2005 while improving the balance sheet and reducing debt.

In 2006, Raven Industries passed the $200 million revenue threshold. With the company no longer dependent on labor intensive, commodity-type products, the business focused on growth. The company’s employees took pride in celebrating Raven’s 50th anniversary.

In August 2010, Dan Rykhus assumed the title of President and Chief Executive Officer. Dan takes the helm with over 20 years of experience at Raven. He was the General Manager of the Applied Technology Division from 1998 through 2009, growing the division’s sales from $15 million to over $100 million.

1956	1960	1961	1962	1966
J.R. Smith, Ed Yost, Duwayne Thon and Joseph Kaliszewski leave the employ of General Mills, Inc. to form Raven Industries, using capital they receive from Cyrus Hoigaard.	Raven invents the modern hot-air balloon and also starts manufacturing fiberglass tanks.	Ed Owen becomes Raven’s first full-time President. The Manchester Building in downtown Sioux Falls is bought for $156,000 and becomes corporate headquarters.	Raven is chosen by the National Center for Atmospheric Research to manage the National Scientific Balloon Flight Station in Palestine, TX.	Raven builds its first satellite production facility in Huron, SD to manufacture parachutes.
1967	1971	1972	1973	1980
Raven introduces a heavy-lift balloon for logging. Enters sportswear field with the manufacture of insulated snowmobile clothing.	Ed Owen retires and David A. Christensen becomes President.	Raven declares its first cash dividend. Dividends per share have increased every year since 1972, with only two exceptions.	New plastic sheet material, RUFCO, is introduced to the marketplace.	Raven listed on the American Stock Exchange.
1986	1987	1990	1991	1992
Applied Technology Division is restructured, creating Engineered Films and Aerostar. Raven buys Glasstite, Inc. a manufacturer of fiberglass pickup-truck toppers.	Raven named one of the "Best Small Companies in America" by Forbes Magazine.	Raven adopts Total Quality Management (TQM).	Ag electronics product line is spun out of the Electronic Systems Division, to create a new division, Flow Controls.	Raven reaches $100 million in sales - represents a doubling of sales over the previous five years. Begins trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market as RAVN.
1995	1996	1999	2000	2001
Company purchases high-altitude balloon manufacturing assets of Winzen International of Texas.	Raven introduces a new variable-rate controller with global-positioning satellite (GPS) technology for agricultural applications.	Glasstite, Inc. sold.	David Christensen retires. Ronald Moquist becomes chief executive of Raven. Plastic Tank Division sold to Norwest Equity Partners.	Flow Controls Division acquires GPS technology leader Starlink, Incorporated. Sportswear Division is merged into Aerostar.
2002	2004	2005	2006	2010
Three-layer film extruder built for $4 million.	Raven Precision Solutions Center opens.	Aerostar International successfully launches and flies the second airship in history to achieve powered flight in the stratosphere. The first one, which flew in 1970, was also a Raven product.	Raven announces fifth year of consecutive record profits with a 30% per year average growth and reaches $200 million in sales.	Daniel A. Rykhus becomes President and CEO.

Raven Industries, Inc.
P.O. Box 5107, Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5107
PH: (605) 336-2750

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