The year was 1978 and brothers Joe and Vince Tippmann, who were already producing fiberglass hockey boards, took notice of small oil rigs encased in fiberglass and set off on what would be a four-year mission to perfect the adaptation of this seamless technology for walk-in refrigeration and freezer units. Polar King International debuted at the 1982 National Restaurant Association trade show with great fanfare, and the success story began.
The Tippmanns initially manufactured and shipped their state-of-the-art outdoor fiberglass commercial walk-in coolers and freezers from a modest 12,000 square-foot facility in New Haven, Indiana. With escalating demand, Polar King scaled up operation and relocated production to its current 204,000 square-foot facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In the past two years, the company has added additional manufacturing and warehouse space to keep up with accelerated sales.