chuck baxter era ends bjorkman begins anew

After 30 years with Polaris, engineering vice prez Chuck Baxter will leave his fulltime duties heading up Polaris' engineering side and open a Roseau (Minnesota) office that will allow him to concentrate on his personal business interests. One of those interests will include consulting for Polaris where he can continue project-by-project involvement in special Polaris developments.

Baxter was one of the investors who bought Polaris snowmobiles from Textron in 1981. It was a decision that reaped many dividends, including the ability to take the company from near bankruptcy to a leadership position in snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. It was Baxter's engineering crew that developed the "laughable" Polaris ATVs that came standard with a snowmobile tranny, runningboards and four wheels. It was laughable in the mid-1980s because of the big motorcycle/ATV manufacturers, only Suzuki had concentrated on a four-wheeler, and none were using an automatic transmission system. Baxter's group pioneered what today is "de rigeur" in ATVs. Honda has recently announced its "Hondamatic" and Yamaha and Kawasaki offer automatic trannies and floorboard type vehicles to compete against the now popular Polaris models. In fact, Polaris and Honda are neck and neck in ATVs.

In Baxter's 30 year stint at Polaris he oversaw development of the Indy XLT with its extra light three cylinder motor and went on to lead an in-house engine project for Polaris. That move includes Polaris-engineered and Made in the USA engines for Polaris watercraft, snowmobiles, and the Victory line of motorcycles.

The Baxter legacy is extensive. Replacing him can't be done, so Polaris has created a new position, VP of Operations to encompass both manufacturing and engineering at Polaris. Jeff Bjorkman, current manufacturing VP will assume the new role.