long time polaris vp to retire

 
Polaris Vice President of Marketing, Ed Skomoroh, will retire from the company effective May 31, 2000. He will continue with the company on a part-time basis, assisting with regulatory issues, dealer relations and other projects, according to Polaris President and CEO Tom Tiller.

Skomoroh joined Polaris in 1982 as Vice President, Sales and Marketing. He recently joined Tiller, Polaris founders Edgar Hetteen and David Johnson, and several other Polaris executives on a 900-mile snowmobile trek across Alaska. The ride comemorated Edgar Heteen's 1960 snowmobile expedition in Alaska in which he proved the viability of snowmobiles as dependable winter transportation. The recent Polaris sponsored trip marked the launch of the company's "The Way Out" branding campaign.

"Ed has made an enormous contribution to our company," said Tiller. "He played key roles in the company's growth from $12 million in sales when he joined us to $1.3 billion today. He hired and coached many of the people who now lead our business. He has a deep understanding of our business and has been instrumental in establishing our credibility and strong relationships with dealers, customers and industry associations."

Prior to joining Polaris, Skomoroh was a key player with Arctic Enterprises where he held a number of key positions before that snowmobile firm's demise in the early 1980s. In his early years with Polaris, Skomoroh, a Canadian, operated Polaris operations in Canada. In Canada he experimented with a number of sales and marketing initiatives that were rolled out into the US market. He was a pioneer in implementing the "early season" purchase for snowmobile consumers. Today the early Spring buying season is a standard marketing tool used by all snowmobile firms.