Key Dallas-Based Polar Corp. Sales Manager Announces Retirement

St. Cloud, Minn., June 9, 2011 ‘ Dave Reuter, who helped Polar Corp. become a leading supplier of tank trailers to petroleum, food grade, dry bulk, and chemical haulers in the southern United States, announced that he will retire from the company on June 30. Based in Dallas, Reuter served as regional sales manager for customers in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, Mississippi, and Arkansas for 28 years. Reuter, 69, will be succeeded by Tom Phillips as regional sales manager.

‘We appreciate Dave’s contributions to our company and wish him well,” said Ted Fick, chairman and CEO, Polar Corp. ‘His insight and responsiveness produced relationships with customers that in many cases have endured for nearly 30 years.”

Reuter was hired by Polar in 1984 as a tank sales manager. His background in off-highway equipment and heavy trucks helped win the respect and admiration of a customer base coping with a difficult economy and a newly deregulated business environment at the time.

‘We were small and it was tough sledding back then,” Reuter said. ‘We knew if we could help our customers increase payload, lower maintenance costs, enhance safety, and generally be more competitive, they’d recognize the role their equipment played in their success. We got to know our customers really well, incorporated their suggestions into our designs, and our business grew right along with theirs.”

When Polar moved its corporate headquarters from Dallas to St. Cloud, Minn., Reuter stayed in the area. As he reflects on his career, Reuter is most grateful for the business relationships that developed into friendships.

‘That’s been the best part of the job,” he said. ‘Many of my customers and the people I worked with have become very dear family friends that I’ll spend my time golfing and traveling with. I’m in contact with Harry Dayton, our president at the time and the man who hired me, from time to time. I’ve been very fortunate to have had such a rewarding experience at Polar and in this industry.”