Description
Raven Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: RAVN) is an American manufacturer of precision agriculture products, high-altitude balloons, plastic film and sheeting, and radar systems. The company is headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
History
Established in 1956 to make high-altitude balloons, Raven was launched by a group of General Mills employees, including General Mills High Altitude Research division employee Ed Yost. Yost claimed to pick Sioux Falls for its favorable wind conditions.
After its establishment, the company's product offerings expanded to include items such as commercial and recreational hot air balloons, electronics manufacturing, large plastic storage containers for use in agriculture, pickup toppers, and winter outerwear.
Raven, along with Piccard Balloons and Semco were among the first manufacturers of hot air balloons that kicked off the resurgence of ballooning in the mid-1960s. In fact, Ed Yost began this series of events when he built and flew a 40 ft (12 m)-diameter balloon a distance of three miles on 22 October 1960. Raven subsequently built and sold some of the first modern hot air balloons, beginning in the mid-1960s.
However, in recent years, the company streamlined its operations, closed a number of its divisions and sold subsidiaries to reduce the company to its precision agriculture, engineered films, and Aerostar divisions. The U.S. military and other government agencies are among its clients, and besides the U.S. Department of Defense, Raven Industries has other big name customers such as Google.
