Editing Thief River Falls, Minnesota (section)

==Economy==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2013}}
Thief River Falls (and surrounding region) has been home to major industry including [[snowmobile]]s, [[Agricultural machinery|farm machinery]], and global electronics distribution. The town is the home of snowmobile manufacturer [[Arctic Cat]]. South of Thief River Falls is a [[Native American gaming|casino]], [[Seven Clans Casino Thief River Falls|7 Clans Casino]], which also contains a hotel and indoor water park. Thief River Falls is home to the electronic parts distributor [[Digi-Key]], one of the largest employers in the area,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Selyukh |first=Alina |date=April 24, 2025 |title=A small U.S. town grew a big company. Can it weather the tariff blizzard? |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/04/24/nx-s1-5332209/digikey-tariff-small-minnesota-town-big-company |access-date= |work=NPR News |language=en}}</ref> and was the birthplace of the vaunted [[Steiger Tractor]], produced from 1958 to the late 1980s. Thief River Falls was home to the headquarters of the [[Cycle Detection Warning System]] up until its shutdown on April 13, 2009.{{Citation needed|date=June 2013}}

===Rivers and rails===
Thief River Falls is situated on the junction of two rivers, [[Red Lake River]] from the east-southeast and the [[Thief River]] from the north. The proximity to forests and shipping made Thief River Falls ideal for logging. In the late 19th century the [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]] was built, and in 1904, the [[Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway]] (“Soo Line”) passed through on its route from [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|Saint Paul]] to [[Winnipeg]]. Branches were later built to [[Drake, North Dakota]], and [[Duluth, Minnesota]]. The [[Minnesota Northwestern Electric Railway]], an electric-powered passenger train, ran from Thief River Falls to [[Goodridge, Minnesota|Goodridge]] between 1914 and 1940.

Today, the river and rails still power the local economy with tourism and shipping. [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] and [[Minnesota Northern Railroad]] now occupy tracks through town. To this day, [[Soo Line 1024|Soo Line engine 1024]] rests outside city hall (formerly the Soo Line Depot).

===Major industries===
====Snowmobiles====
[[Arctic Cat]], Inc. can trace its roots to former [[Polaris Industries]] founder Edgar Hetteen who left Polaris in 1960 and started Polar Manufacturing in Thief River Falls. Shortly after changing name to Arctic Enterprises, the new company produced snowmobiles. Arctic Cat purchased several boat manufacturers including Spirit Marine which produced the first [[Wetbike]] in 1978. A few snowless winters in the early 1980s bankrupted the 20-year-old company, which closed its facilities by 1982. In 1984, Arctic Cat was reborn under a new company name, Arctco, which was changed to [[Arctic Cat]] in 1996. It was announced at the end of 2024 that Arctic Cat would close during the first half of 2025 in Thief River Falls.<ref>{{cite web |date=December 19, 2024 |title=Arctic Cat to cease operations at Thief River Falls, St. Cloud plants |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/12/19/arctic-cat-to-cease-operations-at-thief-river-falls-st-cloud-plants |website=MPR News |publisher=Minnesota Public Radio |access-date=February 14, 2025}}</ref>

====Electronics distribution====
[[Digi-Key]] Electronics is one of the largest electronics distributors in North America. The company started in 1972 with [[Ronald Stordahl|Dr. Ronald A. Stordahl's]] interest in ham radio, which led him to assemble and sell digital electronic keyer kits to other ham radio operators for sending radiotelegraph messages. This device was called the Digi-Keyer.<ref>[https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/about-digikey About Digi-Key]</ref>

====Tractors====
[[Steiger Tractor]]s were invented by Douglas and Maurice Steiger from Thief River Falls during the 1950s. The brothers built their first tractor the winter of 1957–58 after seeing a need to cover their ground more efficiently. After designing and building the tractors on their farm for six years, the brothers opened a production facility in Fargo, North Dakota. A new plant built in 1974 could produce a new tractor every 18 minutes. Steiger produced many models of tractor with the main feature being the horsepower. Ford chose Steiger to manufacture the Ford tractors of the late 1970s and early '80s. As the farm economy slumped in the late 1980s, Steiger had trouble selling tractors. Steiger filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1986, and was soon after sold to Tenneco, parent company of [[Case Corporation|J. I. Case]]. Case IH continued to produce and sell Steiger tractors while introducing its own lines of 4wd tractors. Case still produces Steiger tractors at the Fargo, North Dakota, facility.<ref>[http://www.bigtractorpower.com/steiger4wdtractorhistory.htm Steiger Tractor history and models]</ref>