Minnesota BOLD

Drive train technology specialists TEAM Industries put the pedal to the metal in the off-road market

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Dynamic and intensely collaborative, the pioneers of TEAM Industries have been on the leading edge of creating drivetrain solutions for over half a century. With a focus on serving the demanding and forward leading powersports and light vehicle sectors, this group of experts is in it to win it with superior tech solutions along with manufacturing and engineering expertise.

When Don Ricke founded Motek in 1967, the snowmobile boom was just beginning and the recreational offroad powersports market was about to emerge. “My grandfather loved to design and invent things, and he liked the engineering side of it, but he also liked living in northern Minnesota in a small town. He saw the best path to get where he wanted was to have a machine shop, but he always wanted an engineering company. That led to his vision—to build a company that created high-paying jobs in small towns,” said Micah Ricke, the third generation of the family to immerse itself in the enterprise. Today, Micah is TEAM’s Director of Product Development.

While the company is currently considered “automotive adjacent,” creating specialty products for the off-road market, the founders’ approach to the marketplace was simple: ABA. “Anything but automotive,” Micah explained.

Motek, helmed by the elder Ricke and business partner Bob Skawski, courted powersports legend Polaris by custom designing and building a machine that could make large numbers of snowmobile bogie shafts at a great price while making attractive margins. “It launched a period of important growth for Motek, and is an early example of a powerful TEAM asset—the ability and desire to innovate,” Micah said.