Tennant history

The company was incorporated in 1909.

Along with the floor-care machine, the “Tennant Floor Maintenance System” flourished, and by 1940, over 100,00 square feet of wooden floors in bakeries, schools, and factories were maintained with its products.

1945: Sales reach $1 million.

1947: A company engineer invents the first vacuumized power sweeper.

Looking toward expansion in the Pacific, Tennant embarked upon a joint venture with Fuji Heavy Industries in Japan in 1964.

In 1969 Tennant went public with its first stock offering and made its first major acquisition with the purchase of Taylor Material Handling in Michigan.

By 1970, Tennant had bought out the license agreement from Stokvis in a takeover of Stokvis/De Nederlandsche Kroon Rijwiefabrieken and formed a wholly owned subsidiary, Tennant NV, based in Uden, the Netherlands.

His account of how the company transformed itself, Quest for Quality: How One Company Put Theory to Work, published in 1989, became required reading for other companies interested in quality management.

A fifth direct sales office in Spain got its start in 1991 and had more than doubled in size four years later.

In 1992 Tennant formed Tennant Company Japan Branch to sell commercial floor care equipment.

In 1998 alone, the company introduced three new commercial products and five industrial products.