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Business & Tech

The Ice Man Cometh to High Ridge

You may not know what or who Vivian International is, but you surely recognize their polar bear found on bags of ice all over the world.

“We have an ice plant on every continent,” said Mike Minor, President and CEO of Vivian International. But locals just know Minor as the “Ice Man” and wonder how he stays in business selling bags of ice so cheap.

Those cheap bags of ice—one dollar for eight pounds of cubes—are actually a by-product of Vivian International’s true business, which is selling ice making machines and refrigeration units. It started freezing ice at the headquarters just to show off the equipment’s capabilities, and Minor decided to bag up the extra to sell to passersby.

Vivian International is all about ice. It designs and sells industrial ice plants that can churn out tons of ice each day. It sells the bags and bagging systems, as well as the ice “merchandisers” where retailers store the frosty cubes waiting for customers. Minor said his company allows anyone who owns Vivian equipment to use their polar bear logo on their coolers and bags. He said the polar bear is the most recognized logo in ice and has even been mentioned on "Two and a Half Men."

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They also sell commercial ice makers for hotels, bars and restaurants, “Kegerators” for keeping beer cool, refrigerated trailers, walk in coolers and more recently, residential ice machines and refrigeration units.

The company was started back in 1923 by his uncle Bert Hosselkus, and Minor took over from his dad Jack Minor in 1997.

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One of Minor’s more memorable jobs was replacing the ice system at Six Flags St. Louis in 2009. The amusement park needs 30 tons of ice a day to keep glasses filled in 25 restaurants and countless refreshment stands. Minor’s father developed the park’s first system in 1975, which allowed Minor a unique chance to improve upon his dad’s handiwork while upgrading the ice plant for the 21st century.

In May Minor moved his family’s business into the old High Ridge fire house on High Ridge Boulevard. The station is still undergoing renovations and Minor has plans to turn the garage into a showroom for his residential product line.

Though Mike Minor worked for the family business while growing up, he didn’t think he would someday run the company. Instead, he wanted to be a police officer. So in 1989 he joined the Jefferson County Sherriff’s Department and later worked for the Fenton Police Department. He ended his law enforcement career in 1997 while working for the St. Louis County Police. That’s when his father asked him to join the family business and eventually take over the reins.

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