NTFE-America's Martinson Celebrates Silver Anniversary
In 1985, Bud Martinson began his career at Northfield Freezing Systems as a national sales representative. Now, he celebrates 25 years in the in the spiral freezing industry.
In 1985, Bud Martinson began his career in the spiral freezing industry at Northfield Freezing Systems as a national sales representative, responsible for helping to develop new accounts and manage existing accounts. Martinson remained with the Northfield, Minn.-based company even after it was purchased by York International (York Food Systems) in 1995.
As a result of the acquisition, York brought additional product lines to the table – an individually quick frozen tunnel freezer, contact freezer, impingement freezer, trolley freezer and more – all of which allowed Martinson to become acquainted with a wider range of freezing applications.
In 2000, the company was acquired by FMC Corp. and Northfield Freezing Systems became a part of the FMC FoodTech Division (later renamed JBT FoodTech). The main interest of the purchase was the well-established and highly-regarded Northfield low-tension spiral product line, which would serve to nicely complement the existing product lines of the acquiring company.
Over the course of 2009, the group that would become NTFE-America was moving along in the process of setting up the company and working with its China-based counterparts.
“Joining NTFE-America was about staying in an industry that I know and love, and about working with a product line that I understand,” Martinson says. “I’ve always enjoyed working in a small team environment and I like the company culture that the Cowles’ [Bill Cowles, then owner and president of Northfield Freezing Systems, and his brother Tim Cowles] and [company president] Craig Ibsen have set up.”
Working alongside H.J. “Sco” Scofield, another former member of Northfield Freezing Systems, and engineer Mark Loftus, the Northfield, Minn.-based NTFE-America team “put the Northfield imprint” on the NTFE freezer, helping to prep it for sales in the North American marketplace.
“I really like our story,” Martinson says. “I like our product and I like our team. For me, 25 years in, I still feel energized and excited about what I do. I really feel fortunate to have wound up here with NTFE-America. While the names have changed, in many ways I feel like I’ve come full circle. In fact, I’m back in the original building where I started with Northfield Freezing Systems. And I’m back with a great product that I really believe in.”
In 1985, Bud Martinson began his career in the spiral freezing industry at Northfield Freezing Systems as a national sales representative, responsible for helping to develop new accounts and manage existing accounts. Martinson remained with the Northfield, Minn.-based company even after it was purchased by York International (York Food Systems) in 1995.
As a result of the acquisition, York brought additional product lines to the table – an individually quick frozen tunnel freezer, contact freezer, impingement freezer, trolley freezer and more – all of which allowed Martinson to become acquainted with a wider range of freezing applications.
In 2000, the company was acquired by FMC Corp. and Northfield Freezing Systems became a part of the FMC FoodTech Division (later renamed JBT FoodTech). The main interest of the purchase was the well-established and highly-regarded Northfield low-tension spiral product line, which would serve to nicely complement the existing product lines of the acquiring company.
Over the course of 2009, the group that would become NTFE-America was moving along in the process of setting up the company and working with its China-based counterparts.
“Joining NTFE-America was about staying in an industry that I know and love, and about working with a product line that I understand,” Martinson says. “I’ve always enjoyed working in a small team environment and I like the company culture that the Cowles’ [Bill Cowles, then owner and president of Northfield Freezing Systems, and his brother Tim Cowles] and [company president] Craig Ibsen have set up.”
Working alongside H.J. “Sco” Scofield, another former member of Northfield Freezing Systems, and engineer Mark Loftus, the Northfield, Minn.-based NTFE-America team “put the Northfield imprint” on the NTFE freezer, helping to prep it for sales in the North American marketplace.
“I really like our story,” Martinson says. “I like our product and I like our team. For me, 25 years in, I still feel energized and excited about what I do. I really feel fortunate to have wound up here with NTFE-America. While the names have changed, in many ways I feel like I’ve come full circle. In fact, I’m back in the original building where I started with Northfield Freezing Systems. And I’m back with a great product that I really believe in.”
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