Landscape Structures

Innovations

• First fitness trail system, 1977
• First enclosed-trolley Track Ride, 1980
• First in industry PVC coated benches and tables, 1982
• First transfer system for providing access to play structure for children in wheelchairs, 1993
• First to use fully enclosed bolt links to replace S-hooks on swings, 1992
• First segmented multi-directional open slide, 1994
• First to use sliding footers on slides to allow plastic parts to expand and contract, 1994
• First U.S. playground equipment manufacturer to achieve ISO 9001 Certification, 1996; Certified to ISO 9001:2000 standard, 2003 and ISO 9001:2008, 2009
• First U.S. playground equipment manufacturer and seventh company in the state of Minnesota to achieve ISO 14000 Certification for conservation and recycling process, 1998, and the updated 14001:2004 standard, 2005
• First to use injection molding around steel cables to produce flexible climbing material as part of a system, 1999
• First to offer Recycled Permalene® panels with 73% post-consumer content, 2010

  Awards

• 1992, Barb and Steve King were named Minnesota's Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young, Inc. magazine and the law firm of Gray Plant Mooty.
• 1994, Barb King, who served as president, was selected as the Small Business Administration’s “Small Business Person of the Year” for the six-state Midwest region.
• 2004, was awarded Manufacturing Company of the Year by the Minnesota Association of Manufacturers.
• 2005, Christian Peterson Award.
• 2006, Waste Wise Leader.
• 2007, received Active Workplaces Funding from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota for its healthy living initiatives.
• 2007, King Pavilion at Iowa State University's College of Design was named for Barb and Steve King.
• 2008, MN Work-life Champions.
• 2008, received the Tekne Green Award for manufacturing environmentally-preferable playgrounds.
• 2009, High-economic vitality business of the year.
• 2010, named to Top Workplaces in the Twin Cities metro area by Star Tribune.

  Philanthropy