History

 Minnesota Athletic Apparel, Inc. was founded in 1991 as a manufacturer of sweatshirt fleece garments selling primarily to retailers and teams. The company was quickly awarded a patent on a unique fleece material with knit ribbing and utilized the fabric to market a stocking hat. Along with the hat, unique custom sweatshirts also were introduced, helping to establish a strong network of customers into the industry's marketplace.

By this time, founders Kent Larson and Steve Gnoza had gained valuable industry experience working for a headwear supplier and promotional product company. Consequently, the two enterprising partners decided to make this a full-time venture.

Shortly thereafter, they changed the company name from Minnesota Athletic Apparel to M.A. Apparel & Promotions because the word Minnesota limited the company’s effectiveness: (1) They already were selling to a nationwide market and (2) they no longer were pursuing just the "athletic market." Corporate apparel and promotional products were quickly becoming a very big part of their business strategy.

Since then, M.A. Apparel & Promotions has complemented its service to its customers by adding Jager Outdoors, Rugby Athletic, and MedAm--all on the Web--as company divisions.