A Clean Sheet

Frank did …

Frank was 21 and helped his older brothers run an auto repair shop in California. He enjoyed tinkering with mechanical equipment but was much more interested in becoming an electrician.

While helping some milk dairies with drilling water wells and installing pumping equipment, Frank saw an opportunity … local fruit and vegetable packing plants desperately needed ice to ship their products … so Frank and a brother opened an ice making plant.

After many successful years the demand for ice dropped as refrigerated transportation started to take hold … so they looked around for other uses for their ice making talent … and ended up opening the largest ice skating rink in California … and it was a big hit.

But it was also painful to clean taking up to 2 hours at a stretch. So Frank figured there must be a better way … over the next five years he tried technique after technique …. Finally he developed a machine that worked.

When an Olympic Champion was practising on the rink and saw how great the machine was she bought one to use all round the country on her nationwide tour. The Rest is history.

Today, the machine that was created in California is used on ice rinks worldwide and is still named after its inventor .. Frank Zamboni.

The Zamboni is a Great Idea because persistence in innovation can eventually lead to smooth skating in any business.