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July 6, 2021  |   Posted In

Tolar Manufacturing Company celebrates 30 years

Corona, CA — Tolar Manufacturing Company (Tolar Manufacturing) is celebrating 30 years of connecting communities, through the design and fabrication of award-winning, best-in-class bus shelters, rail stations, and other outdoor furniture of distinction. North America’s industry leaders will commemorate this 30-year milestone with a year-long celebration of exciting remembrances of past accomplishments, as well as featuring existing and upcoming projects that have been and continue to be creative, durable, and create a Sense of PlaceTM for their communities.

Tolar Manufacturing was founded in 1991 by Gary Tolar, after noticing a need for safe high-quality bus shelters. Starting with just five employees, Tolar Manufacturing now proudly employs over 50 cross-functional workers, engineers, sales and administrative staff, and its shelters and street furniture can be found across the nation, even crossing international borders. Beginning with its first major contract in San Diego, California, Tolar Manufacturing has maintained client projects and relationships for decades. In addition to serving the public transportation industry, outdoor advertising companies, municipalities, and more with over 500 designs and hundreds of customized solutions, Tolar Manufacturing is also well-respected for its products developed for shopping malls, airports, and more.

Since celebrating 25 years in business in 2016, Tolar Manufacturing has made considerable strides in technology, introducing new products such as their signature SmartPlaceTM transit shelters. Founder Gary Tolar shares how the product came about, by directly listening to customer needs, “The SmartPlaceTM shelters are popular among transit agencies and police departments, giving them the ability to view inside the shelters at night, and create a safer environment for the riders. We also have the ability to integrate charging stations in these shelters and are even working on a wireless charging station option for future projects.” He continued that the company now also offers options when powering these shelters with hard-wires and solar power with a back-up battery. Tolar emphasizes how much the manufacturing company has advanced since its beginning, “When we started out 30 years ago, I couldn’t even imagine how far we’d come. Technology is advancing quite a bit and we will continue to be leaders not followers. The sky is the limit.”

Tolar Manufacturing produces over 35% of domestic transit street furniture focusing on the design and fabrication of transit shelters, outdoor digital advertising displays, solar bus stop solutions, and creatively sustainable public space amenities. The company operates out of a 53,000 square foot facility in Corona, California, and at peak produces up to 125 shelters a month. When asked how to lead a company to success, Tolar stated, “Look for a job that you don’t even care if you didn’t get paid to do it. The job that gives you that fire in your belly, because you just love it so much.” He continued, “If I were to go back to 1991, I’d tell myself it’s going to be a long ride. That sometimes it won’t be easy. But always give your best quality work to your customers, because if you don’t, they won’t come back.”

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