Andre Industries, Inc. was established by Allen Andre in 1964 to manufacture electrical welding systems. His brother, Aaron Andre, joined him soon after. By 1974 they were also manufacturing the "Apollo" line of horizontal metal-cutting bandsaws (they also made meat saws, which are outside the scope of this Vintage Machinery website). In 1985 Allen Andre left the business but it seems to have continued on for some years without him.

Information Sources

• A 1966 lawsuit, Forney Industries, Inc. v. Andre, outlines the genesis of Andre Industries. The lawsuit involved the Andre brothers' previous employer, who sued them for violating a non-compete agreement. The employer was based in Colorado and the non-compete clause was valid under Colorado law. But Andre Industries was based in North Dakota, and an ND law specifically disallowed the non-compete clause. The court ruled that the ND law trumped the Colorado's absence of such a law, and therefore the non-compete clause was void.
• 1975-12-16 Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Trademarks, page TM135: "SN 28,601. Andre Industries, Inc., Bismarck, N. Dak. Filed Aug. 5, 1974." The mark shown says "Apollo" with a double horizontal line through the word.
• 2009 obituary for Allen Andre.

  In 1962, Allen and family returned to Bismarck where he founded Andre Industries, Inc. (1964 to 1985), eventually employing up to 40 people. His company produced Apollo brand products such as Arc welders, high pressure washers, metal cutting bandsaws, meat butchering saws, as well as seed drill hitch and transport equipment. His time as an early distributor of Makita power tools afforded him the opportunity to make several trips to Japan. Allen was a visionary who developed many product concepts some of which were later adopted and marketed by major equipment companies such as John Deere. Many people who worked in his company have honored him as "The best employer I ever worked for."

  In 1987, he established Apollo Sales & Service, Inc. developing a revolutionary products for renewing faded machinery paint called Color Back, which he has marketed throughout the U.S. and Canada since that time....

• 2003 obituary for Aaron L. Andre.
• Allen Raymond Andre and Aaron L. Andre at findagrave.com.