Garmin

Garmin is a GPS, navigation, and wearables technology company co-founded in 1989 by engineers Gary Burrell and Min Kao — the name a portmanteau of GARy and MIN.¹² Though the parent holding company, Garmin Ltd., has been legally domiciled in Switzerland since 2010,³ the company’s roots and operational center are in the Kansas City metro: it was founded in Lenexa, Kansas, and has been headquartered in Olathe (Johnson County) since 1996.¹⁴ The Olathe campus employs thousands and ranks among the metro’s largest private employers. Garmin grew from marine and automotive GPS units into a diversified maker of aviation avionics, marine electronics, and fitness wearables, reaching record consolidated revenue of $6.30 billion in 2024.⁵

Founding (1989) — Gary Burrell + Min Kao

Garmin was established in October 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min H. Kao, two engineers who had previously worked together in the avionics industry.¹ The company was originally incorporated under the name “ProNav.”¹ Its name was later changed to Garmin, a portmanteau formed from the founders’ first names — GARy and MIN.¹²

The fledgling company was based in Lenexa, Kansas, in the Kansas City metro.¹ Its first product, the GPS 100 — a navigation unit aimed at the boating market — debuted at the 1990 International Marine Technology Exposition and drew roughly 5,000 orders.¹ By 1995, the company reported sales of approximately $102 million.¹

Growth (automotive GPS → aviation, marine, fitness/wearables)

From its marine-navigation start, Garmin expanded across multiple GPS-driven product categories. It shipped its one-millionth product in 1997.¹ Over the following decades the company built out distinct business segments spanning:

• Automotive — in-car GPS navigation devices (the consumer product that made the brand a household name in the 2000s).¹
• Aviation — avionics and flight-deck systems for general aviation and commercial aircraft.¹⁵
• Marine — chartplotters, fishfinders, and integrated boat electronics.¹⁵
• Outdoor — handheld GPS units and adventure devices.⁵
• Fitness / wearables — GPS sport watches, running and cycling computers, and smartwatches, which grew into a major segment as standalone automotive GPS declined.¹⁵

By February 2023, Garmin reported having shipped more than 282 million products globally.¹ In fiscal year 2024, all five of the company’s reporting segments posted record full-year revenue.⁵

The Olathe headquarters + KC-metro role

Garmin moved its corporate headquarters to Olathe, Kansas, in 1996.¹⁴ The Olathe headquarters campus serves as the company’s principal operational center, housing engineering, manufacturing, and administrative functions, with thousands of employees working on site.⁴ The campus has grown through major investment, including a roughly $200 million expansion and a Building 3 renovation reported at more than $100 million, along with a new manufacturing and distribution warehouse of about 720,000 square feet.⁴ Garmin has stated the expansion would add close to 1,000 jobs.⁴

Garmin is widely regarded as one of the Kansas City metro’s largest private employers and a major anchor of the Johnson County economy.⁶ In 2024, Garmin ranked No. 2 on Forbes’ list of America’s Best Large Employers.⁴ — a precise, current on-site headcount for the Olathe campus and a definitive ranking of Garmin among Johnson County employers should be confirmed against a primary local source.

Modern status

Since 2010, the parent company — Garmin Ltd. — has been legally incorporated in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, while maintaining its operational base in the United States (Olathe), along with significant operations in Taiwan and other countries.³¹ The company trades publicly on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker GRMN.⁵

For fiscal year 2024, Garmin reported record consolidated revenue of $6.30 billion, up 20% year over year, with record operating income of $1.59 billion; the results were announced on February 19, 2025.⁵ The company describes itself as operating across five segments — fitness, outdoor, aviation, marine, and auto OEM — each of which set a full-year revenue record in 2024.⁵

Significance to Kansas City

Garmin is among the most prominent technology companies founded in and operated from the Kansas City metro. Born in Lenexa in 1989 and headquartered in Olathe since 1996, it grew into a multibillion-dollar global brand without relocating its operational center out of Johnson County — a notable distinction in a region whose largest employers skew toward health care, logistics, and finance rather than consumer technology. The Swiss legal domicile is a corporate-structure decision adopted in 2010;³ the engineering, design, and operational heart of the company remains in Kansas. For the KC metro, Garmin functions as a high-skill engineering employer, a manufacturing presence, and a globally recognized brand that traces directly to two local founders.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Wikipedia — “Garmin.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garmin ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶

2. Wikipedia — “Garmin” (name as portmanteau of founders Gary Burrell and Min Kao). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garmin ↩ ↩²

3. Wikipedia — “Garmin” (legal incorporation in Schaffhausen, Switzerland since 2010; operations in U.S., Taiwan, UK). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garmin ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Olathe Economic Development Council — “Latest Garmin expansion focuses on employee well-being” (Olathe HQ campus, expansion investment, jobs added, Forbes 2024 Best Large Employers No. 2). https://olathe.org/edc/olathe-business-news/blog/latest-garmin-expansion-focuses-on-employee-well-being/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

5. PR Newswire — “Garmin announces fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 results” (record FY2024 revenue $6.30 billion, +20%; record operating income $1.59 billion; five record segments; announced Feb. 19, 2025). https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/garmin-announces-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year-2024-results-302379869.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

6. MovingToKC — “Olathe, Kansas Is Betting Billions on Its Future” (Garmin described as the area’s biggest economic anchor). https://www.movingtokc.net/blog/olathe-kansas-is-betting-billions-on-its-future-and-heres-what-that-means-for-you ↩