DigiKey

After earning a degree in electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota, Ronald Stordahl returned to his hometown of Thief River Falls, Minnesota where he took up ham radio in the early 1970s. Stordahl created a kit of electronic parts to improve transmission of Morse code over his radio. He soon began selling kits to other ham operators, and eventually branched off into the distribution of other electronic components, allowing customers to purchase parts in any quantity, no matter how small. The company quickly grew and by 1984 it was located in a one million square foot facility next door to Arctic Cat, a snowmobile manufacturer.[6]

In 1996, DigiKey launched their website, gradually shifting focus towards e-commerce. The first international domain was launched in 1996 in Canada, this would later expand to over 40 local domains.[7]

Mark Larson, who joined DigiKey in 1976 as its general manager, became president in 1985. He has led the company from its initial focus on the hobbyist market to the expanded market it serves today.[4] In 2015 Larson stepped down from his role within the company and transitioned to a board position. On June 1, 2015 Dave Doherty, who served as the Executive Vice President of Operations at Digi-Key, transitioned to Larson's position as President and Chief Operating Officer.[8]

DigiKey continued to grow following the recession in 2008.[9] By 2017, DigiKey was located in a single, centralized location in Thief River Falls, Minnesota that measured 800,000 square feet (74,000 m²). In 2017 the company began work on a one million square foot expansion to their Thief River Falls facility at an expected cost of $200 million to $300 million. The expansion was helped by government incentives and tax exemptions and was expected to add another 1,000 jobs at Digi-Key.[10]

By 2018, the company had annual revenue of $2.3 billion and more than 3,500 employees.[6]

In March 2018, DigiKey announced an expansion for a 1 million square foot building with over 2.2 million square feet of usable space. This space will include receiving, shipping, warehouse, and storage space for the nearly 1.5 million products ready for immediate shipment. The building was officially opened on August 17, 2022.[11]

On September 29, 2021, DigiKey announced a global distribution partnership with QuickLogic Corporation, a fabless semiconductor company. [12]

In November 2022, DigiKey was granted their first patent for a 'Tray for transporting and storing electronic components'.[13]

In May 2023, a DigiKey employee, Steven Opdahl, was punched, kicked, and beaten to death by Jorge Benitez-Estremera,[14] who claimed Opdahl was "contaminated and needed to be taken out of the system."[15]

• E-commerce
• List of Minnesota companies
• Mouser Electronics
• icDirectory Limited icDirectory Limited is a powerful search engine for Electronic Components, that makes it easy to find millions of components stock.
• Lansheng Technology Limited Lansheng Technology Limited is a distributor of Electronic Components.

• Kumaga, Jean (February 2014). "A day in the life of Digi-Key". IEEE Spectrum. 51 (2): 50–56. doi:10.1109/MSPEC.2014.6729379. S2CID 35447280.