Minder Research Founder Charles Fleischer and his business partner wanted to create a product that automatically turned lights on and off. They wanted a system that followed homeowners’ light patterns and usage throughout the month so that, when they left for vacation, HomeMinder remembered when lights typically turn on and off, and can do the actions itself.
Fleischer followed up the Ontario, Canada-based company’s HomeMinder with TempMinder a year later in 1992. TempMinder started as a product line full of wireless and long-range thermostats and eventually, in 1998, became a digital, four-inch-tall weather station.
Minder added TireMinder tire gauges in 1994. The company’s best-selling product today is TireMinder’s I10 and A1AS RV tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS). Though Minder’s products largely represent RV OEM and aftermarkets with TireMinder, the supplier also caters to industrial, trucking, homeware and electronic markets.
In 2002, Fleischer met Debbie Druien, who would later become his wife and Minder’s president. Druien had her own manufacturing representative agency and helped Fleischer market his Canadian products in the United States. By 2009, the couple decided to close the Canadian operation and move the company to Stuart, Florida.
Congress’ Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act of 2007 further propelled Minder Research into the RV industry. The TREAD Act required passenger cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. to have a warning system for under-inflated tires. The RV market followed this automotive legislation as aftermarket suppliers started selling TPMS to trailer and motorhome owners.
Also in 2007, Minder moved its headquarters to Stuart, Florida, and developed the wireless TireMinder TPMS. Nine years later, TireMinder got another upgrade with Smart TPMS, the industry’s first smart-phone-based system that allows RVers to monitor tire pressure in real-time on their phones. Valterra Products acquired Minder in 2017.
