Founded by Ohio native Louis J. Jenn in 1947 following its move to Indianapolis, Jenn Industries produced self-ventilating, overhead exhaust fans for factories. After experiencing great success with the product, Jenn diversified and created the Jenn-Air Corporation in 1961. This division, located on North Shadeland Avenue in Indianapolis, incorporated the advanced ventilation technology into the first self-ventilating kitchen range/oven with a smokeless grill.
In 1979, Jenn sold both divisions to for $88 million (over $315 million in 2020). Five years later, Carrier divested itself of the Jenn divisions, which the Maytag Company purchased for $50.8 million ($127 million in 2020). Maytag introduced refrigerators, dishwashers, and freezers to the Jenn-Air line of products. In 1989, Maytag retained the Jenn appliance division and sold the industrial ventilation division to Dallas-based Snyder-General Corporation, a national manufacturer of air quality control products.
Jenn later turned his attention to the restaurant business and to the development of “quadraminiums,” a quadrangle of condominiums with an enclosed atrium. As chairman of the Jenn Foundation (a private charity), he also played an important role as a community leader. He died on March 18, 1993. The Louis J. Jenn Memorial Park in Lawrence is named for him.
The Indianapolis-based oven manufacturing plant closed in 1996 as a part of the Maytag consolidation. Whirlpool purchased Maytag in 2006. In 2018, Whirlpool announced that it was removing the hyphen from the brand’s name, to become JennAir.
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