There’s a well-known saying: “No guts, no glory.” It’s true in a lot of areas of life, and that includes business. Rarely will a business see incredible success if the owners play it safe.
Every community knows the importance of courting new businesses and helping nurture the businesses that are already there: more jobs, more property taxes, more money flowing back into the local economy. For decades, the model for economic development revolved around each city jealously guarding its economic interests, snagging interested businesses that came through the area and focusing on the area within its own borders.
When it comes to business, remaining the same is usually not the best business model. Shrewd business owners and entrepreneurs realize that for a business to thrive, it needs to keep growing and improving. That expansion can happen in many ways, whether it’s adding a location, a product line or a new employee.
It’s hard to believe that this issue marks the one-year anniversary for my time here as editor. Technically, I started on Jan. 2, 2015, but the first issue that was “mine” was our March 2015 spread. I remember walking into my office on Jan. 2 and thinking, “They must have made a mistake. Why on earth did they hire me?”
Taking a cue from our annual Business Person of the Year award, we thought we’d look around southern Minnesota to see what other businesses are being recognized in their communities for exemplary success and community involvement.
College kids may have gotten a bad rap recently, in the wake of campus protests and demands for things like safe
If you read the news headlines, things are looking rather bleak for the next generation of workers and entrepreneurs. There’s a workforce shortage slamming businesses across the country, and workforce participation levels are historically low. Business owners lament their inability to find qualified workers, while young graduates lament their inability to find well-paying jobs. But across southern Minnesota, things are looking pretty good.
The nominations were collected, the votes were tallied and the suspense is over: We’ve got the names of our 2016 Business Person of the Year winners…
“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” –Les Brown This week, the
