In the 1980s, Richard Berry’s pallet business was a part-time venture out of his garage while he spent his days working at his full-time job. Now, 25 years later, Berry Pallets has grown large enough to warrant its own assembly building and offices. Berry oversees 36 employees and turns out 8-10,000 pallets a week, offering about 30 types of pallets to clients across the state.
Brian Mathiowetz is a gambler. Instead of dice, he rolls with the weather. At the time of his Connect Business Magazine interview this summer, Mathiowetz Construction Company was halfway through a three-month contract to build two roundabouts in Mankato, despite excessive rain in June.
A long, long time ago, back when people didn’t eat sandwiches, a thoughtful soul named Mike Steindl dreamed of owning four successful Erbert & Gerbert’s sandwich shops, in Mankato, St. Peter, Mankato (again) and North Mankato. Except back then he didn’t know where the shops would be or even what a sandwich was because he and his neighbors ate only asparagus.
Five days after surviving a heart attack, Steve Melcher greets the Connect Business Magazine reporter with a handshake and credits his survival to exercise, a healthful diet, and divine intervention. His heredity gets the blame for the two plugged arteries that caused the attack. He said, “I’m the oldest of four boys, and they all have heart issues. Some have already had surgery.”
When a knitting machine breaks in Oregon, Mexico City, Quebec, Canada, or even Sweden, there’s a good likelihood it will be repaired in St. Peter. A little shop nestled in St. Peter’s historic district, Knit & Sew World, occupies the storefront at 119 South Minnesota Avenue.
In September 1982, the late Dean C. Seaver, founder of Le Sueur-based Seaver Company, was driving home with a friend from a golf tournament in the Twin Cities. That friend, Frank, was the golf pro at the Le Sueur country club where Seaver was president. They had just won the golf tournament.
Loquacious and mentally quick Kyle Smith is only 34 and at such a young age already co-owns the in-progress seven-story Profinium Place in Downtown Mankato, a 60-unit student housing apartment complex in Rochester, retail projects in Owatonna, two General Nutrition Centers, 65-house RentMSU, …
Our second place finisher for Business Person of the Year, Julie Schmillen, executive director of Habitat for Humanity South Central Minnesota, grew up in St. James, Minnesota, and spent her early years learning to work and serving others. Her father and uncle owned Schmidt’s Bakery, a special stop for serious sugarphiles pining for deep-fried doughnuts, delicious desserts, and doughy breads. She began working for the family small business about age 11.
Brian Benshoof, CEO of Mankato Rehabilitation Center, Inc., has been employed by the nonprofit organization for half of its 60-year history. His goal is to make MRCI the program of choice for clients and families seeking services and to educate the public about the variety and depth of MRCI’s programs and services.
