Profiles

Hot Startz!, New Business, News, Profiles

Blue Skye Mercantile

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One of the latest additions to the landscape along Belgrade Avenue in lower North Mankato is Blue Skye Mercantile, formerly known as Arizona Olive Oil Co. “We changed the name in January. It is just an extension of our brand Blue Skye Farms and Blue Skye Shared Commercial Kitchen. We sell the produce we grow right in the store, as well as baked goods from our kitchen. You can still get the great oils and vinegars that AZOO sold,” explains Lisa Phillips, who owns the store with her husband Marty. 

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Data Noir, LLC

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Market research may be a business tool many companies don’t have the time or expertise to undertake. Mat Willner hopes to fill that niche with his new business Data Noir, LLC. “Through market research I deliver new clients, investment opportunities, or employees. I qualify them, speak with them, and then facilitate meetings,” explains Data Noir owner Mat Willner.

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VÄXA Marketing

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Angie Schimek launched VÄXA Marketing in March 2018 to combine her passion for marketing with her desire to help small businesses and the hardworking people behind them. VÄXA is Swedish for grow, and the business name combines Schimek’s Scandinavian heritage with the ultimate goal of VÄXA Marketing; to help your business grow.

Cover Story, Covers, News, Profiles

Lorin Krueger – Sailor Plastics

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When Mankato native Lorin Krueger drives across southwest Minnesota, he sees more than small towns dotting the map. He sees opportunities.“It’s amazing, isn’t it? I have lived here my whole life, but as I’ve gotten out and around more in southwest Minnesota I find there are a lot of really neat businesses. Last month Connect talked about River City Eatery in Windom. That is a neat business. The Worthington area is really starting to pick up.

Feature Story, Features, News, Profiles

Connect Business Magazine 25th Anniversary

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In 1994, local businessman Jeffry Irish decided to finally pursue an idea he’d been considering for a while: starting a business magazine. Irish couldn’t have known how much of an impact publishing Connect Business Magazine would have on the business community in the Minnesota River Valley. Two key reasons motivated Irish to create the magazine. First, he believed area companies needed a magazine that would be delivered directly to business leaders, which would allow them to advertise specifically to a regional audience, according to the publisher’s note at the beginning of the first issue.

Feature Story, Features, News, Profiles

Mankato Golf Club 100th Anniversary

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There are many business tools available today that weren’t around 100, 40 or even 10 years ago: smart phone apps, Skype meetings, and super high-speed internet just to name a few. Nowadays there are a LOT of high-tech ways business gets done. However, there is a more traditional business tool that is still thriving, a good old-fashioned way to get business deals made. It’s not in a conference room or an office building…but on a golf course.

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Replay

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“There is nothing within in an hour radius of Fairmont that deals in used video games from every generation,” says owner John Duderstadt. “I always felt it was a small void in town, there are no more rental stores, so typically in this area it is sales on Facebook and hoping the transaction goes as intended or a drive to Mankato. We also lost our Radio Shack so I am continually adding in more electronics, listening to customers on their wants and needs and trying to bring them a convenient location that has most of what they are looking for.”

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Boys & Girls Club of Mankato

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“We currently are serving K-8 grades, and while we do not have geographic limitations, our members are from Mankato and North Mankato. We currently have over 100 members enrolled with about 45 attending each day. We are working on transportation so that we can increase our daily attendance,” says executive director Erin Simmons. The Club rents the upper level of the St. John the Baptist Parish Life Center on Broad Street in Mankato.

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Garden Secrets

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It is not your grandfather’s landscaping company. Rather, New Ulm’s Garden Secrets focuses on each individual plant and how it fits into the overall landscaping plan.Unlike the typical landscaping service, Garden Secrets is dedicated specifically to the care and quality of the individual plants as well as the well-being of the garden as a whole. Owner Katie Hesse founded Garden Secrets in July of 2018. A business that is firmly grounded by her passion for gardening.

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