When Mark Beito decided to open his own funeral supply business—Mark Thomas Co.—in 1990, he had no idea it would spring to life as quickly as it did. In fact, by 1993, he had outgrown his rented quarters in the back of the local bank and needed to expand—fast.
Brian Tohal has a lot on his plate. As coordinator for the New Ulm Economic Development Corporation, he’s in charge of bringing new business to the city while cultivating the businesses that are already there.
When Rob Lawson decided to start his own business, he discovered that one of the trickiest parts was finding affordable office space.
Melissa Orthun and her brother Michael Stenzel know something about houses. Their grandfather, Walter, and his brother, Charlie, were prominent home builders in the Mankato area from the 1960s to 1980s…
Jeff Traxler glanced out of the lodge window and his eyes lit up as he saw two young hunters posing with their grandfather outside of the Club House. “Families frequently pose for pictures,” he said, “several generations, each person holding a pheasant.”
If you heard Tim Schwanke’s life story, you would probably sum up his career in one word: evolution. The Springfield auto shop owner entered the automotive industry 36 years ago straight out of college, offering diesel and transmission services to local customers out of an old Oldsmobile dealer shop he rented for $200 a month.
Jennifer Stuvek always knew she wanted to be a doctor, but it was her first job at the Fairbanks Chiropractic Clinic that led her into the field of chiropractic.
Jo Ann Radlinger was an all-conference, high school basketball player in Butternut, Wisconsin, and while finishing a business degree at University of Wisconsin-Superior chose to return home to coach junior varsity basketball.
It’s been a long time since Dale Brenke counted the precise number of leaves on each stalk of corn as he did for the research and development staff of Green Giant in Le Sueur, Minnesota; but he seized something almost magical from that summer job in the ‘60s, something hard to beat.
