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In the 1700s the word entrepreneur entered our vocabulary, meaning adventurer. While the meaning has been honed over the centuries and is now widely regarded as one who launches and runs a new business. However, entrepreneurs remain adventurers at heart. Taking on great risks based on an idea or expertise one has developed in hopes of making a profit. In this issue, we feature a Lake Crystal entrepreneur whose “adventure” started very early in life.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Diversity, equity, inclusion. There is a movement sweeping the nation that relies on these three words to bring entrepreneurs together and to elevate them in their communities. It’s known as 1 Million Cups. Founded in 2012 by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, it’s based on the notion that entrepreneurs – and all business relationships really – develop over a million cups of coffee. Along with a little conversation.
“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.”
“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.
