Premier Partners
The week this publication hits your desk, marks the week seven years ago that I moved back to Mankato. Back after a 16-year adventure that took me to California, then to Washington D.C., then all the way back across the country again to Hawaii. But seven years ago, I came home.
Agriculture plays a vital role in our lives every day. And I’m not just talking about the food we eat. The economy in this region is very ag-centric. Agriculture is the base for which other businesses are able to start, grow and thrive here.
“Hey, Grace, I can see our house from here!” I craned my neck to look over my sister’s shoulder and out the window of the cramped Cessna Supervan 900. Sure enough, as we hovered 13,000 feet above the ground, I could faintly make out my parents’ farm tucked into the green hills of western Wisconsin.
As consumers finally start to emerge from the recent recession and loosen their financial belts, an interesting trend is coming to light: just how people spend their newly available money.
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.
