Premier Partners
As Steve Kibble looks back over the last 27 years, he’s still not sure just exactly what happened. When he graduated with a business marketing and management degree from MSU Mankato he had no intention of getting involved in the family business, Mankato Implement. His dad had owned the local John Deere dealership since 1973, so Steve grew up watching his father navigate the highs and lows of the business.
There is a new farming tool buzzing around the skies of southern Minnesota. A tool that gives farmers a whole new perspective on the growing season. A tool that can help farmers protect crops on the ground from up above.
In this era of technological and scientific advancements in farming practices, we’ve found one farm nestled in the rolling hills near Elysian, that is thriving by simply getting back to the basics.
There are nearly 4,000 agriculture-related job postings in Minnesota alone, and not nearly enough talent out there to fill them. In fact, a recent study shows nationwide 39% of agriculture positions go unfilled.
Agriculture is the largest business segment in the area referred to as the GreenSeam, the southern Minnesota and northern Iowa agricultural region. The region has an economic link between production, processing, professional services, education, technology, research, manufacturing, transportation and more.
A family gathering at a cabin up north led to the creation of one of Mankato’s newest tourist attractions, Old Town Escape.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Jim Bauer and his wife Mary, have opened a lawn and garden small engine sales and service operation.
Jen Wanderscheid has always been one to live in the moment and just enjoy things as they happen. Now she has a business that helps others do just that, and capture a few memories while they are at it.
Nearly everyone can remember the excitement of going to eat at McDonald’s as a kid: the bright yellow-and-red interior, the colorful indoor playground, the Happy Meal (and, most importantly, the toy that came with it). It was a special treat, a place to celebrate a birthday or a good report card.
