You wouldn’t expect a guy who co-owns two companies that together grossed $60 million last year to draw a rather modest salary and live in a rather modest home. Nor would you expect him to ride a Harley to work. But that’s Jerry Schugel.
If you still harbor doubts about the benefits of telecommunications deregulation and competition, consider Mankato Citizens Telephone Co. as a case study. If you want a stock bargain, consider Hickory Tech Corp., its parent company.
Some say there’s a sad and final note to the bang of anauctioneer’s gavel.
It signals the end of an antique collection, the breakup of a farm or the dispersal of family heirlooms. “Sold!” cries an auctioneer, and someone walks away with your father’s favorite chair.
To better understand JO Guck Bailey (Guck rhymes with book) just take a day trip north on U.S. 10 to her hometown, Royalton, Minnesota, population 802, a bedroom community halfway between St. Cloud and Little Falls. The town boasts both a tourist trap called “Treasure City” and the local greasy spoon, B’s Cafe, but little else.
Well before the century turned, a German immigrant family tended vegetables along what would become Mankato’s Madison Avenue, planting spacious gardens overlooking the city and river valley. Those German gardeners would be amazed at what grows there now all year long.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Ron Peterson, manager of the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing plant in New Ulm, ignores that ancient axiom. He’s on a determined mission to revitalize what’s always been one of 3M’s most successful plants.
“‘You know, people look at you, and they say ‘oh man, they got bucks.’ But they don’t realize how much you’re working at it,” says Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise owner Gary Hopfenspirger as he stretches his legs and joins his hands behind his head. He’s seated now in his North Mankato home and he squints out his back picture window for his next sentence. After a pause, he taps his chest and says, “And all of these KFC franchisees are just like me. They work hard.”
There’s nothing more affectionate than a purring kitten settled in your lap, nothing more appealing than a frisky puppy who wants to play. America is a nation of pet-lovers. But, ah, there’s a downside. Pets, uhm, even the best-groomed pets, sometimes create unpleasant odors. So do swine herds, turkey flocks and the mess that’s left after you clean a stringer of walleyes.
Can a former Wall Street lawyer find happiness running a small Minnesota business? That may sound like the story line for a television series, but it’s real life for Herb Kahler, the lawyer who owns and operates Crown Fixtures, Inc., in Winnebago. “We’re happy to be back in Minnesota,” said Kahler, who left Wall Street to join a large conglomerate, then became something of a roving executive for the company. His assignments included a 14 year stint with one of the company’s subsidiaries in Minneapolis. Now he’s back as a go-it-alone entrepreneur.
