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.
You might as well call Jim Swenson of Marshall “The Action Man.” Anchored by Action Sports, a complete motor sports and marine servicing and selling dealer located near the intersections of Minnesota Highways 23 and 59, Swenson has several businesses – from landscaping and design to storage and automobiles – all operating under the “Action” name. It all started in 1979 when his father, Tim Swenson, purchased Marshall Small Engine and Repair in downtown Marshall.
Around this region, Waterville, Minnesota is known as the home of Kamp Dels, the Sakatah Lake State Park and an eclectic mix of charming restaurants and bars. Mixed in with the small town feel of Waterville, population 1,945, is a player in the global injection molded plastics market: LCS Precision Molding, Inc. Reed Hart, owner of the now four-decade, family-owned operation, is proud of its location and the jobs its provides for the community.
Betty Ouren: mom, community leader and powerful professional. Ouren is Vice President of Human Resources and Marketing for MinnStar Bank. She is responsible for staffing administration, marketing and bank philanthropy. She has been with MinnStar for 22 years…and counting! Ouren was also the 2017 recipient of Greater Mankato Growth’s Hap Halligan Award for leadership, an honor Ouren has certainly earned through her involvement in many civic-minded projects.
The materials and tools needed to build or replace a roof may seem basic: an underlayment, shingles, roofing nails, a nail gun and roofing knife. But it’s the tools you can’t see that Mark Ballman really believes makes a difference in his company. “The typical roofer has had some type of tough situation in their life,” says Ballman. “But most have got a good soul and a big heart.”
As the oldest of three children in the family, Jennifer (Fox) Johnson was 15 when she began her career at what is now Ace Home & Hardware in Marshall, Minnesota. “One evening, my father, Ray Fox, told me I was going to the store with him the next day and to be ready to learn the hardware business,” she explains.
The Canopy group was named the 2018 Agency of the Year by the Minnesota Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers Association, and for good reason. In recent years, The Canopy Group has quadrupled in size. Six years ago they had two carriers with a million dollars of premium per year. Today, they have over a million dollars of premium per year with more than 10 carriers.
Twenty three years ago, Kathy Sanger was a new college graduate working as an evening admissions representative at Rasmussen College. Today, she leads the campus in Mankato that now serves more than 700 students. She has filled a variety of roles in her tenure at Rasmussen including Admissions Manager, Director of Admissions and Director of Campus Operations.
During the 2018 season, the renovated Franklin Rogers Park in Mankato has made nearly as many headlines as the final scores of Moondogs games. The team has been playing over .500 baseball, but the ballpark is hitting a homerun with each home game played. Lost somewhere in the box scores is the fact that new ownership took over the Northwoods League team in the off-season, giving the 19-year-old collegiate summer baseball team something it has never had before: local ownership.
