Joe Steck opened the community news website MankatoTimes.com on January 1, but in many respects the genesis for his business began six years ago. He was a steel salesman for Hutchinson Manufacturing when one day his world was turned upside down.
The year 1979 was pressure-packed. Iranian militants overran the U.S. Embassy and held Americans hostage in Tehran. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. At Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, a coolant accident caused a partial meltdown. The U.S. annual inflation rate was at 11 percent and rising. That summer, fears of an energy shortage caused lines to form at gas stations around the country.
Of all the cities in the U.S., food industry veteran Jeff Dahms chose New Ulm to launch the prototype of his neighborhood café, Stone Soup, located at 512 1st North.
Business is like bowling. It’s all about strikes, spares, and splits. On any given day, you knock down business projects first roll, leave various miscues for mopping up or face tough situations that seem impossible to overcome.
We might call it the beginning of a construction empire, we could say the growth of a new generation of business owners, and there’s certainly no doubt it’s an example of the Midwestern work ethic paying off.
You could say DeAnn Woods and husband Lynn are serial entrepreneurs. Their latest small business effort, Dollar Depot opened on July 31 at 123 Fourth St..
Bob Emery gives most of the credit to the start of his new business to his partner, Bill Peterson, and a little to Aunt Opal Mae and Uncle Ken Emery of Vernon Center.
Business owners aren’t exempted from personal pain. They also can face death and dying, physical and emotional traumas, financial challenges, divorces, swirling relational vortexes, and unfairly get their chains yanked.
Co-owner Ron Long and two partners re-opened Le Center Lanes on June 15 after the facility had been dormant four years.
