It looked like Chris Vorwerk was reeling from a Caribbean voodoo curse in 2000-01. She had started United Commercial Upholstery in her New Ulm garage at 409 North Broadway on a shoestring budget. During her first year in business, an ex-convict crow-barred his brawn inside to sneakily steal her expensive sewing machines and colorful upholstery fabric.
Although an electrician by trade, Brian Grey is a storyteller by temperament. Seated in a St. Peter restaurant to avoid interruption by employees, he fueled himself with more than a pot of decaf coffee as he related anecdotes about his life and his business.
He was on the precipice. It was December 2004. The antagonistic managers of his ten bus companies had just attempted a bloodless coup d’etat. Their set of demands included having Floyd Palmer relinquish control over the day-to-day management of the school bus company he had owned and managed since 1974.
Madison Lake: Critical Fuel Technoly – When leaving in 2008 as vice president of manufacturing, Terry Treanor had 14 years in at Winland Electronics in Mankato.
Mankato: Mankato Clinic Infusion Center – On April 20, 2009, Mankato Clinic’s Oncology, Hematology, and Infusion Center opened in the lower level of Mankato Clinic at 1230 Main Street in Mankato.
New Ulm: North Central International – At one time, Tom and Dave Fox were the sole owners of Fox Brothers of Sanborn, retailing and servicing medium and heavy trucks in Sanborn, Minnesota.
Business Person of the Year 2010
Pamela J. Year verbally chisels out one point crystal clear: Mankato-based MRCI WorkSource is a $46 million private nonprofit business. It has never been nor will ever be a government agency. MRCI WorkSource’s 335 paid staff members create innovative employment programs for more than four thousand people with disabilities.
Sleepy Eye: Railway Bar & Grill – Dan and Sue Helget had their open house for Railway Bar & Grill at 300 First Avenue North about a year ago.
New Ulm: The Splendid Nest – Kathleen Connell recently opened The Splendid Nest at 210 North Minnesota in the former Grand Hotel.
New Ulm: European Antiques – Aini Isaksson was born in Hosko, Finland, and early on with her parents moved to Sweden. In time, she owned a cleaning business there.
Business Person of the Year 2010 – Runner-Up
Jerry Dulas is much more comfortable moving dirt from the seat of an excavator cab than sitting at an office table answering a magazine writer’s questions. That’s why his daughter, Tanya Pierce, offered to buffer the experience by joining in the interview. It was Tanya who nominated her father for Connect Business Magazine Business Person of the Year 2010, somewhat to his dismay.
Business Person of the Year 2010 – Runner-Up
In roundabout fashion, sour has become deliciously sweet for Bryan Sweet. To begin, when he was only age four, his father and mother’s marriage soured down in Blue Earth. Then Dad decided to live much closer to Mankato and would not utter another word to Bryan the rest of his life. It was painful.
Waseca: Waseca Enews – Waseca Enews launched on August 11 webcasting print, video, and audio over its WasecaEnews.com website.
Garden City: Red Barn Retreats – Shelley and Marty Leenhouts began Red Barn Retreats on August 22 with a well-attended grand opening.
Mankato: Vanderberg Clean – You could almost say Joshua Vanderberg has cleaning supplies coursing through his veins.
