Business Person of the Year 2009
John Finke, our Business Person of the Year 2009 and president of Mankato-based, $155 million HickoryTech Corporation, also accents his conversations with a choice word. It’s “certainly,” an adverb, which means definitely, positively, undoubtedly or unquestionably.
Remember the tintype photos of buttoned-down bankers wearing vested suits, their glasses perched on their noses? It’s the stereotype from 125 years ago, about the time Sam Gault’s great-grandfather, Zuriel Gault, went to work at Nicollet County Bank.
New Ulm: Spinning Spool Quilt Shop – “I was sewing by hand with my grandmother and mother when I was little, making doll clothes, for instance,” said Val Besser, owner.
Blue Earth: Midwest Horse Digest – Rahn Greimann’s grandfather and mother owned horses, and his godparents owned a pony farm where children could ride for $1.
New Ulm: Sven and Ole’s Books – Sven—yes, there really is a Sven in New Ulm—came here in 2006 when New Ulm Medical Center hired his wife as an orthopedic surgeon.
In 1971, 22-year-old Dale Brenke had wrapped up his accounting training at Mankato Commercial College and was wiping windshields and pumping petrol part-time for Bernie’s One Stop service station on Front Street across from Hubbard Milling. The $1.10 an hour pay helped—somewhat. He was actively searching for a better job, but his search had been impeded by a pesky U.S. recession affecting Mankato.
Mankato: Brunton Architects – Brunton Architects, an architecture and interior design firm, opened in February 2008 in the Community Bank headquarters building in Mankato.
Mankato: RE/MAX – Patti Schuch opened a RE/MAX franchise a year ago at 1635 North Riverfront. Before getting there, she had quite the experience growing up.
In an era of big-box stores and impersonal service, Dr. Viktoria L. Davis enjoys providing individualized eye care to patients who recognize her as a fellow resident of Madelia, population about 2,200. Her patients see her with her family in the grocery store or at Madelia Public Library. In addition to her professional website, there’s a personal website loaded with family photos and only one picture of the optometry office. Her patients are eager for this glimpse into the life of Viktoria Davis, wife and mother. It’s obvious, too, which website she values more.
President/CEO of Greater Mankato Growth
“Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout,” says Jonathan Zierdt, a boyish grin spreading as smeared peanut butter and jelly all over his facial features. At one time, Zierdt was more than just a highly decorated Eagle Scout. Nearly fifteen years ago, he also oversaw about 1,500 Boy Scouts in dozens of Owatonna-area troops and packs and was this close to becoming a lifelong Scouting executive. With the Scouts, he began applying lessons learned.
Chris Wiener’s effortless, boyish smile never seems to fade, and neither does Lady and Champ’s enthusiasm for ear scratching, nor the autumn sunlight piercing the rear barn window to warm a deserted barn-wood chair. The idyllic setting could have been an inspiring Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover.
In her 32 years of selling real estate, Karla Van Eman seems to have done a remarkable job bonding and connecting with her clients—in an industry in which the agent-client connection is viewed as the ultimate barometer of success.
