Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
One-stop Web site leads efforts to connect
by Matt Krumrie Aaron Weiche grew up in Buffalo, where his family owned the only radio station in town. The 30-year-old lifelong resident of Wright County remembers in the 1980s when Pamida came to town.
“It was a big deal then to have a place like that to go to,” says Weiche, sales and marketing manager for Delano-based Intrcomm Technology, a company that provides communications products and services to businesses.
Wright County still has the small-town feel that Weiche recalls, but it is growing faster than ever before, meaning there are more opportunities for small businesses to grow. People still know your name, but with new faces and new businesses entering the county, it takes a little longer to get to know your neighbor.
Weiche and Intrcomm developed Wrightspot.com, a one-stop community-based Web site that helps promote the resources, services, organizations, businesses and people of the county.
The award-winning site includes daily news, sports, free classifieds, and real estate, business and community information.
“We look at it as a way to promote business awareness in Wright County,” says Weiche, who is also a member of the Delano, Buffalo and Maple Lake chambers of commerce. “We want businesses to network with each other, to use each other as resources. We also want community members to know what is out there. We want small businesses to be able to come to Wright County and be able to attract business from each other.”
The site is popular not only among local residents, but also from throughout the state. On the day after Thanksgiving the site had about 600 users searching for information on the Albertville Premium Outlet Center, which is the hub of retail activity in the county.
“I don’t know of a lot of other counties that offer something like this,” says Weiche.
While Wrightspot.com is a great resource for established businesses, there are plenty of opportunities for growing and new businesses to find economic support in Wright County, says Noel Labine, executive director of the Wright County Economic Development Partnership.
The partnership offers assistance in finding the right location for business and assists with financing, workforce development, site location and more.
When Labine started in this position 22 months ago, the focus was more on work force development — mostly because the country was in the midst of its worst recession in over a decade. But now the organization is focused more on marketing what it can do and how it can help attract, assist and grow new and existing businesses. Labine visited 20 manufacturers in a six-month period.
He points out five emerging med-tech industries in the county.
“Industry clusters like these are advantageous to economic development,” he says. “Industry suppliers are more likely to move into this area when they know that there are several industries that can be targeted users for their products. When these industry clusters start to manifest, the area can quickly gain a reputation for this particular industry and the effects on economic development can snowball.”
As Paul Ederer, vice president of Great Northern Bank in St. Michael, can confirm, no community can survive without the backing offered by lenders. Michael develop. Great Northern Bank is one of 16 commercial lenders in the county.
Two programs Ederer mentions are the Initiative Foundation (www.ifound.org), which provides gap financing to industrial and commercial businesses throughout Wright County, and the Minnesota Community Capital Fund, which is designed to leverage millions of dollars of underutilized capital in Revolving Loan Funds. The funds focus on financing activities that lead to the creation of “livable wage” jobs and industrial expansion.
With a strong manufacturing base in the county, Al Anderson knows it’s important to continue to train, develop and recruit potential workers interested in a career in the industry. That’s why the owner of Buffalo-based Von Ruden Manufacturing developed an apprentice program with Wright Technical Center and local high schools.
When students complete the course Anderson will pay half their tuition to a technical college, and if he hires them, he will pay their entire tuition. Along the way they learn valuable skills.
“We need to continue to develop skilled employees to keep our manufacturing base strong,” says Anderson.
Josh Behling, vice president of operations and director of marketing and business development for Buffalo-based Scott Builders Inc., is involved in a number of chambers of commerce in Wright County, and out of Wright County. One is the Twin West Chamber of Commerce, which features business representatives from sprawling west metro suburbs such as Eden Prairie, Wayzata, Minnetonka, Plymouth.
“While Wright County cities are not as big as those cities, it’s good to hear what other communities are doing and bring that back to the people of Wright County,” says Behling. “Being able to share information and network, whether it is used or not, is important.”
Pete Servaty, owner of Albertville-based Budget Blinds, is an active member of the I-94 Chamber of Commerce, which serves a number of smaller yet rapidly expanding communities north and west along the I-94 corridor.
“Being a relatively new small-business owner, it’s good to be involved and to network with other business owners,” says Servaty. “It keeps us informed and helps us prospect new clients and meet business leaders.”
As Weiche can attest, today it takes more than a family-owned radio station to spread local business information.
“Years ago when my family ran the station I never thought I would be in a technology business like I am today,” he says. “But times have changed, and the way we do business is no longer the same. We may be small towns, but I believe we are on the cutting edge.”
Annandale Chamber of Commerce: Doug Kantor, 320.274.8646; www.annandalechamber.org. Buffalo Chamber of Commerce: Cheryl Elo, 763.682.4902; ch****@************er.org. Clearwater Area Economic Development Corp.: Larry Hebstritt, 320.558.2271. Cokato Chamber of Commerce: Lou Ann Worden, 320.286.5505; www.cokato.mn.us. Delano Chamber of Commerce: Lisa Blodgett, 763.972.6756; de***********@******nk.com. Howard Lake Business Association: Bonnie Seegmiller, 320.543.2650. I-94 West Chamber of Commerce: Kathleen Poate, 763.428.2921; www.rogers-mn.com. Maple Lake Chamber of Commerce: Jeff Rivers, 320.963.3200. Monticello Chamber of Commerce: Susie Wojchouski, 763.295.2700; in**@***************er.com. Monticello Industrial Development Committee: Ollie Koropchak, 763.295.3208; ol*************@**************mn.us; www.ci.monticello.mn.us. Montrose/Waverly Chamber of Commerce: Jim Tourville, 763.675.3121. Northwest Suburban Chamber: Barbara Lantsberger, 763.420.3242; www.nwschamber.com. Twin West Chamber: 10550 Wayzata Blvd. Minnetonka, MN 55305; Wendy Wojnicz, (952) 540-0234.
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