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.
Cover Story
Doing it right
The catering company Chowgirls has about 50 full-time employees and another 150 who are seasonal. In its early days, the company functioned largely with an internally created technology system. But as it has grown, its technology needs have become more complex — and...
Employees with equity
Schu Marketing Associates Inc. has been entirely employee owned since 2020 when founder Steve Schumacher decided to retire. He’d previously sold 30 percent of his shares to his workers in 2016. But the independent manufacturer’s representative that sells for the...
When you try sometimes …
As the name suggests, Owatonna-based Kamp Automation looks for customers with a process they’d like to automate. It could be a small, inconvenient, tiny part that people can’t assemble. It could be a high-volume product so needed that the customer can’t find enough labor to produce it in the necessary quantities.
“We’ll work anywhere from medical device companies to the seed industry for corn and soybeans,” says Kent Patterson, co-founder, president and CEO. “We just jump all over wherever there is custom automation.”
The company started in his garage. Patterson and his partners built a machine. The company started to grow to the point where now it has 48 employees — and had a bunch of people and stuff in different locations.
“We went from a garage to a shop to a shop and just kept moving to new places and signing leases,” he says. “We got to a point where it’s like, OK, this is getting big enough and sustainable — we felt that we wanted to look for our own space.’”
Sweet marketing music
Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?
Conquering Cannabis
Bob and Erin Walloch had never owned their own businesses before. But as the pandemic wound down, they were already discussing different career directions when Bob had a heart attack. “Coming out of that we wanted to really focus on being together and working...
Pandemic pivots
Prior to COVID, translation and interpretive services provider INGCO International did nearly all of its work in person. The company flew interpreters all over the world, paid them a per diem, sent equipment and a project manager onsite. “It was a big expensive...
Demanding diversity
Beehive Strategic Communication helps business owners solve complex challenges thus helping them grow. But the communications firm has been working for more than a decade to do a better job on its own of being conscious of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as part of its business practices.
Sustaining sustainable businesses
There have long been incentives associated with taking on green projects and organizations available to assist with information. Whether it’s installing solar panels or finding ways to get reusable cups into concert venues, Minnesota has also become a hotbed for...
Embracing ChatGPT
Heather Manley has three jobs. Her main gig is leading On-Demand Group, a technology consulting service for individuals and projects. Then she has two side projects: Heather’s Dirty Goodness Inc., which she started to create quality seasonings low in salt for her...