Focus

Bankruptcy is an unwanted topic. If you’re a debtor, it may get uglier in the coming months. If you’re a creditor, it’s going to get a little nicer.

As owner of Mora-based Raven Machine and Tool for 23 years, Linda Laitala saw a lot of changes in retirement options that small-business owners could offer.

When the company first started in the 1980s, employees were still following the norm put in place by their parents: Work for a company for 25 years, get sent off with a nice gold watch, and enjoy a nice retirement with the proceeds of a healthy pension.

Marybeth Voves has worked to keep employees satisfied with their benefits in a wide variety of firms, from 1,700 employees to 12. Now she advises client companies about employee benefits for EideBailly in Bloomington, the accounting and consulting firm. She believes there?s a right mix of benefits for every employee group, and points out ways for small employers to find theirs.

No matter what an employer?s size, the main reason for offering benefit programs is the same ? to attract and retain qualified employees. This reason carries special weight for small and mid-size employers.

The key to controlling group health insurance costs is to engage employees in their own health care, which ultimately saves money for both employees and their employers.

That was the key message at a May conference, ?Business Leaders Forum on Consumer-Driven Healthcare,? sponsored by Associated Financial Group of Minnetonka and attended by small-business leaders from Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Willie’s American Guitars in St. Paul specializes in selling rare, vintage guitars – many right out of the golden age of rock and roll. It’s not a typical retail store, and neither is its customer base.

“I sold Lyle Lovett his first electric guitar two years ago,” says Willie’s owner Nate Westgor, adding that Lovett had always played acoustic guitars on stage. “He came in and spent the day in the shop and bought an old vintage Strat for $7,000.”

Sometimes life throws you some curves, and you’re forced to figure out the next step in your career. That’s what happened to radio broadcaster Ruth Koscielak in the late 1990s.

After 17 years at WCCO Radio, where she was the first woman in the station’s seven-decade history to host her own daily talk show, Koscielak was fired.

“It was a huge, huge shock. I didn’t see it coming,” she says. “I certainly saw people by the wayside get fired or have things end horribly, and that was always kind of there that that could happen. But I don’t think you’re ever really prepared when it happens.”

The act of raising your children, some suggest, is also the act of raising your grandchildren, becayour core values and habits live on in the following generations.

Such seems to be the case with the Bonfe family, whose business, Bonfe’s Auto Service and Body Repair, is still growing in its third generation and 54th year. The key growth word is gradually, because the family believes in expanding only when you can handle it.

An ambitious growth plan is the common denominator for the three winning companies of this year?s Upsize Growth Challenge. Otherwise, they?re markedly different.

DeJarlais Enterprises, Crystal, is a 33-year-old family business that repairs industrial machinery in the five-state area. Mike DeJarlais, president, bought the firm from his father seven years ago, and Becky Lawrence, his sister, keeps the books.

They want to market the company?s services to a diverse range of customers, especially emphasizing the many services offered. Then, they want to identify and attract outstanding service technicians who can speak as easily with the company president as to mechanics in the shop.

When Robb Leer was a reporter for KSTP-TV, the station took care of his every telephonic need. But when he out on his own last year, he was unprepared for the bombardment of telecom offers he was going to receive.

Leer?s needs weren?t complicated. He needed call forwarding, conference calling, faxing and other fairly basic business services.