Focus

The final blow came in 2002. After laying off workers in 1999 and 2000 from a peak of 4,500, Federated Department Stores wanted to close Fingerhut, at one time St. Cloud?s largest employer, unless a buyer could be found.

Business leaders sprang into action. They recruited buyers for the company, eventually enticing Tom Petters and Ted Deikel to buy and restart part of the catalog operations. Deikel and Petters are keeping the 1.2 million-square-foot warehoand shipping facility that Fingerhut built, says Tom Moore, president of the St. Cloud Area Economic Development Partnership. Fingerhut got a catalog out prior to the Christmas rush, and the new owners are planning a second catalog and may hire people.

Once, not so long ago, this land was filled with angel investors, ready to open up their wings, share their wealth and help small businesses of all varieties soar.

And if it wasn?t an angel with a fat wallet or purse, it was a group of saints ? venture capitalists who proclaimed to anyone listening they had money to give. The possibilities were endless and the opportunities plentiful.

Now the angels are in hiding. The saints are hoarding the collection plates. And paradise has given way to an economic downturn, less available capital, stingier bank loans, equity markets in turmoil.

“We need help. We need money. We need a strategic partner.”

That''s been a mantra of sorts over the past year for Minnetonka-based LecTec Corp, a medical products manufacturer that has seen the effects of a softening industry, an economic downturn and less demand from customers.

The result: a significant drop in revenue and a loss of cash that was once planned for expansion. The company has felt the immediate pressure to hunt for financial solutions. In LecTec''s case, that means finding a strategic partner.

John Kimball is a newcomer to Minnesota, having become Associated Bank?s CEO for the state last April after several acquisitions by the Michigan-based bank holding company. He?s an old hand, though, at talking to business owners to get a read on the economy, and to figure out what it takes to survive.

Upsize talked with Kimball to get his take on a slightly recovering economy, and to share his advice about stretching cash resources until things improve. He says now is an inexpensive time to expand.

Business owners often spend so much time trying to raise money through standard channels that they miss easy opportunities. Here are alternative funding you might not have considered.

One of the largest sources of funding is community funds and neighborhood development programs. While many of these groups focus on helping minority business owners get started, officials say there is money for everyone.

?The whole point of these programs is to help you and your business grow. That?s what we?re here for,? says Mara O?Neill, chief operating officer of the Neighborhood Development Center, one of the area?s larger community groups. ?We work closely with the business to get it started and help give them that extra financial push to grow.?

When Gary Wert founded Minnetonka-based Unison Inc. in 1980, employer-sponsored health-care packages cost individuals as little as $34 a month and families about $100 per month, says Wert.

Oh, how times have changed. A recent survey of 75 Twin Cities companies between 50 and 500 employees by Unison, which helps small to mid-sized businesses design and implement health and retirement plans, showed that the average health-care premium for employees is about $50 for individuals and $250 for family. Wert says it?s not uncommon to see plans that cost individuals as mush as $300 per month and families up to $1,000 to $,1,500 per month.

Looking ahead keeps Solutran growing amid large competitors
For Plymouth-based Solutran Customized Payment Solutions, fast growth came becaexecutives had a plan, anticipated a change in the industry and made sure employees worked to the best of their abilities.

While the provider of treasury management systems had always seen steady growth, filling a specific need for customers with a high volume of low-value transactions, the real boost came when the company prepared itself to jump on the electronic revolution. It was a move it had anticipated and worked for and one many competitors made too late. The result is that Solutran is now one of the country?s leading providers of treasury management systems.

?We saw huge opportunities in a lot of different areas, especially electronically, and we made sure we took advantage of them,? says Joe Keller, 38, president and CEO. ?That?s something we do every day. It?s what?s helped us get where we are today and that strategy helps us to keep growing.?

When Patrick Caruso started St. Paul-based Premier Fence Inc. in the early 1990s, he didn?t have a business plan. Or a marketing plan. Or a background in sales, accounting, human resources or management. What he did have was a willingness to work hard and on-the-job experience installing fences. At that time, that was all Caruso needed.

But as his business expanded, so did his role. He is now responsible for five full-time employees, five salespeople and six two-person crews. In fact, most of what he does now has nothing to do with installing fences, but everything to do with running the day-to-day operations of a growing business.

Mike Ellsworth of Stratvantage Consulting in St. Louis Park says there is not a company in the Twin Cities that hasn?t considered or isn?t using online learning as a method of training employees. Susan Foster, owner of Minneapolis-based Brainy Training, agrees.
?It?s not a question of who is using online learning,? says Foster. ?It?s a question of what these companies are using online learning for.?

While traditional brick-and-mortar training methods, such as seminars, inhoclassroom training, and evening courses at local colleges and universities are still useful and popular, more companies are exploring how online learning can benefit its employees.

The kids who dissed the family business in favor of dot-com glory are now flocking back, says Glenn Ayres, an attorney and family business expert at Fredrikson & Byron of Minneapolis. He was recently named president of the Family Firm Institute in Boston and teaches at the University of St. Thomas. That causes special problems for parents and siblings, as well as for non-family employees. Ayres recommends a lot of conversation, the creation of an outside board of directors, and the development of a meritbased culture. Here?s how.