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.
BEST PRACTICES: INTRO
strong showing
30 finalists share their best ways to build a business
by Beth Ewen
WHEN UPSIZE BEGAN its third annual search this spring to find the smartest ways to build a business, we went to the best source: the owners of growing companies.
In the pages that follow, we report their 30 best practices and tips for applying those ideas to your own enterprises.
We asked for best practices in six areas crucial to operating a business. Our judges considered the flood of nominees, and chose in July five finalists in each category based primarily on the impact of the best practice on company performance.
On Oct. 25, 2007, those CEOs, presidents, directors and managers gathered for an energetic and informative day: the third Upsize Business Builder Awards & Seminar, presented by Winthrop & Weinstine.
In each of six panel discussions throughout the morning, five finalists detailed what works for them and answered questions about how to make it work for others. A sixth panelist, an expert on the topic invited by Upsize, helped attendees apply the best practices to their own growing enterprises.
The day wrapped up with an awards luncheon, in which a winner in each category was announced. They are: Best Practices in Finance & Operations: PowerObjects. Best Practices in Customer Relations: ORBIT Systems. Best Practices in Technology & Innovation: Innovative Tools & Technologies. Best Practices in Community Impact: Evolve Systems. Best Practices in People & Workplace: Aeritae Consulting Group. Best Practices in Communications & Marketing: Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Ministries Foundation.
Finally, we named the Upsize Business Builder of the Year, based on revenue increases over three years and overall approach to driving healthy growth. Lighthouse1 LLC is this award winner. CEO Jeff Fritz details his strategy for grabbing up as much of a hot new market as possible, as quickly as possible, in our cover story inside.
Sponsors of the event and invited guests provided expert panelists and moderators throughout the morning, as well as judges for the selection committee this summer: Brian Kensicki and Mark Gleeman of Winthrop & Weinstine, the Minneapolis law firm; Kirk Hoaglund of Clientek, the Minneapolis information technology consulting firm; Elin Raymond of The Sage Group, the Minneapolis marketing and communications firm; Kathy Moriarty of the Neighborhood Development Center, the St. Paul resource organization for entrepreneurs; and Barbara Klas of the International Institute for Women Entrepreneurs, College of St. Catherine, a St. Paul resource organization.
Joe duBord and Brian Hagen of This Clicks Interactive, a division of MediTech Communications Inc., (www.gomeditech.com) produced the video presentation of all finalists, sponsors and award winners.
Complete coverage follows of 30 best practices, six experts? advice, six winners? philosophies, plus detailed advice and ?lessons I learned? from the Upsize Business Builder of the Year.
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.’”
