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.
Resources tailor help to next generation of owners
by Matt Krumrie PEGG GUSTAFSON says it happens all the time: People are surprised at how large and diverse the St. Cloud business community is.
“We’re often thought of, still, as a small town,” says Gustafson, executive director of the St. Cloud Downtown Council, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to drive the economic and aesthetic vitality downtown.
The city may not be viewed as small much longer, considering the population growth. In 2000, St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area’s (MSA) population was 167,392. The projected population for 2010 is 193,490.
St. Cloud ranked seventh in the state, behind Shakopee, Forest Lake, Maple Grove, Rochester, Blaine and Lakeville, in number of residents added between 2000 to 2005 (6,685), according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Cameron Macht, a regional labor analyst with the Department of Employment and Economic Development.
That’s good news for people and organizations that serve as resources to area business owners. They say they’re reaching out to new people as the area grows.
Take the Downtown Council. While their priority is meeting the expectations of members and the downtown community, they work with numerous other non-profit and private economic resources in the region. These include the St. Cloud Area Economic Development Partnership (SCA Partnership), the St. Cloud Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), local bankers and lenders, the Stearns-Benton Employment & Training Council, the St. Cloud State University Small Business Development Center, The St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce, the St. Cloud Conventions and Visitors Bureau, and other local educational institutions such as St. Cloud Technical College and Rasmussen Business College, among others.
Gustafson says the collaboration is typical among resource organizations, as is a mission to serve. “This is a community that offers many opportunities to get involved,” Gustafson says. “My position allows me to take advantage of those opportunities and also demands service back to the community.
“I've served on boards and committees my entire professional career. I speak in classes at the colleges. We employ interns. The chamber hosts networking meetings at least twice each month. Whatever your interest or talent, St. Cloud has a place for a person to get involved.”
Some services the Downtown Council (DTC) offers include:
A free, confidential site seeker service for businesses interested in leasing or purchasing space in downtown St. Cloud. Contact the Downtown Council and provide some basic information about your space needs and timeline and the site seeker program then prepares and sends a broadcast e-mail to downtown property owners, managers and real estate agents. The DTC secures responses to the space query, which are then compiled and submitted to the prospective owner. The DTC also coordinates space tours and accompanies prospects on those site visits.
The Downtown Improvement Loan Program is a joint venture between local financial institutions, the HRA, and the DTC. The purpose of the Loan Program is to make funds available for exterior façade improvements and interior leasehold improvements on downtown properties within the target area. It is the intent of the Loan Program to encourage greater business activity in downtown St. Cloud, says Gustafson.
DTC members receive advertising discounts with partners such as the St. Cloud Times, CLOUD Magazine, St. Cloud Visitors Guide, Charter Communications, Multimages Ad Agency, and others.
The DTC staff offers several opportunities for networking within the downtown business community as well as the community at large.
“We are willing to set up meetings with political leaders, prospective customers or with people in similar industries,” Gustafson says.
Next generation
Teresa Bohnen, president of the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce, remembers when the organization that currently has a $600,000 annual budget and seven employees held its Friday Morning Chamber Connection. That’s a networking event for area business persons, and 10 years ago there would be about 15 people in the room. Today, there will be about 150 people attending a Friday morning event.
“People who live here are visionaries," Bohnen says. "They are self-made business people who have a vested interest in not only their business, but the community.”
They are also next-generation business owners, Bohnen says.
“I look around at those meetings and see a lot of new business owners,” she says. “Maybe they are the children of a longtime family business owner, or maybe they are just starting out as business owners. You look around and you really see the next generation, this new group. It’s exciting.”
The chamber, which also works closely with chambers of commerce in the neighboring communities of Sauk Rapids and Waite Park, sponsors numerous business events, workforce development initiatives, training and development resources, and economic development programs.
It is also a voice with local government. And through its Web site, www.stcloudchamber.com, it provides a thorough listing of resources and links with information for current and prospective business owners.
“The chamber provides a bird’s eye view of changes and challenges in the business community,” says Dan Berling, president and CEO of Goldleaf Plastics, a fabricator and distributor of plastic products, and a chamber member.
GeoComm Inc., a St. Cloud-based provider of high-tech public safety systems and consulting services, was named the 2006 Business of the Year by the chamber.
Tom Grones, president and CEO of GeoComm, says the company has been actively involved with the chamber for the past 12 years, and uses the many other resources in the region.
He credits the many educational institutions for producing employees who are able to work at the high-tech businesses.
“Many of our current employees are SCSU alumni,” says Grones, referring to St. Cloud State University. He also employs workers who attended St. John’s University, St. Benedict’s University, St. Cloud Technical College and the Minnesota School of Business/Globe College, among others.
“St Cloud is a great place to live and work,” Grones says. “The community has a sense of impending dynamics and growth.”
Wanted: science-based firms
Tom Moore is another person who has used the local educational resources to forge his future in the business world. Moore, a former business student at SCSU, spent 18 years with the Chamber of Commerce and is now the president of the SCA Partnership (www.scapartnership.com), a public-private group committed to enhancing the region's economy.
A membership-based organization, the partnership takes a regional approach to economic development and includes several cities, counties, colleges, universities, public utilities, and other organizations. It works to help sustain the economic vitality of the central Minnesota region. Moore and his Partnership help numerous projects, old and new.
One of the newest is the Science Initiative of Central Minnesota (SICM, www.cmbioscience.com), a community effort to organize local leadership and resources to assist science-based companies that seek to locate or expand in central Minnesota.
The organization is also fostering partnerships with local higher education institutions to develop programs and an education plan that will support a strong science-based workforce. Among some of the highlights between April 2005 and August 2006 are:
Fourteen regional businesses and organizations have rallied around the initiative, providing financial and staffing support. A core group of individuals from these organizations meet on a monthly basis to provide leadership for the project.
Meetings have been held with senior management of more than 30 bioscience companies and 15 CEOs to talk about the SICM.
Discussions regarding the St. Cloud area’s bioscience initiative have been held with the four largest medical technology companies in Minnesota.
With the participation and support of medical device industry experts, a new degree, the Masters of Science in Regulatory Affairs, has been developed at SCSU and was in the approval stage as of September. Supporters expect this program to bring major industry attention to SCSU and the St. Cloud area.
The Initiative Foundation (ifound.org) was created in 1986 and was originally called the Central Minnesota Initiative Fund, one of six Initiative Funds organized by The McKnight Foundation to help stimulate economic growth and community development throughout the state.
The foundation, located in Little Falls, provides supplementary financing and generally will not assume the role of lead or primary lender, and won’t compete directly with banks and lending institutions. Instead, the foundation partners with lenders to fill gaps in financing packages due to risk, equity investors or other factors.
The Initiative Foundation created The Technology Capital Fund, which assists companies that have intellectual property or patents and data as their primary assets. Sandy Voigt, program manager for technology finance at the Foundation, says these have traditionally been difficult to finance through normal bank financing terms because it’s hard to determine asset valuation.
The foundation has worked with such companies as: St. Cloud Cartographics Inc., which provides digital and print mapping throughout the Midwest; Integration Solutions (doing business as XTech LLC ), a provider of information management solutions; and Netgain Technology Inc., a computer application service provider in the former Federal Building in downtown St. Cloud.
The foundation also provides financing through a Microenterprise Loan Guarantee Program, Seed Capital Funds and Direct Business Loan Program. They also provide grants to non-profits and community leadership training.
John Kaliszewski, vice president for economic development of the Foundation, says the organization “considers not just the financial soundness of the business, but also the community impact the project might have,” including living wage jobs creation, diversifying local economies and increasing in-migration of wealth into economically distressed rural areas.
Hiring help
The Stearns-Benton Employment & Training Center at the Minnesota WorkForce center in St. Cloud (www.mnwfc.org/stcloud) offers a number of programs, including recruitment assistance (on-site job fair, targeted recruitment, taking applications on site, interviewing space, an annual job fair, access to job seekers through Job Club, labor market information (salary surveys, benefits), and jobseeker/employee development hep. In addition business services specialists are available to make site visits and to make appropriate referrals, says Kathy Zavala, executive director.
Berling, of Goldleaf Plastics, says the St. Cloud area is a good place for business growth. “The St. Cloud Community is wonderful for our team members, which makes it easier to retain quality people and continue their development for the future as well,” Berling adds.
[contact] Dan Berling, Goldleaf Plastics: 800.526.8810, da*@**************cs.com . Teresa Bohnen, St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce: 320.656.3804, tb*****@****************er.com. Tom Grones, GeoComm, Inc: 1.888.436.2666 tg*****@******mm.com. Pegg Gustafson, St. Cloud Downtown Council: 320.257.8600; pe**@*************wn.com. John Kaliszewski, Initiative Foundation: 320.632.9255; jo***@****nd.org. Tom Moore, St. Cloud Area Economic Development Partnership: 320.656.3815;*****@************ip.com“> t.*****@************ip.com. Sandy Voigt, The Initiative Foundation: sv****@****nd.org; 320.632.9255. Kathy Zavala, Stearns-Benton Employment & Training: 320.229.5702; *****@****************mn.us“> kz*****@****************mn.us
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