May, 1998 - Connect Business Magazine

May 1, 1998May 1, 2008 Roger Matz

Davisco Foods International

It sounds like a fairy tale, but once upon a time creameries discarded whey and buttermilk, giving it to farmers who spread it on fields or fed it to calves.

Now an entire industry exists to capture the nutritious ingredients locked in these once-snubbed fluids. One of the leaders in that industry is Davisco Foods International, Inc., based in Le Sueur, where veteran employees still remember the days of whey-splattered fields and calves suckled on buttermilk.

Feature Story

May 1, 1998May 5, 2008 Roger Matz

Rainbow Woods

Lessons learned the hard way tend to be lessons remembered. Richard and Debbie Halvorson, who are tantalizingly close to profitability at Rainbow Woods, Inc. in Le Center, digested their share along a red-ink road since 1990. After nurturing two radically different product lines in three different communities for eight years, the Halvorsons now realize: Marketing means making more than one sales call.

Cover Story

May 1, 1998April 30, 2008 Daniel Vance

Bill Carlson

CONNECT: What personal traits do you have that helped you grow Carlson Craft?

CARLSON: Being optimistic, which I think is related closely to having a Christian faith. I see the positive things of life. I have patience too, which is also related to my faith in God. I was blessed with good health, and again, I give credit for that to a Higher Power. I know of many friends who haven’t been blessed with good health and they had to retire very young.

Cover Story

May 1, 1998April 30, 2008 Daniel Vance

Jerry Johnson

While looking out his office window for a memory that isn’t that far distant, Jerry Johnson, founder and chairman of Mankato-based Clear With Computers (CWC), seems to feel a great deal of pride in helping move CWC from a $99-computer beginning to an industry giant. “We started with no money in the bank,” he says.