May, 2017 - Connect Business Magazine

May 1, 2017May 1, 2017 Lisa Cownie

Tom Fallenstein, CEO of Fun.com

The Fallenstein family turns their obsession with Halloween from a hobby into a business. The scene opens with mom, a seamstress named Jenice, sewing costumes and her three daughters, Julie, Lisa and Heather, renting them out from the family garage. Then the youngest sibling, Tom, starts getting involved with the business called Costumes Galore. It is a huge seasonal success in the region. Tom coming of age just as a somewhat futuristic tool known as the world wide web starts to emerge.

Feature Story

May 1, 2017July 6, 2021 Lisa Cownie

Kroubetz Lakeside Campers and Motors

It was back in 1999 when Kroubetz and her husband Paul, both not even 30 years old yet, purchased a plot of land along Highway 60 as you enter Lake Crystal. When she reflects back, she is filled with gratitude. The two hadn’t even been married three years, when Kim wanted to pursue this dream and she says she couldn’t have done it without Paul’s unconditional support.

Feature Story

May 1, 2017July 6, 2021 Erin Dorney

Mapleton Marine

“It’s part of what you do as you grow up,” says Josh Schull, General Manager of Mapleton Marine. “People here, that’s what they’ve always done. They go to the cabin, or they have a friend or an uncle or a relative who has a lake home.” That’s the way Josh grew up, on the lake and surrounded by boats off the water as well.

Hot Startz!

May 1, 2017April 28, 2017 Lisa Cownie

Christy Bode Photography

Nicollet native Christy Bode has always enjoyed taking pictures, capturing moments from big events but also just from everyday life. When her three boys came along, that love intensified. But it wasn’t until she started taking pics of other people’s kids that something clicked.

Hot Startz!

May 1, 2017April 28, 2017 Lisa Cownie

Pinnacle Business Solutions

After years of varied business experiences in his own professional life, Joe Paulsen was ready to help others. Partnering with his wife, Rita a CPA, he opened Pinnacle Business Solutions in 2016 with a mission of enriching the lives of entrepreneurs by enhancing their business experience.

Hot Startz!

May 1, 2017May 8, 2017 Lisa Cownie

Kato Music Lessons

“My experience with music has alternated between educational and real-life training throughout the years,” says Stacy K. “It was after my time playing in the Johnny Holm Band that I attended McNally Smith College of Music.”

Special Reports

May 1, 2017April 28, 2017 Lisa Cownie

Community Festivals – Creating Buzz and Boom

Right about this time of year, every year, Minnesota can be known not only as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but also the Land of 10,000 Festivals. It seems every small town found in every nook and cranny of the state holds some type of summer celebration. The festivals have not only social benefits, but great economic benefits to communities as well.

Editor's Letter

May 1, 2017April 28, 2017 Lisa Cownie

Land of 10,000 Ways to Enjoy Life

In general, dictionaries peg the word recreation as meaning a ‘resource affording relaxation and enjoyment’. Relaxation and enjoyment. Hmmm, two words not generally associated with the business world

Cownie Connection

May 1, 2017April 28, 2017 Lisa Cownie

Outdoor Concert Fever

This is the time of year we here in the Greater Mankato region celebrate something that can’t be found just anywhere, the sounds of summer. Sure, there is the joy that comes each spring with the sounds of neighborhoods once again coming to life. I enjoy that immensely. But it’s the other sounds of summer in southern Minnesota I’m talking about.