About

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What is Connect Business Magazine?
Connect Business Magazine (CBM) serves the south-central Minnesota region. CBM’s purpose is to “connect” area businesses with the region’s vendors. CBM is published bimonthly and has a controlled, mailed circulation of over 12,000 with estimated total reach of 50,000. CBM is published every other month, starting with January.

How do I advertise in Connect Business Magazine?
Call us at 507-232-3463 or use the contact form. Rate information
is available upon request.

Who publishes Connect Business Magazine?
CBM is published by locally-owned Concept & Design Incorporated.

How do I buy back issues?
Contact us. Limited quantities of back issues are available. Free digital back issues available at issuu.com/connectbiz.

Can I get quantity reprints of a story, or prints of photos that appear in Connect Business Magazine?
Yes, reprints and photos are available at reasonable rates
. Please contact us.

What is the Business Person of the Year Award?
This annual award ran from 2004-2018.Read more about it below.

From the 10th Anniversary Special Issue (2004)

The first issue of Connect Magazine began in 1994 as a publication of Nicollet-based graphic design studio Concept & Design Incorporated. Publisher Jeff Irish began the first issue by saying, “Ideas are like pennies. There are millions in circulation, but only a few rare enough to be of any real worth. Connect Magazine is a “penny” that I have been kicking around for years…If we do our job well, the information contained within these pages will strengthen your local business connections and provide tangible benefits to your organization.”

The first printing was 600. Kutzwald Inc. and Micro-Trak Systems were the first companies profiled—and the first display advertisers were Southern Minnesota Office Machines, Jones Metal Products, Quick Print, AFLAC, Gallery 19, Corporate Graphics, Mankato Carton, Manpower, KEEZ-FM Z99, Mathes Printing, and HickoryTech. The first Classified advertisers were Flexible Plastics, Weber Engineering Associates, Courtland Industries, Mankato Corporation, Kutzwald, Door Engineering, and Jones Metal Products.

It started as a 20-page business monthly, and didn’t become a bimonthly until October 1995. The staff initially sold subscriptions, but within two years accelerated its reach and value to advertisers by becoming a free, controlled-circulation magazine.

Connect’s Business Person of the Year Award was given annually, from 2004-2018.

How the Winners were Chosen: Nominations were gathered through an open annual call. Nominations were open to anyone that lived and worked in either Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Martin, Brown, Watonwan, Waseca, Faribault, Sibley or Nicollet County. Connect Business Magazine learned more about the nominees, and forwarded the information on to our selection committee, who was comprised of local business leaders, business academics and the editorial board. Each judge ranked each nominee in order of preference. The highest ranked nominee appeared on our that year’s January cover. Additionally, two runners-up appeared inside the magazine. Judges took into consideration the person’s character, leadership abilities, community involvement, and business results. Business persons from any business — large or small, profit or nonprofit, large town or small — were eligible.

Winners: