Roger Matz - Connect Business Magazine

September 1, 1997 Roger Matz

Crown Fixtures, Incorporated

Can a former Wall Street lawyer find happiness running a small Minnesota business? That may sound like the story line for a television series, but it’s real life for Herb Kahler, the lawyer who owns and operates Crown Fixtures, Inc., in Winnebago. “We’re happy to be back in Minnesota,” said Kahler, who left Wall Street to join a large conglomerate, then became something of a roving executive for the company. His assignments included a 14 year stint with one of the company’s subsidiaries in Minneapolis. Now he’s back as a go-it-alone entrepreneur.

Feature Story

July 1, 1997 Roger Matz

Russell Associates

Sixty percent of American workers say they lack adequate training to properly do their jobs.

That can be fixed, according to Bill Russell and Jeanne T. Doheny. They train employees of companies in which you’d feel comfortable owning stock, companies all the way from Minneapolis to the Pacific Rim, even some companies whose names you might not recognize.

Feature Story

May 1, 1997 Roger Matz

Southern Minnesota Construction

Every Spring, Southern Minnesota Construction’s massive equipment snorts out of hibernation, eager to rearrange earth, rock and asphalt into long ribbons of roads. It’s happened every Spring since 1914. But that’s no longer the beginning of SMC’s year, and when freezing temperatures force the graders and pavers back into storage, that no longer signals the close of a year’s business.

Feature Story

May 1, 1997 Roger Matz

Emerald Travel Management

If you think the Internet is a passing electronic fad, pay attention to the experience of Joe Farnham. Farnham, president of Emerald Travel Management (ETM) in Mankato, put ETM on the Internet last December. (That’s the modern equivalent of putting it “on the map.”) Within a month, new customers from as far away as Georgia and Connecticut began booking flights through ETM. It’s opened corporate doors where he’d never thought of knocking, and it’s put ETM where he wants it to be: “Staying ahead of the curve in this industry.”