Since the early 1700s, when John Peter Zenger was tried for seditious libel (and exonerated), American journalists have been willing to go to jail to uphold the principles of a free press. Jerry Groebner, the editor and publisher of the Lake Region Times, has taken the journalistic tradition to a new level.
Read MoreSince the early ‘80s, NadelKunst has served the knitting, hardanger, embroidery, lacemaking, needlepunch, and tatting needs of hundreds of southern Minnesota and national customers. It’s the distinctive way 58-year-old Hillesheim operates that makes NadelKunst—roughly translated “needle-art cabin” in German—so interesting to its customers.
Read MoreAlthough not knowing it, movie producer George Lucas is responsible for the creation and growth of a video production company in Mankato. Rob Petersen, co-owner of All Pro Media LLC, saw his first Star Wars movie in 1977 and said, “I want to do that.
Read MoreYou can get a feel for Arabian Horse Times from reading a recent feature article: “Da Vinci is the quintessential Classic Arabian—both in phenotype and genotype. His head is exquisitely short and from the front perfectly triangular; the eyes, set low on a wide forehead, are large and dark, surrounded by pronounced and chiseled occipital and cheekbones.”
Read More17-employee Fairmont business excels in little-known industry. Photo by Jeff Silker The business partnership represented by a windmill logo may be one
Read MoreHe was a natural-born, one-in-a-million businessman, and nearly everything he touched turned from thin air to glittering gold. The company Wagner had co-founded, Inspired Technologies—and for that matter, most of the other companies he had co-founded over the years, including Lake Prairie Egg, Pharmacist’s Ultimate Health, and Geo Mask—had been or were widely acclaimed business success stories.
Read MoreLearn what’s new with more than 75 people featured on our cover.
In September 1996, we began our current format of in-depth cover story interviews by featuring U.S. Reps. David Minge and Gil Gutknecht. In part, we changed formats because of earnestly believing most readers would prefer learning about people rather than products or issues, which had dominated our magazine’s early content. Business, after all—and anyone having been in business knows—consists primarily of people in relationship to others.
In addition, we believed a business was best discovered through its leader’s mind and heart. Business culture always begins at the top and filters down. It’s the leader that really makes a business beat and with whom people really need to “connect.” Businesses are unique only because their leaders have been unique, and that uniqueness usually arises from a leader’s upbringing, character, response to failure and success, taste for risk, and adaptability.
Read MoreRemember the tintype photos of buttoned-down bankers wearing vested suits, their glasses perched on their noses? It’s the stereotype from 125 years ago, about the time Sam Gault’s great-grandfather, Zuriel Gault, went to work at Nicollet County Bank.
Read MoreIn 1971, 22-year-old Dale Brenke had wrapped up his accounting training at Mankato Commercial College and was wiping windshields and pumping petrol part-time for Bernie’s One Stop service station on Front Street across from Hubbard Milling. The $1.10 an hour pay helped—somewhat. He was actively searching for a better job, but his search had been impeded by a pesky U.S. recession affecting Mankato.
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