The years 1987-88 weren’t particularly rosy for Newt Gingrich look-alike Paul A. DeBriyn, then chief executive officer at the rural cooperative that would become AgStar Financial Services. Nationally in those years, many rural financial institutions like his—and many family farms—were becoming unhinged as a barn door kicked in by petulant cows.
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The example set for Brooke Linder while growing up in Cleveland, Minnesota, was a mother who worked five jobs. “She sacrificed everything she had for us kids,” said 26-year-old Linder in a telephone interview.
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The new owner of Jiffy Lube franchises in Mankato and Rochester, Tony Chahine (pronounced Shuh-HEE-nee), was raised in a close-knit, middle-class family in Los Angeles where dad had a security-related job and mom stayed at home.
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Brian Maciej and his business, Lime Valley Advertising, are a study in contrasts. The company 47-year-old Maciej owns is located in a two-story French Second Empire home in Mankato. The 3,700 square feet of space provide an elegant setting for the 16 offices from which a staff of eleven provides integrated marketing for clients.
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“I grew up everywhere,” said 58-year-old owner Kevin Bores in a telephone interview. “I was born in Anchorage into an Air Force family. I grew up primarily in the South and graduated from high school in Ohio.”
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“Snell Powersports & Equipment (Snell PSE) really began the day I was trying to get my (home) lawnmower fixed,” said 48-year-old Todd Snell in a telephone interview.
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Each workday, Brad Radichel is continually reminded of the family business his great-grandfather D.W. Radichel started in 1888 as North Star Concrete. It jabs like a sharp elbow to the ribs. That’s because down the hall from his office, a boardroom brimming with nearly 125 years of company memorabilia was preserved as a reminder to him and other family members.
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The three-year-old boy recovering from surgery watched Nancy Dobson demonstrate a sequence of activities for him—walking on a balance beam, stepping on and off a stool and crawling through a barrel. Then he said, “You got through there with your big butt, didn’t you, Nance?”
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