35C June/July Issue

Northfield couple turns to ‘Plan B’ after being laid off I Waseca business owners find traveling soothes the soul

CCommerce along the I-35 Corridor35

True believerKyle Nordine has faith that

Northfield Retirement Community’s many choices enrich the lives of seniors.

Success story: Owatonna might be a small city, but its manufacturing base is big.

Eco-conscious: Waseca’s Clear Lake Press saves the green by being green. 35C Business Magazine • P.O. Box 537 • Northfield, MN 55057

JUNE/JULY 2010

JUNE/JULY 2010 35C 35Cbusiness.com 3

6 Manufacturing hotbed

As President/CEO of Northfield Retirement Community, Kyle Nordine believes in its mission.

12 Turning to ‘Plan B’ Husband and wife pilots from Northfield put careers on hold to open their own business.

24 Eco-conscious printerClear Lake Press in Waseca has taken its green movement to a whole new level.

Cover story

Owatonna has gained a reputa-tion as a small city with a large manufacturing base.

18

s

Volume 2, Issue 6Copyright © 35C 2010Published June/July 2010 by: I-35 Target Media, P.O. Box 537, Northfield, MN 55057 / 507-645-1136Send releases and story ideas to: Jerry Smith at 35C Business Magazine, [email protected]

Publisher: Sam GettAssociate Editor: Jerry Smith Sales Director: Julie Frazier Advertising Consultant: Nicole Howard Graphic Designer: Ashley Ptacek Contributing writers: Azna A. Amira, Briana Gehring, Doug Hughes and Jerry Smith.

Cover PhotoKyle Nordine has been in long-term care administration for nearly 30 years. He believes strongly in the Northfield Retirement Community model. (Photo by Jerry Smith)

About Us

Departments4 35Commentary5 35Confab10 35Construction11 35Catalyst16 35Charitable17 35Culinary23 35Chamber28 35Close-up29 35Commendation

30 World travelers35Caricature: Kevin and Keri Clemons escape to faraway places for the food and wine.

Contents35

35C photo by Jerry Smith

4 JUNE/JULY 2010 35C 35Cbusiness.com

Owatonna is a mid-size southern rural Minne-sota city located one

hour south of Minneapolis and St. Paul, along Interstate I-35W.

While this city of about 25,000 people is a community with a balance between farm-ing, residential, commercial retailing and industrial growth, it has become the home of many national and internation-al companies.

Due to the entrepreneurial spirit of some of Owatonna’s forefather companies such as Wenger, Federated Insurance, Cybex, SPX, Concepts and Design, Foam Craft, Viracon, Evapco, Poly Plastics, Gopher Sports, and many others, Owa-tonna has become a hub for business growth.

Part of the mystique about Owatonna is its location. In any industry, transportation is a key ingredient in combination with location. Owatonna has both I-35 running north and south through the city and Highway 14 that runs east and west. I-35 also connects Owatonna to other major east and west

transportation arteries such as I-90, I-80 and I-70, giving com-panies easy access to Central America, which then extends into International connections.

Success lies in the workforce and the cooperative efforts of the community. What every community wants are jobs, retail, housing, industry and good roads, which generates the tax base necessary to create a healthy community.

In any industrial project, it takes three key ingredients to be successful: a company/busi-ness, a governmental body, and the developer/investor.

Companies are the people with the vision that bring jobs, benefits, pay taxes and spend money in the community.

The governmental body such as the “city” holds the keys to

the city through the process of forward thinking with available land, incentives and city servic-es, along with working through red tape in the governmental processes of permitting.

A developer/investor needs to be involved to provide a place for the company to produce its products, provide capital and take the risk of the project with the company.

With this three legged stool approach, the basics are in place for success and the stool will not fail and fall.

When industrial customers come to a conclusion to move, to build in, or expand in a city, they typically only have a nar-row window of time. Owaton-na’s model for development has been to own the land for development. There are three reasons this works:

• The land is available im-mediately for the company. In many cases, the company may only have a short window of time to enter a market.

• The city can control the direction and area for devel-opment to provide common

themes of residential, com-mercial and industrial grow to specific areas of the city.

• City officials must have a good understanding of their industrial customers.

The city of Owatonna and the Chamber of Commerce have been instrumental in cooperating with local business and developers to eliminate barriers. This philosophy works well to create or expand local companies and provides a template for a new company moving to a city.

One last benefit is that Owatonna is accessible by air. Owatonna has transformed its airport into a regional airport that brings in corporate jets and planes daily. On these corporate aircraft come the de-cision makers of the companies that provide the jobs that feed the families of Owatonna.

Read more about Owaton-na’s large and thriving manu-facturing base on page 8.

— Doug Hughes is the Chairman of the Owatonna Airport Commission.

Commentary35Owatonna’s attitude, location key in city’s growth

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?5 Takeaways from

Mark Henke

Mark Henke considers himself to be the ultimate generalist.

One look at the resume of the new CEO of Northfield Hospital, and you’d probably agree.

With varied experience in large academic medical centers in larger communities to smaller facilities in rural settings, Henke was well prepared when he was hired late last year for the Northfield position.

“I think my background is well-rounded,” Henke said. “Maybe I’ve become the ultimate generalist. In a role like this, you certainly have to be a generalist, but also familiar with many specific aspects of a com-plex healthcare system.”

In a 35C interview, Henke talks about Northfield Hospital’s relationship with Mayo Health System and Allina Medical Clinic, and the ever-changing healthcare industry.

Q: What does it mean to Northfield to have an increased presence by Mayo?

A: Increased presence of Mayo cardiolo-gists allows our patients easier and better access to our patients to cardiologists in Northfield. Mayo has been doing cardiol-ogy outreach here since 2008, but this now assures access five days per week.

Q: How do you go about monitor-ing healthy relationships with other healthcare providers such as Allina? How do you keep both happy?

A: Both organizations are very focused on top quality patient care and both organiza-tions are interested in Northfield. That works for us as an independent public hospital. We enjoy our partnerships with both and we are continually looking for ways to provide more and better services for patients in the future.

Q: Is that why you partner with these two larger healthcare organiza-tions?

A: There is a level of specialty care that we can deliver in partnership with others that we are not able to provide ourselves.

As an independent, community owned hospital, we are open to partnerships with any number of premier healthcare providers where there is mutual benefit. Besides Mayo and Allina, we also partner with Orthopae-dic & Fracture Clinic, P.A., Urology Associ-ates, Minnesota Oncology Hematology, P.A., Surgical Care Associates and others to expand the range of medical services avail-able to the communities we serve.

Q: How will the federal govern-ment’s healthcare reform affect com-munity hospitals such as Northfield Hospital?

A: The elements of reform will roll out over a several year period and we’re sup-portive and excited about providing insur-ance coverage for more Americans. The real question is who pays for it. We know that payments to hospitals and other providers in the future will be decreasing, so it still will be an ongoing challenge to provide great care to people at a reduced cost.

Q: Where does Northfield Hospital stand in the General Assistance Medi-cal Care debate?

A: We’re not in favor of additional sur-charges. We’re not in favor of decreased payments. We’re not in favor of misalloca-tion of those surcharges or other dollars, and many of the proposals have suggested some or all of those things. We are in favor of trying to be fair across the board to all hospitals and to try to increase the oppor-tunity for federal matching funds by getting eligible people enrolled in Medicaid pro-grams.

Q: What is the future of Northfield Hospital?

A: We’re well positioned because we have room to grow out here on our new campus. So we can continue to look to add new services ourselves, partner with others to bring new services to town and even serve as host to other supportive medically related activities. There is room for continued development, which would be good for our community and our local economy. r

1. Our mission is to promote health, provide care and enhance life for every patient, resident and family member.

2. Local governance adds in-sight, accountability and value to our organization and the services we offer.

5. We successfully deliver technologically advanced and patient-centered care.

4. Northfield offers patients a choice of providers and is ideally located to offer excel-lent choices when they need to leave town for care.

3. We have the privilege of partnering with several outstanding private medical practices and health systems.

“We’re well positioned because we have room to grow out here.

Confab35 A chat with Northfield Hospital CEO Mark Henke


Changing landscape

Manufacturing hotbedOwatonna has parlayed its skilled workforce into

a small town with a diverse industrial baseStory by JERRY SMITH

Sputtering Compo-nents, Inc. could be the poster child for

how diverse Owatonna’s

manufacturing base has become.

With very humble begin-nings, Dan Crowley started the state-of-the-art manu-facturing business out of his garage in 2001 and has

seen it grow into an inter-national business, with a manufacturing facility in Owatonna, offices in San Francisco and sales around the world. >>>

Photo illustration by Ashley Ptacek

>>> I was doing every-thing myself out of my house,” said Crowley, owner of SCI, whose self-title is technical director. “I was doing it all until 2006 when it became too much to do alone.”

Sputtering Components now occupies a 17,000 square foot manufactur-ing plant in the Owatonna Industrial Park, employing state-of-the-art machining equipment dedicated solely to high volume manufac-turing of rotary cathodes and components mainly for the glass industry. Crowley defines sputtering as the process in coating glass, hence the name Sputtering Components.

SCI is one of 47 manufac-turing firms in Owatonna, which has become a hotbed for manufacturing, support-ing companies like Viracon (architectural glass), Truth Hardware (window hard-ware), SPX (automotive tools), Wenger (musical equipment), Cybex (exer-cise equipment) and many more.

Once SCI was able to secure a large order from a major glass-coating compa-ny, the Owatonna company took off, growing to 17 employees (14 in Owaton-na, three in California) in a short period of time.

“When we got hold of that big order, which was from a solar-based custom-er, I had to grab a couple of guys whom I worked with before,” said Crowley, who lists Viracon, Cardinal Glass Industries (Northfield) and Sage Electrochromics (Farib-ault) as three of his larger domestic clients. “We built a makeshift shop, got a few people together and started producing.”

In 2006, SCI had grown so much that Crowley was forced to expand and rented the current facility. He said the business really took off in 2007 and 2008.

“Most of our new busi-ness in architectural glass is overseas,” Crowley said. “Domestically, most of our business is solar-based. Right now, probably 50 percent of our business is

architectural glass and 50 percent is solar cells.”

Skilled workforceA part of SCI’s success can

be attributed to the skilled workforce Owatonna and

Steele County provides, said Bill Meredith, vice president and general manger for SCI. He said it is second to none.

“Compared to the rest of the country, you can get highly skilled, highly motivated workers in this area,” Meredith said. “That has been a key ingredient to our success.”

Ken Henrickson, director of the Owatonna Business Incubator, couldn’t agree more.

“We have a base of skilled workers here,” Henrickson said. “Owatonna has devel-oped a workforce geared toward what industries we have. And they are very dedicated employees.”

Meredith also believes the cost of doing business in Owatonna compared to other parts of the country is another factor that has helped SCI remain success-ful.

“We couldn’t run the manufacturing part of this business in the Bay area because the cost of do-ing business would be too much,” he said.

Compared to other coun-ties in the region where 35C business magazine circulates, Steele County employs more manufactur-ing workers making higher wages.

In 2009, according to the Minnesota Depart-ment of Employment and Economic Development, wages paid workers in the manufacturing industry in Steele County topped out at $75,361,515 (5,547 workers) in the first quarter, compared to $46,061,418 in Rice (3,899 workers), the next closest county, despite having 10 fewer county-wide manufacturing firms.

And according to the Owatonna Business Incuba-tor, whose mission to “help and encourage individuals start and grow businesses” in Owatonna is the same as it was 20 years ago >>>


ABOVE: Sputter-ing Components, Inc. manufactures

cathodes and components for

the glass industry.

RIGHT: Wenger Corporation sits in the shadow of the

Owatonna water tower.

BOTTOM: Viracon manufactures

coated glass and is one of Sputter-ing Components’

clients.

35C photos by

Jerry Smith


ABOVE: Jim Little (foreground) and Jeremy Sorg paint fitness equipment at Cybex Interna-

tional’s Owatonna manufacturing

plant.

35C photo by Thom Caya

RIGHT: Jerry Kelly, a lead assembly

service technician assembles a com-ponent manufac-tured at Sputter-ing Components,

Inc.

35C photo by Jerry Smith

>>> when it was founded, Owatonna ranks 10th among Minnesota’s top industrial cities in industrial payrolls, despite ranking 30th in population.

“The strength is the clus-ter of smaller sub-job shops (like SCI) that are support-ing businesses for the larger companies,” Henrickson said. “There is a synergy there and that’s a big part of Owatonna.”

Why Owatonna?Brad Meier, the presi-

dent of the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce, is paid to promote the city of Owatonna. Despite that, he says one of the biggest selling points is Owatonna’s diverse manufacturing base.

“Owatonna has attracted manufacturing for many years,” Meier said. “We’ve had that strong history of manufacturing. One thing tangible is our location, with I-35 and Hwy. 14 giv-ing us access to all points.”

As an ambassador for Owatonna, Meier has heard what companies are saying about the city, and one of the positives he hears time and again is the city’s willingness to work with companies small and large.

“We’ve got a combina-tion of things in Owatonna and near the top of that list

is the city of Owatonna,” he said. “The city has gone

above and beyond to make land available and to wel-come new businesses and the expansion of businesses that have been around for awhile.”

David Strand, the director of Community Develop-ment for the city of Owa-tonna, is one of the main forces in helping Owatonna attract manufacturing firms. He believes in the city’s philosophy.

“The philosophy of the city is to develop the industrial park to attract industry,” Strand said. “How the city participates is making sure the industrial park is properly serviced by roads and by making land available. Having land and an infrastructure available has helped Owatonna’s growth.”

The city played a big role in keeping Cybex Interna-tional, manufacturers of exercise equipment, in Owa-tonna when the company decided to expand. Accord-ing to senior vice president of Manufacturing and Engi-neering Ed Kurzontkowski, the city played a big role in Cybex staying put.

“I asked what they were willing to do to keep us here and they delivered,” said Kurzontkowski >>>

“


“Owatonna has been a perfect fit for Wenger Corporation for more than 60 years.”

— William L. Beer, Wenger Corporation president and CEO

Manufacturing in the region

Steele County — and Owatonna, by virtue of being the county’s largest city — leads the region in the number of manufacturing jobs and wages. (Source: Dept. of Employment and Economic Development)

Steele CountyManufacturing jobs ... 5,547 2009 1st quarter wages ... $75.3M

Rice CountyManufacturing jobs ... 3,899 2009 1st quarter wages ... $46.1M

Nicollet CountyManufacturing jobs ... 4,334 2009 1st quarter wages ... $35.8M

Goodhue CountyManufacturing jobs ... 3,343 2009 1st quarter wages ... $34.1M

Waseca CountyManufacturing jobs ... 2,089 2009 1st quarter wages ... $22.7M

Le Sueur CountyManufacturing jobs ... 1,926 2009 1st quarter wages ... $17.2M

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>>> in a 2009 interview for a 35C story on Cybex. “They helped us find the land and worked with us on the financial end. They did a great job keeping us here.”

Currently, the city of Owatonna, in cooperation with the Minnesota Depart-ment of Transportation, is taking part in a major construction project that will expand the industrial park by 700 acres, Strand said. The

I-35/Hwy. 14 interchange that is currently in the works will help expand the industrial park by 700 acres, which Strand believes will help attract new businesses or promote the expansion of businesses that are already in Owa-tonna.

“We are doing street improvements and making sure the infrastructure is in place,” Strand said. “It’s completely targeted for industrial development.”

When asked what the deciding factors were for Wenger Corporation’s decision to come to Owatonna, president and

CEO William L. Beer said his company has “benefited from the strong work ethic and high moral standards that define the workforce in southern Min-nesota.”

“Owatonna has been a perfect fit for Wenger Corporation for more than 60 years,” Beer said. “Owatonna’s location offers a great balance between small-town life and access to all of the things the Twin Cities, Rochester and Mankato have to offer.”

Beer also believes that the compa-nies that have made Owatonna strong and viewed as a small town with a big manufacturing base are those that have grown up in the city.

“I think it is more a case of companies that grew up in Owatonna as opposed to being attracted to Owatonna,” he said. “Like Wenger Corporation, the founders of many of Owatonna’s manu-facturing companies lived in Owatonna when their companies were estab-lished.” r


Construction35Projects contributing to the growth of the I-35 corridor

Northfield’s Phoenix Building undergoes a transformation

The Phoenix Building in Northfield has seen a re-birth of sorts as Anytime Fitness recently relocated to the location at 618 Division St. and Community Resource Bank is making preparations to do the same in the near future.

Anytime Fitness owner Jennifer Leininger said the move will allow the fitness club to add a classroom and make the club more accessible to its members.

For Community Resource Bank, the move will al-low the bank to remain downtown. Plans to sell or redevelop the current property are in the works.

— 35C photos by Jerry Smith

TOP: A construction worker in April cuts wood for framing in the space that is now Anytime Fitness. BELOW: Anytime Fitness opened its doors in May. RIGHT: Work continued in mid-May for the opening of Community Resource Bank.

LEFT: Sara Anderson, a shift leader at the Owatonna Dairy Queen, cleans windows as construction continues next door on the Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches shop, set for a late June or early July opening. TOP: Roofing work on the Armory in downtown Northfield was recently completed.


I&S Group’s Bob Mickelson ‘somebody who is active, but not always seen’

Bob Mickelson likes to be hands on, helping out. After 20 years in construction, Mickelson still loves

the job. About a year ago, he joined the team of I&S Group. There he works as a project manager, working with all the departments to make sure every detail is complete.

“A good, solid project will stand the test of time,” Mickel-son said.

As a project manager, Mickelson gets to work with pretty much everyone in the company. He is on the front line, talk-ing to the clients and the departments to get the job done. He also becomes the problem-solver if anything arises during the project.

“He’s a trustworthy advisor,” said Lynn Bruns, office man-ager for I & S Group in Faribault. “It comes down to who do you trust and who you want to work with.”

Not only does Mickelson enjoy the job because of the construction aspect, he also gets to do things he’s never done before.

Mickelson brings his dedication for his job to the com-munity as well. He is involved in many organizations in his community. Some of those include being on the board for the Waseca Area Habitat for Humanity, the Waseca EDA, the Waseca Area Arts Center, the Waseca Waterpark and the Prai-rieland Economic Development. He also dedicates his time to doing some groundwork for the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Waseca.

“It’s just part of giving back,” Mickelson said. “You take what you can, what you learn, and help them that way.”

Bruns says Mickelson is “somebody who is active, but not always seen.”

It was his involvement in the community that caught Bruns’ and his co-workers’ attention. They weren’t the only ones to notice. Mickelson was recently awarded the Don Eustice Community Service Award. He was just as surprised about being named a 35Catalyst as he was when he received the Don Eustice Award.

“It was quite an honor to be acknowledged by the com-munity,” Mickelson said. “It is about the same feeling for this. It caught me off guard.” r

— Briana Gehring

Catalyst35 Making things happen along the I-35 corridor

Sandy Strand is on the front line every day at the Daniel C. Gainey Conference

Center in Owa-tonna, according to her boss and direc-

tor of the center, Marlene Levine.

35C photo by Brian Gehring

About a year into his new job with I&S Group, Bob Mickelson is con-tinually impressing his bosses and do-ing things he has never done before.35C photo by Jerry Smith

Sandy Strand likes to make people feel at home at Owatonna’s Gainey Center

Home is where the heart is and Sandy Strand works to make every visitor to the Daniel C. Gainey Conference

Center right at home. “Mostly I want them to feel like this is home,” she said.

“We want them to feel very comfortable.” According to Marlene Levine, the center’s director, Strand

is on the front line every day. Strand works as a conference service specialist. Once the sales people schedule an event, Strand is the one who makes everything happen.

“She’s their prime contact before their arrival, when they’re here and after they’re gone,” Levine said.

Strand works with the client to set up the needed rooms, equipment and meals. She’ll help plan excursions, get the guest rooms ready according to the desired specifications and talk with the kitchen to work around dietary needs.

“I love to make people feel special, like they’re the most important person that walked through that door,” she said.

She also is the one who the customers go to with any problems or changes. If they announce that the meal will be two hours late or will include 20 more people than planned, she is the one who has to break the news to the staff.

“You gladly smile and make it happen,” Strand said. Levine says that is one of Strand’s strengths. “She comes up with alternatives to make them happy,”

Levine said. “It’s really a win-win service strategy.”Strand was surprised at the recognition. She just thought

she was doing her job, but is happy to know that her efforts have been recognized.

“It’s really flattering because I know my supervisors appre-ciate what I’m doing,” Strand said.

The compliment of being nominated only strengthened her love for the place. She loves the detail work, the interac-tion with people and the grounds where she works. She says the place still takes her breath away.

“I have the best job because I have everything I want in a job,” Strand said. “If they want to get rid of me, they’ll have to drag me out kicking and screaming.” r

— Briana Gehring

Up in the AirWith their airline pilot careers on hold, Brad and Kristin Bell turn to Plan B

and open their own Invisible Fence operation in Northfield

Story by AZNA A. AMIRAPhotos by JERRY SMITH

Starting a small business, both because and

in spite of tumultu-ous times due to the economy, has been compared to leaping off a cliff.

By the time Kristin and Brad Bell had each been laid off twice in 10 years by their respective airlines, it didn’t feel like a leap.

“We were pushed,” Kristin said.

The Bells are the new

owners of an Invisible Fence Brand dealer-ship in Northfield,

with which they hope to parlay their love of animals into a self-sus-

taining enterprise. By switching from

aviation to selling pet monitoring equip-ment, the Bells are trading in their wings for an independent business with the “legs” to provide for their family a more secure future.

The Bells are part of a national trend. In this recession, start-ing a business from scratch has been a way out for many. With nearly 7 mil-lion jobs lost in the last two years, nearly

The Bells, Matthew (6), Ryan (7) and Brad play with the family dog Kenya. The Bells not only sell and in-stall Invisible Fence products, they use them at home.

>>> 10 percent of job seek-ers who gained employ-ment by the end of 2009 did so by launching their own businesses — twice as many as the year before — according to the Small Business Association’s Ad-vocacy Office.

A study by the Kauffman Foundation of Entrepre-neurship showed that over 500,000 new businesses started up in 2008.

Of course, half of these will crash and burn within five years, according to Kauffman.

However, these two experienced pilots have had both the pluck and the luck to steer clear of the economic turbulence fatal to the unwary. They are using the same technical and managerial skills that allowed them to fly the friendly skies to navigate past the very perils that could cause a crash-land-ing.

“It’s very scary,” Brad Bell said. “But there came a time when we had to de-cide. Should we continue to live off our savings, hop-ing for the best, or invest in ourselves?”

Rather than watch their nest egg dwindle while chasing non-existent jobs, the Bells used their savings for a down payment on a business they had no idea how to run, but were will-ing to learn.

Troubled skies Of course, it has been

awhile since the skies were all that friendly, like they were when Kristin’s father was a pilot for Northwest Orient. This was back when

flying was safe, passengers were serviced in style, and pilots were models of pres-tige and stability.

“People hear that you’re a pilot and they think ‘well, you’re set for life,’” Kristin says wistfully. Unfortu-nately, the Bells’ experience has shown that once-true notion to be sadly out of date.

The global economic crisis has not been easy on any industry, but the airline industry has been particularly vulnerable since the 9/11 attacks. Scandals, mergers, legal issues, customer backlash and volcanic explosions are threatening its continued existence.

“Airlines deal with big revenues, but they have a very small profit margin,” said Kristin, 43, who at-tended the University of Minnesota, and then trans-ferred to Southwind Flight Travel System in Texas to become a certified flight instructor.

The effects of all this on pilots like the Bells has

been increasingly unsus-tainable insecurities.

“It’s a matter of sur-vival — you finally realize that you can’t depend on anyone but yourself,” said Brad, 45, who has a B.S. in Aeronautical Studies, with a minor in Communications and Advertising.

A changing industryThe Bells have taught

flying, and between them have four decades of flight experience at various re-gional and national airlines.

Despite their education, experience and seniority, both have been laid off twice in the last decade. They have watched routes shortened so that younger, less experienced pilots could be hired. And often, one partner was employed while the other was on furlough.

Their family life suffered. At one point, when Brad was working for Express Airlines and bartending on the side, the Bells’ income was still marginal.

“We were eligible for >>>


With remote access to all of the files, Kristin Bell is able to work from home when she isn’t in the office.

Kenya is a big part of Brad and Kristin Bell’s family and a mainstay at the Invisible Fence office.

A little ‘Invisible Fence’ history

Invisible Fence Brand is the top selling brand of electric

pet containment, with thousands of dealerships all over the United States, according to Keith Olson, owner of Invisible Fence Brand Twin Cities. The company services some 1½ million dogs nationwide, and up to 60,000 in Minnesota.

The company began back in the early 1970s, when a traveling salesman named Richard Peck despaired at the number of dogs he saw along the roadside, slaughtered by cars. He paired up with an electronics engineer to patent the first Invisible Fence.

The product works by digital radio signal: a wire is buried about six inches into the ground and emits radio waves that are picked up by a device on a pet’s collar, which either beeps or vibrates to deter the animal from straying beyond a designated area (once they are trained to the system).

Not only is the cost far less than that of erecting traditional fencing, owners don’t have to keep their pets penned up or on a chain all day while they’re away.

The radius of movement can be adjusted to individual needs. It also helps with behavioral issues inside the home — like keeping the cat off of the refrigerator, the dog out of the baby’s room, or separating competing pets from each other.

“It’s the training that sets us apart from our competitors,” Olson said. “We use only certified dog trainers.” “

“It’s very scary. But there came a time when we had to decide. Should we continue to live off our savings, hoping for the best,

or invest in ourselves?”— Brad Bell, owner of Invisible Fence Brand in Northfield


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>>> food stamps most of our careers,” Kristin said.

She relates being on “call-back” — away from home in Chicago, often for 5½ days per week — not flying, but hoping to be called to fly.

“There were times when I would fly home for three hours just to tuck the kids in bed, then I’d have to be off again, to sit on call,” she said. “We were living lean, saving for a rainy day, or liv-ing on unemployment.”

The final straw was grounding of United’s entire Chicago fleet, which laid Kristin off for the second time. She had just returned from maternity leave only to find she had been grounded again.

Brad was laid off from Sun Country Airlines due to the airline’s bankruptcy in the af-termath of the Petters scan-dal. Brad had often person-ally flown the now-disgraced owner, Tom Petters.

“He seemed like such a nice guy,” he said, “and his kids were so well-mannered. Who knew?”

Brad played “Mr. Mom” to Ryan (now 7) and Mat-thew (now 6) all through 2008 while he searched full-time — but fruitlessly — for work, but was turned down for even entry-level jobs.

The Bells cast about for alternatives.

“Lots of our friends went overseas, became corporate pilots in the Middle East,”

Kristin said. “But this is a global recession. Many of them were laid off there, too, and came back with nowhere to go.”

In September of 2009, the Bells decided to fly solo. Once the decision was made, all the pieces began to move, almost mystically, into place.

Serendipity of SuccessJust as the Bells were try-

ing to decide what kind of business to start, Brad saw a “FOR SALE” sign at their cur-rent location in Northfield.

“We wondered, ‘what’s for sale, the building or a busi-ness?’” he said.

They got both. Keith Olson, owner of In-

visible Fences of Twin Cities, wanted to open a pet resort in Eagan and needed to sell his dealership and office. The Bells didn’t have to do much market research.

“For some reason, even in a recession, people will still pamper their kids and their pets,” Kristin said.

For the Bells, both avid dog lovers, it seemed like a natural fit. They were able to use their savings for a down payment on the dealer-ship and make monthly payments to Olson. In five years, they will own the business outright. >>>

ABOVE: Brad Bell installs the control

panel that moni-tors the signal

emitted from the dog’s collar as

part of the Invis-ible Fence Brand

process.

RIGHT: Bell uses a trencher to cut

a six-inch deep line around the

perimeter, at the same time burying

the wire.

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>>> “Keith is our mentor, not just someone to whom we make our monthly pay-ments,” Kristin said. “He is also our bank.”

Olson said that Brad spent about four months “learning the ropes” after the deal was put together.

“He’s trained in technical installation, dealing with management software, sales, scheduling and diagnosing customer needs,” Olson said.

The Bells also inherited Olson’s staff: Jeff Barnett, who has been training Brad, and office manager Sara Bunkers, who coaches Kristin on how to run the office.

“For the first few months, I walked around with a note pad, writing down everything Sara said to me,” Kristin said.

The Bells also inherited Olson’s 5,000-strong cus-tomer list and certified pet trainer Dorothy Flynn.

“Brad eats, sleeps and

breathes the business,” said Kristin, who pointed out that there is a cot on the prem-ises. “He smiles and says ‘it’s fun.”

Long hours are part of the picture, but the Bells are enjoying the journey.

Help from their friends

As their Invisible Fence business has grown, the Bells have and still enlist the aid of pilot pals and the Northfield community.

Michael Juray is a friend and fellow pilot who also traded in his wings to launch his own business. His St. Paul home-based “House Calls Technologies” does IT for other small businesses. He installed an interactive computer system that allows the Bells to access docu-ments and programs from their home and from remote locations, using one of the desktop computers they bought from Olson. This not only saves the overhead of

replacing multiple machines, but creates freedom for the Bells and their staff.

“We can say to Sara ‘we may not be able to pay that much, but you can work from home if your child is sick,’” Kristin said.

The Bells have also dived into the life of their North-field community, with rich returns. They immediately joined the Chamber of Com-merce, and Kristin has been active in the Humane Soci-ety as a volunteer in their pet rescue operations and fundraisers.

When Kristin learned that nearly 40,000 pets die each year of smoke inhala-tion because oxygen masks designed for humans don’t fit pets, the Bells donated respirator kits fitted for both dogs and cats to several lo-cal fire and rescue units.

The Bells’ expanding circle of friends and grow-ing profile in the community have yielded unexpected

benefits to their business. For example, the Bells had initially been turned town for a loan — despite a per-fect credit rating, no debts and $100,000 in equity. “But, ironically,” Kristin said, pointing at the structure within sight of their front door, “it was Community Resource Bank that finally gave us a line of credit.”

The Bells are realistic about possible stormy weather still on their horizon. The cost of health insurance, for ex-ample, is a major obstacle to many new businesses, and their Cobra plan with United runs out in December.

“Then we’ll have to figure out something else,” Kristin said.

The couple believes that the benefits of the course they have chosen are worth any amount of risk.

“It’s risky, but at least they are your risks, and your ben-efits, which include a better quality of life,” Brad said. r

AUGUST 2010

Shoreland CC hosts benefit golf event

The 7th Annual Charity Golf Event sponsored

by the Bennett Clayton Foundation for Children with Osteogenesis Imperfecta will be held August 13 at Shoreland Country Club in St. Peter.

In keeping with the Min-nesota Twins playing in new Target Field, this year’s theme will be baseball. The event includes 18 holes of golf, silent auction, dinner, games, prizes, contests and children’s games.

Non-golfers are invited as spectators and to enjoy dinner, the silent auction and games.

The Bennett Clayton Foundation for Children with OI (BCF) was established by the DeBlieck Family in 2003 to support families whose children have Osteogen-esis Imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic disorder frequently referred to as “brittle bone

disease” and characterized by bones that are susceptible to fracture. Currently, there is no cure and there are few treatment options.

Most patients with OI incur many broken bones in a lifetime. There are between 30,000 and 50,000 people

with OI in the US.BCF uses funds raised at

this event and other fundrais-ing efforts to host meetings of OI families in the five-state area; to provide scholarships for students with OI who will attend college; and to sup-port a personal health grant which offers families financial support for treatment and equipment not covered by their personal finances.

The Foundation also sup-ports educational programs and clinical research into the cause and possible cure of Osteogenesis Imperfecta.

For more information or to receive registration materi-als, contact the Foundation at [email protected] or call Erin DeBlieck (507-931-3454) or Brenda DeBlieck (507-380-9295).

Visit our website, www.BCFforOI.org, to learn more about the Foundation. r

Charitable35

35C welcomes announce-ments for upcoming charitable events and news of those that have passed.

We are looking to publish information and photos relat-ing to fundraising and philan-thropic efforts along the I-35 business corridor.

For consideration, please e-mail information and photos to Associate Editor Jerry Smith at [email protected]. Please include the date, time, place, event name, de-tails and charity served.

Also, include a phone num-ber where we can contact you.

We would like to run your organization’s philanthropic news


Submitted photo

Bennett DeBlieck and his uncle, Ron Coomer, a former Twins player and now a FSNorth broadcaster, share a moment in the golf car. The Foundation is named in Bennett’s honor and was founded by his family after he was diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta.

JUNE 2010

Riverland students benefit from golf classic

Doherty Staffing Solu-tions knows that River-land Community College students need help funding their education.

That’s why the Owa-tonna company is sponsor-ing the 4th annual Doherty Scholarship Golf Classic on June 14 at Owatonna Country Club.

Doherty believes RCC is the key to the region’s economic recovery as it can provide a skilled workforce.

Funds raised through the Doherty Scholarship Golf Classic will be funneled to the Riverland Community College Foundation.

For more information about the golf event, call 952-818-3269 or visit www.dohertystaffing.com/golf classic. r

Submitted photo

Golfers enjoyed playing at the Owatonna Country Club in last year’s Doherty Scholarship Golf Classic.

Culinary35Top restaurants serving the I-35 corridor

Starfire Grill204 2nd St. SW Waseca

Starfire Grill invites you to enjoy a dining experience you won’t soon forget.

Start your experience with one of our appe-tizers, from Bruschetta, alligator, even frog legs.

For your entrée, enjoy everything from Orange Lime Salmon, Bacon Wrapped Scallops, White King Salmon, Halibut, Filet Mignon, succulent

Rib Eye steaks, Pheas-ant, and more in the understated elegance of the Historic Miller Armstrong Building.

All of our steaks are flat-top seared then fire broiled in a Montague Broiler to give them the signature Starfire taste.

With impeccable service and an elegant atmosphere, Starfire Grill offers nightly specials (Wednesday – Saturday) and a Sun-day breakfast brunch.

The Starfire also features a wine list that offers choices for any

palette. There is a list of seasonal and domestic draft and bottled beers, and our gourmet martinis and specialty drinks are second to none.

Enjoy live entertain-ment on the patio every Saturday from summer to fall.

For more informa-tion about specials, hours, wine and beer tastings, or to make a reservation, call 507-833-8756, or visit the the website at www.wasecamac.com/starfiregrill.

The Cheese Cave318 N. Central Ave.Faribault

We opened our doors as a retail Artisan Cheese Shop and “factory outlet” store for Farib-ault Dairy Company in June of

2009. Since that opening, we have been embraced by our com-

munity and have grown into so much more than your everyday Cheese Shop.

Yes, we carry over 40 beauti-ful Artisan cheeses from all over the World, including our own St. Pete’s Select Blue Cheese and our recently awarded “Best Gorgon-zola in the World,” but we also carry everything that one could imagine going “with” cheese.

We perform wine & cheese pairings and serve light lunches and make our own cheese curds fresh every week. Yes, we are so much more than a Gourmet Artisan Cheese Shop!

Reservations: To arrange for an affordable and unique cheese pairing event, contact Laura at 507-334-3988 or visit the website at www.cheesecave.net.

Patrick’s on Third125 S. Third St.Saint Peter

Patrick’s on Third invites you to take the “Chuck Norris” chal-lenge.

On Tuesdays, if you can eat a 2.1-pound bacon cheeseburger and all of the fix-

ings in under an hour, it’s free. Patrick’s is the home of the

World Famous Patty Melt, Best Burger on the Planet, Bucket of Death, Govenaires Drum & Bugle Corps, Drum Corps Museum and a number of other really weird, wacky and wonderful things.

If it’s an amazing burger you crave, Patrick’s on Third is the place to go.

Patrick’s also offers a variety of menu items from burgers to pasta and Mexican to Italian. Look for new appetizers on the menu as well.

If it’s beer you crave, Patrick’s on Third offers 20 craft beers on tap.

Patrick’s on Third is open daily from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. For reser-vations, call 507-931-9051.

J. Grundy’s Rueb-n-Stein503 Division St.Historic Northfield

An area classic sprawling into three historic build-

ings on Northfield’s main drag, the “Rueb

‘n’ Stein” has a long list of tradional American food and great spirits.

With an all new expanded menu, the best burger in town and the famous Rueben sandwich, the Rueb offers something for everyone at a great price.

The Rueb also offers a classic bar with drink specials and “Upstairs at the Rueb,” which features live music and dancing separate from the dining area.

Specialties: The Rueb’s famous appetizers and build-your-own burgers.

Information: Call J Grun-dy’s Rueb ‘n’ Stein at 507-645-6691 or visit the website at www.ruebnstein.com.


Costas Candies & Restaurant112 N. Cedar Ave. Owatonna

Costas Candies & Restaurant has been serving the area’s finest

chocolates, breakfasts and lunches for more than

90 years.From specialty salads to pita

specialties to a complete break-fast menu, including the daily breakfast specials ($4.99 w/bev-erage), Costas is the place to go for great food and delectable treats.

Made from the finest veg-etables and ingredients, salads at Costas are mouth-watering good. With offerings like Costas’ Greek Gyro Salad, the BIG Salad and many other healthy choices, you can’t go wrong.

Costas uses premium meats, cheeses and fresh-baked breads in its sandwiches.

Information/contact: Call Costas Candies & Restaurant at 507-451-9050 or visit the web-site at www.costaschocolates.com.

COSTASCandies

& Restaurant


Kyle Nordine believes in what he does at the Northfield Retirement Community

Faith-based missionStory & photos by

JERRY SMITH

Kyle Nordine believes that some things are just meant to be.

That’s how he feels about his position as CEO and president of Northfield Re-tirement Community.

Brought up in a religious home and surrounded by a family with deep religious convictions, Nordine has always had faith in his life.

Because of that, Nordine was instantly drawn to NRC when the Board of Directors first asked him to interview for the job.

“I’m one of the very few administrators that are licensed in the state that actually got a call from the church to serve in my first job, much like a lay minis-ter would,” said Nordine, whose entire career has been about serving organi-zations with a faith-based

mission. “Maybe if I would have stepped out of one of those faith-based organiza-tions during my career, I would feel a little bit differ-ent about that. But from the very first day I took my first job, I’ve been in that.”

That faith element has made Nordine and North-field Retirement Community, with its nearly 400 resi-dents and 185 employees, a perfect fit. Their life and business missions mirror one

another.“This is something we do

that makes us different than other providers,” Nordine said. The Board believes in it and the community believes in it. It’s carrying on that mission that we’ve done for 40 years.”

In a 35C interview, Kyle Nordine talks about the senior living industry, Baby Boomers, and the future of Northfield Retirement Community. >>>

Kyle Nordine (right), CEO and president of Northfield Retirement Community, sits down in the cafe for a chat with residents Chuck Lunder (15 years) and Gloria Paul (2 years).

Q: Are regulations in the senior living industry be-coming tougher in the state of Minnesota?

A: Anytime there are issues that hit the media where care giving does not meet the expectation of the client, we’re held account-able. Accidents happen every day. We’re people taking care of people and sometimes things do not happen as planned. We’ve become a society that says none of these things should go wrong. And when they do, we should hurry up and make a regulation or unfunded mandates to make sure those things don’t happen again in the future, without truly researching the cause and effect.

We certainly don’t want to see people hurt or in-jured in any way. But, when people take advantage of vulnerable people, which happens more now than in the beginning of my career, there is more scrutiny. Be-cause the government plays a bigger role as a payer, they now get to determine more of the rules.

In some parts of Minne-sota, medical assistance in the state of Minnesota pays for 90 to 95 percent of all costs. In our case, it pays for probably about 30 percent of the cost. We’re the ex-ception and not the rule.

Will we get to be there? Yes, that will happen. People will run out of money. They are living longer, we’re keeping them alive longer, and they are healthier.

Minnesota government says that if we are going to

be the payer, then we are going to set the rules.

Q: How will the proposed healthcare reform impact senior living?

A: It’s going to change us and how we look at care for seniors. However, it’s so early to tell what all of those

ramifications are because of the legislation bill being so massive and so many pieces to it. It’s going to have lots of effect, but we haven’t figured out the details of what that is. It will probably take 18 to 24 months for us to really understand what is going to happen within senior living options and payments.

As a small example of that bill, we have a whole new assessment process that has to go into place for the nursing home by Oc-tober 1, 2010. We have a mandate that we must have electronic health records in all of the nursing facili-ties by 2012. So, we know those pieces are coming, which means a lot of re-learning and a lot of money that most facilities aren’t set up to have those kind of electronic health records available. It’s a great idea, but how is it going to be paid for, in a time of budget reductions and deficits?

Q: Historically, Medicaid has paid half the cost of assisted living. Is that the model at NRC?

A: Assisted living is an interesting terminology. There really isn’t a true as-sisted living. It is simply a descriptor of a set of services provided to the client. The

state of Minne-sota has a listing of 10 things you must comply with in order for your facil-ity to be called assisted living. If you have those things, you can market yourself as that, but if you don’t have those 10 things, you can’t call yourself assisted living. You can, however, be something else

that still provides hous-ing and services for elderly people.

We have assisted living here because we meet all 10 of those requirements, but you’ll find in the future that most of this is really going to turn to simply being called housing with services.

People have rent, their room and board if you will, and then they have the care package brought to them at whatever level they need. The terminology of assisted living will hopefully go away because it is confusing the general public about what services are available.

The same thing is happen-ing in housing with services/assisted living that has hap-pened in a nursing home, that is people run out of money, they need a place to live, they need care services, and so consequently, the state adds a payment provi-sion called “elderly waiver” to pay for the care services for folks who can’t afford to do that anymore. >>>


Kyle Nordine (right), CEO and president of North-field Retirement Community, brought Vice President of Long Term Care Operations and Administrator Tom Nielsen with him when he was hired in 2002.

Family pride

The Nordine fileWho: Kyle R. NordineAge: 51Wife: CandaceChildren: Carl, 25; Matthew, 25; David, 22; Marie, 17 Position: President and Chief Executive Officer since 2002Company: Northfield Retirement CommunityCareer history (before NRC): • Fairview Red Wing He-lath Services (1987-2002) as VP of Operations• Fairview Seminary Home (1987-2002) as Adminis-trator• Seminary Memorial Home (1985-1987) as As-sistant Administrator• Luther Memorial Home (1981-1985) as Adminis-tratorEducation: • Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration & Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (1981) from Concor-dia College Moorhead• The Master’s Forum; Ex-ecutive Development Pro-gram from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota• Total Quality Control Management; Strategic Quality Measurements from the Tenant Companies (Brooklyn Park, Minn.)


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Q. How long can that be sustained?

A. That’s a good question. When you have a state like we do and a country that is going through some serious economic times, what are we going to do? Next year, the biennium in Minnesota might have an $8 billion shortfall. We just saw a 5 percent cut in our services rates on the housing side this year alone, and that was for a $3 billion shortfall. Folks really need to think about this and they need to plan for themselves.

Q: Is that scary for you as the CEO of NRC?

A: I don’t know if scary is the right term, but it will definitely be a challenge. But every challenge has an opportunity. A part of our opportunity is to do more care giving through tech-nology. It is the place that will be the No. 1 change of all of the things that we do. We have to figure out a way for people to stay at home as long as possible, get the services they need, and in some cases, put back on the families some of those care responsibilities that have been transferred to care providers.

Q: How has this affected the decisions by you and the NRC board?

A: We’ve been blessed here that we’ve had direc-tors and board members who are savvy about vision for the future and under-stand that you sometimes have to take a risk. You really don’t know what’s inside that crystal ball.

We’ve diversified our-selves from being a nursing home that was originally built in 1969 into more of housing with services pro-vider. We’ve put in the Wi-Fi network across the campus and paid a fairly substantial amount of money to help people be more indepen-dent, not only on this campus, but also looking to the future.

We continue to plan for this type of expansion. We can’t put all of our eggs in this one basket and we have to partner with other folks and be diversified in what we are doing. Hopefully, we’ll get to a point where we’ve created an efficient economic living setting, where people don’t have to spend as much money on bricks and mortar of their rent as they do on the care services that they need for their mind, body and soul. That’s the piece that will >>>


Kyle Nordine, CEO and president of Northfield Retirement Community, stands next to a sign guiding residents along the “LifeTrail” fitness loop.

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>>> cost the most due to the care giving labor component. And in the future, that’s only going to get worse because we just don’t have enough population on the workforce side to support the people who are aging and needing services.

This aging tsunami is going to come at us with disastrous proportions, with the Boomers aging and then not hav-ing a population to sustain that in the future.

Q: What makes offering choices a significant part of Northfield Retire-ment Community’s success?

A: Everyone wants the quality of life they’ve had in the past when they age and when they retire. As they move to downsizing their home, everybody wants to maintain the same quality of life. Our goal is to make sure people have as many choices and options available to them.

As you come to the campus, we want you to know that your choice is more than just going into the nursing home. We want you to know that we can meet your needs, doing every-

thing from weekly housekeeping to offering a grocery store on campus to simple maintenance. We make all of those things possible for you. We go all the way up to checking your meds and taking your blood pressure in a hous-ing setting. If you need nursing home care, great, but sometimes you have other options.

Being on the front end of those choices and saying maybe you ought to start at a planned location of living rather than waiting until you have a crisis event, where your choices all of a sudden become diminished, is recom-mended.

We don’t want people to have to be faced with huge living decisions because of a crisis, we want them to come and see all of the different living options we offer while they have the opportunity to reflect and plan for structured move to a new home.

We want people to work through a planning process and ultimately get them to be in a living option where they maybe don’t have to be in a nurs-ing home. Not that it’s a bad place, but if they want to control their aging housing options, this is the way >>>


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>>> to do it. Our hope is to create those choices not only here, but outside the community as well. Some by education, some by informa-tion or referral, some by just visiting the campus.

Q: You mentioned Baby Boomers. Will that be a larger group of folks coming into this kind of setting than has been in the past?

A: I think it could, just by pure numbers. Unfortu-nately while we don’t have as many people who can take care of us, we may not be able to sustain economi-cally the buildings of brick and mortar. If you ask most of the folks whether they would want to be in a nurs-ing home, they would say no. They would like to live at home and have services brought to them.

The Boomers are going to say this is what I want, this is what I like and I’m

willing to pay for it. The big issue is how long they will be able to afford that type of life style and where will they go if they cannot afford it anymore. That’s part of our plan in working with the Boomers now.

We tell them to buy their insurance and make some good planning decisions and then let’s work through some education that says here are the housing and care options that will allow for you to live in your own home. Wherever that might be, maybe it’s your single family, maybe it’s a town-home, maybe it’s a coop-erative or an assisted living building, but you always will get those choices to look at along the way. There will be an enormous number of people aging in place at one time all vying for services. That might not be the best description, but you just know it’s big. It will be a major wave coming through

that will hit in a short period of time and it’s going to af-fect everything.

Q: What has been the big-gest change in the indus-try in your 30 years as an administrator? Since taking over NRC?

A: The biggest change has been the focal point from the care of our seniors. We used to believe that the only option was a nursing home stay for most elderly. But the housing and care op-tions that currently exist and the menu of options that people have to choose from have created a plethora of alternatives for many aging individuals to select. This is caused by good providers listening to the people who are coming for information and providing feed back to the care givers on what types of services, housing options and amenities they are willing to pay for in their

retiring years. We use this phrase here: right place, right time, right people. If you have those three things in place, you can do a lot of great things.

As far as here at NRC, I would say probably the biggest change is the whole focal point about the technology and being on the forefront of this fantastic journey. And, understanding and having a vision that this is the way we have to do things now and more in the future.

You can build bricks and mortar to meet peoples’ needs, but at some point you have to go beyond that and make something new and innovative happen in the market place. r

— Visit www.35Cbusiness.com and click on the 35C cov-er story to read the entire Kyle Nordine interview, including questions on the importance of technology at NRC.


35C photo provided by the Waseca County Historical Society

Folks from all around the region attended last year’s Chautauqua celebration in Waseca, with music as the main draw.

Faribault‘I Get it in Faribault’ promotes local habits While the “I Get it in

Faribault” initiative is de-signed to promote shop-ping locally, it goes even further by encouraging residents and businesses to make a conscious decision and to pledge to purchase their products and services locally as much as they are able.Local businesses assist

the community through a “multiplier effect.” One dollar spent at a local business will return five times that amount within the community through city taxes, employees’ wages, and purchase of materials and supplies at other local businesses. The Chamber says “for

every local purchase, there is a local purpose.” Learn more at www.

ShopFaribaultMN.com.

• Get connected in Faribault by clicking into EVENTS at www.farib-aultmn.org.

Chamber35A look at what’s new in the region’s Chambers of Commerce

Northfield Owatonna St. Peter WasecaChamber endorses many summer events Northfield area organi-

zations are busy planning several wonderful sum-mer events, and a few for June and July include the following:• June 17 & 18 – Taste

of Northfield: Bring your taste buds to downtown Northfield for this feast. • June 26 & 27 – Gar-

den Tours: Take a lovely tour of private gardens at a variety of homes including the Mayflower Hill section of town.• July 4 – Fourth of July

Celebration: This an-nual event features food, music, entertainment, games, bike criterion and fantastic fireworks.• July 22 – Crazy Daze:

Stores will open at 7 a.m. for city-wide bargains. Look for sidewalk sales and tasty food specials.

• To see more North-field Chamber events, log onto www.northfield-chamber.com.

Wenger Marching Band Festival date setThe Harry Wenger

Marching Band Festival is set for Saturday, June 19, in Owatonna.There will be a parade

starting at noon that leads to Central Park.Contact Kim Cosens at

507-451-3103 or Christy Tryhus at 507-451-2239 for more information.

Steele Co. Historical society event is July 11 Make the Steele County

Historical Society’s Extravaganza (at Vil-lage of Yesteryear) your destination July 11 for a family fun day, featur-ing reenacted old West shootouts, old time hand crafts, musical entertain-ment, horse-drawn rides and much more.For more information,

call 507-451-1420.

• To see more Owa-tonna Chamber of Com-merce events, log onto www.owatonna.org

‘Art in the Square’ to be held July 3 The annual “Art in the

Square” will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 3 in Minnesota Square Park in St. Peter.

St. Peter to celebrate an old-fashioned 4th Join us for a fun-filled

family day of celebration as St. Peter celebrates its “Old-fashioned 4th of July” celebration.Beginning with the

parade on South Wash-ington Ave. at 10:30 a.m., the celebration has something for the entire family.At noon, the events in

Minnesota Square Park kick off as great food, including St. Peter’s fa-mous barbecued chicken will be offered. At 10 p.m., the fire-

works show is the finale.

• To see more St. Peter Chamber events, log onto www.tourism.st-peter.mn.us.

Lakefest music event set for July 4 The Waseca Area

Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the 6th an-nual “Lakefest Music Fes-tival” on July 4 (Sunday). This is a family event celebrated in the perfect small-town atmosphere at Clear Lake Park.The day begins with

the Lakefest Freedom Run, a 1-mile run/walk & the 5K run/walk around Clear Lake. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., with the run/walk starting at 8 a.m. Free live entertain-

ment in the bandshell takes place from noon until dusk. Games, crafts and food round out the festivities. The finale will be the boat parade and “Canoe Paddlefest” on Clear Lake, and fireworks over the lake at dusk.

• To see more Waseca

Chamber events, log onto www.wasecacham-ber.com.

Waseca County Historical Society’s ‘Chautauqua 2010’ sure to be a hit The Waseca County

Historical Society’s “Chautauqua 2010” will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 3 at historic Maplewood Park in Waseca.

The music scheduled for Chautauqua is truly rooted in America, rep-resenting a time in our history when immigrants were arriving in droves.

Finding their way through unknown terrain to unknown destinations was stressful and dangerous. One of

the few comforts to be found came in the form of music.

New this year is Pup-pet Farm Arts. Chris-topher Lutter-Gardella has been making masks, puppets, costumes, sets, floats and various theatrical accoutrements out of waste materials for over 10 years. He has taught the process of transforming trash into imaginative art to communities throughout the upper Midwest and beyond. Chris will be

sharing puppet making techniques and taking a giant puppet on walks through the woods of Maplewood Park.

House of Mercy and other musicians return to Chautauqua 2010.

For more informa-tion about this event, contact Joan Mooney of the Waseca County Historical Society at 507-835-7700 or by email at [email protected]. Visit the website at www.histori-cal.waseca.mn.us.

Green GoalsStory by BRIANA GEHRING

Photos by JERRY SMITH

Clear Lake Press is going for zero. Zero toxins,

zero excess and zero waste going into landfills.

“They’ve worked really hard for the last couple of years,” said Phyllis Strong, pollution prevention coor-dinator for the Minnesota

Pollution Control Agency.Being environmentally

conscious is not new to Clear Lake Press. For years, the company has been “ganging freight” to save on gas. They’ll load up to three different deliveries on one truck so the driver doesn’t have to come back between loads. But that is only part of what they’ve done in the

past.“Environmental initiatives

have always been in place (here),” said Chris Waldron, director of operations for Clear Lake Press.

Clear Lake Press has been a member of the Printing Industry of Minnesota’s (PIM) Great Green Printer since its inception in 1997. The program encourages

businesses to go green by making certain goals.

Each year, the company is audited to see if it is meeting the requirements that are needed to be officially con-sidered a green company. The audit looks at the safety measures involving the environment and the safety measures of the company itself. >>>

Attaining

Waseca’s Clear Lake Press recognized as one of state’s top green printers


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CCommerce along the I-35 Corridor

35

Sibling revelrySam Jr. and Lisa Gault

have injected new life

into the family business:

Nicollet County Bank in St. Peter.

Sod story: The economic

slowdown has taken a bite

out of area sod farms.

Expansion: Northfield’s

Center for Sports Medicine

& Rehabilitation is growing.

35C Business Magazine • P.O. Box 537 • Northfield, MN 55057

APRIL/MAY 2010

>>> There are certain re-quirements to the program, but the member companies are also required to come up with another idea beyond the requirements within a certain time frame. Paul Gutkowski, environmental health and safety director at PIM, says that the plans can be anything, but sometimes companies need help. Clear Lake Press has never needed that help.

“Some printers get stuck for any number of reasons,” Gutkowski said. “I haven’t had to help with Clear Lake Press.”

In fact, in the last couple of years, the company has really stepped up its chang-es. Waldron and his col-leagues spent a lot of time and effort going through the possible ways they could improve their effect on the environment. Part of that was looking at the compa-ny’s waste streams and figur-ing out ways to eliminate them.

“It takes a lot of doing to look at what you use and can use for what you need while not generating other problems,” Strong said.

There was a lot of research involved in the process. Not only did Clear Lake Press have to go through all the ways the company cre-ated waste, but also come up with solutions to those problems. They couldn’t just switch to an environmentally friendly ink or cleaner that

made the product lower quality than what they’ve used in the past. They also had to find new suppliers for green materials or compa-nies that would make use of their waste and had the

same goals in mind.

Reducing wasteOne of the big changes

at Clear Lake Press has been the company’s avoidance of toxins. Before the change,

the company had to have a Small Quantity Genera-tor (SQG) hazardous waste license. That is pretty com-mon in the industry, Strong said, but it also means more inspections, requirements and fees. Now Clear Lake Press produces zero hazard-ous waste, so there are not as many requirements for disposal.

“They’ve seen savings,” Strong said. “And they’re seeing results.”

Clear Lake Press has concentrated on two main ways to get rid of hazardous waste. One is the ink. The company went to a soy-based ink that is less haz-ardous to the environment than the traditional petro-leum-based ink. The type of ink the company uses is UV-reactive, so the printed material is run through UV light to dry.

The fact that the ink needs UV light to dry means that the press always has wet ink to clean off before printing a new batch. Before the changes, the company used a cleaner that would simply dissolve the ink on the roll-ers. With the soy-based ink, the pressmen can use aque-ous based cleaner instead. It takes a little more muscle to get the machines clean, but the employees think it’s worth it.

“Now they have to get in and scrub, but it’s common place,” Waldron said. “The employees I’ve talked to >>>

ABOVE: Pressman Troy Olien washes down a plate with a non-toxic aque-

ous-based cleaner. The company also

has gone to soy-based inks that are far less hazardous

to the environ-ment.

RIGHT: A paper shredder and

bailer helps Clear Lake Press track its

waste.

>>> couldn’t see using sol-vent based chemicals again. It becomes a culture.”

Another change that the company has made is reduc-ing its paper consumption. The company has reduced the amount of paper by 40 rolls every month. That is thanks to some more ef-ficient printing methods and employee awareness. For ex-ample, if an employee runs the machine slower for the test print, less waste paper is produced.

“Self-awareness and train-ing are really 90 percent of it,” Waldron said. “The press was really made faster by turning the speed down, and it wasted less.”

The employees are also reminded visually. Instead of putting all the wasted paper in bins where the employees couldn’t see the result, it is stacked on pallets that are set in the work area.

“They said, ‘here’s your goal. This is your waste pile,’” Strong said. “The workers actually got to see the waste pile up.”

Even the pallets are part of the changes the company has made. Clear Lake Press has worked with some of its shippers to reuse pallets that would normally be thrown away. Instead of dooming the wooden pallets to the

mulch machine, the con-tractor just replaces a few boards so it is usable again.

Tracking progressAll of the waste is tracked

even after it leaves the plant. Used ink is fuel blended, and the ash by-product is used in concrete. Garbage is con-tracted out to a company in Mankato that burns the garbage for energy. Overall, out of all of the waste that Clear Lake Press produces, only about 40 to 60 pounds of ash goes into a landfill.

“Less than 1 percent of all waste materials that leave

Clear Lake Press enter a landfill,” Waldron said. “We track it so we know exactly how much we waste.”

These kinds of results are then reported back to the employees. The employees are told how much waste is being produced and how much they are contributing to the savings. That is im-portant to Waldron since he says without the employees the changes wouldn’t work.

Each of the 39 employees has gone through the train-ing to sort materials, run the machines more efficiently and clean up using the new

materials. It was a definite change in the company’s culture.

“Without the employees caring, without them taking a vested interest, it doesn’t work,” Waldron said.

Waldron says he’s talked to employees who can’t imagine going back to former processes. They’ve worked together to create a culture and keep the work place safe.

“I’ve talked to the em-ployees or people who work there and I think they’ve got a culture going,” Gutkowski said. >>>


In a submitted photo, employees at Clear Lake Press, including Dan Nitz, president and CEO (far right) stand or sit on 40 rolls of paper, which the company saves each month.

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The bottom lineWith the new improve-

ments in place, Clear Lake Press is also saving money. The company doesn’t have to buy as much paper or pay for all the hazardous chemical licenses. The sav-ings, Waldron said, are then passed on to the customer.

By their dedication to going green, Waldron also thinks the customer sees that they care. That won’t attract every customer, but for some, it is a good selling point.

“We went into this be-cause the printing industry in general is under scrutiny’” Waldron said. “In order to be more cost effective to the customers and take care of the environment, we had to make some changes. And we’ve made money at every turn.”

Besides the customers, the company is garnering plenty of attention from environ-mental agencies. Gutkowski lists Clear Lake Press as one of their top Great Green Printers. He said the com-pany has gone above and beyond.

“They are in one of the top groups of green print-ers,” he said. “Within that

group, they’re at the top of the top.”

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recently toured Clear Lake Press and was impressed, according to Strong. A group of the Agency’s employees tours companies that have been making green changes. They take the ideas and how they work and let other compa-nies know if it might work for them.

“When we were there, I was very pleased to see the steps they’ve taken,” Strong said. “It was quite good for the people on the tour.”

Gutkowski is glad for the attention. Many companies are displaying an effort to go green and just don’t get the recognition. Clear Lake Press is a prime model of companies like this, and he wants people to know.

“Clear Lake Press is defi-nitely one of the top green printers,” Gutkowski said. “There seems to be a lack of recognition. Some times the companies start changing because it is the right thing for the environment and the employees.” r

— Briana Gehring can be reached at 507-444-2378.


Close-up35 Snapshots of various business trends along the I-35 corridor

The Minnesota Depart-ment of Employment

and Economic Development’s “Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages” report shows that of the six counties 35C business magazine circulates, Goodhue County has the most privately owned manufacturing firms with 86. Rice County is a close second with 83 manufacturing firms.

Below are snapshots of the six counties 35C serves in three cat-egories from the many included in the report. The numbers are from the third quarter of 2009, the last quarter with completed information.

Goodhue CountyNumber of firms: 86Employees: 3,284Wages: $32,906,447

Le Sueur CountyNumber of firms: 53Employees: 2,217Wages: $21,444,156

Nicollet CountyNumber of firms: 56Employees: 3,609Wages: $32,724,372

Rice CountyNumber of firms: 83Employees: 3,801Wages: $43,766,953

Steele CountyNumber of firms: 74Employees: 5,221Wages: $58,376,830

Waseca CountyNumber of firms: 23Employees: 2,278Wages: $24,666,989

To get a better glimpse of the business trends in the counties 35C serves along the I-35 corridor, the

business magazine will present different economic indicators in each issue.

35Cbusiness magazine takes a look at work-

force and employment data for Rice County. We’ll attempt to highlight each of the six counties in which we circulate in subse-quent issues.

Employment workforcePopulation (2008): 62,898Total employment: 30,680Available workforce: 33,814Unemployed: 3,134Unemployment rate: 9.3 percent

Employment by industryNatural Resources/Mining: 286Construction: 1,335Manufacturing: 4,194Trade/Transportation/Utilities: 4,233Information: 216Financial Activities: 530Professional/Business Services: 1,075Education/Health Services: 4,365Leisure/Hospitality: 2,010Other services: 694Government: 3,920

Top Wages in Southern MinnesotaManagement: $37.37/hr.Computer and Mathematical: $35.96/hr. Healthcare Practitioners and Tech-nical occupations: $30.23/hr.Architecture/Engineering: $29.23/hr.Legal: $28.22/hr.Life, Physical and Social Science: $26.32/hr.Business/Financial Operations: $23.70/hr.

— Sources: Rice County and Minnesota Departments of Employment

and Economic Development

2000

1999

A Decade of Farm Income in Minnesota

Med

ian

net f

arm

inco

me

(in 2

009

$$)

2009

$120,000

$100,000

$80,000

$60,000

$40,000

$20,000

0

Year

$33,

417

$90,

917

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

$109

,150

$64,

677

$62,

450

$56,

551

$49,

163

$41,

603

$28,

308

According to the University of Minnesota Extension Service, farm incomes plummeted last year, dropping 63 percent in 2009 for some 3,000 farmers who participate in business management programs run by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and the University of Minnesota Extension Service. The median net farm income was $33,417 in 2009, down from $91,242 in 2008.

$53,

305

$43,

998

Regional unemployment rates (March 2010)

Perc

ent u

nem

ploy

men

t

13

11

9

7

5

0

County

Goodhue Le Sueur Nicollet Rice Steele Waseca

9.3%9.6%9.3%

6.5%

12.5%

8.9%


Commendation35Recognizing individuals and companies in business along the I-35 corridor

/OWATONNA/

Owatonna Hospital part of group earning safety award

The Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) presented Allina Hospitals & Clin-ics its Patient Safety Improvement Award at its recent awards banquet in Minne-apolis.

The MHA recognized Allina’s patient safety and quality improvement efforts in preventing pressure ulcers in hospital patients, including those with stays at Owatonna Hospital.

Pressure ulcers, also called pressure sores or bedsores, are areas of injured skin and tissue. They are usually caused by sitting or lying in one position for too long, reducing the blood supply to the skin and the tissues under the skin. When a change in position doesn’t occur often enough and the blood supply gets too low, a sore may form.

In 2008, Allina adopted the “Safe Skin” program sponsored by the MHA, Insti-tute for Clinical Systems Improvement and the Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety. Collectively, in less than two years, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minne-apolis; Buffalo Hospital; Cambridge Medi-cal Center; Mercy Hospital, Coon Rapids; New Ulm Medical Center; Owatonna Hospital; River Falls Area Hospital, River Falls, Wisc.; St. Francis Regional Medi-cal Center, Shakopee; United Hospital, St. Paul; and Unity Hospital, Fridley, has

seen a 33 percent decrease in reportable pressure ulcers. During the same time, Abbott Northwestern Hospital reported a 58 percent decrease in pressure ulcers.

/OWATONNA/

SMIF has loan dollars for eligible businesses through SBA

The Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) has more dollars to support qualified microenterprises with the recent award of $250,000 from the Small Business Administration (SBA).

When the Foundation received its ini-tial funding to become an SBA Microloan Intermediary Lender in 2001, little did it know the impact it would have on the 20-county region of south/southeastern Minnesota. Now, almost 10 years later, close to 100 micro businesses here have received funding totaling more than $2 million.

“We are pleased with the number of small businesses which have benefitted from this lending program,” said Tim Penny, SMIF President/CEO. “We believe the additional funding for micro loans will shore up our local economies by helping small entrepreneurs launch or expand businesses.”

In southern Minnesota, under the pro-gram administered by SMIF, more than 200 jobs have been created and over $1.5 million leveraged as a result of the loans awarded in the past nine years.

/FARIBAULT/

Faribault Foods awarded 2010 Xcel Energy Efficiency Award

Faribault Foods has been recognized for achieving the largest natural gas reduction among all industrial customers in the state of Minnesota during calendar year 2009.

The prestigious award was developed by Xcel to recognize its customers that were doing the most to conserve energy and reduce emissions and their impact on the environment.

“Many of our customer’s conservation projects are often invisible to those not directly involved,” said Karen Rhodes of Xcel Energy. “These awards are a way to help recognize customers for their exceptional work so that their employees and customers realize what’s happening behind the scenes.”

Faribault Foods was one of only seven Xcel customers in the state of Minnesota to receive an energy efficiency award in 2009.

“We are very proud of having been recognized by Xcel for the results we’ve achieved in our Faribault plant for natural gas reduction,” said Dave Tieman, Faribault Foods’ director of operations in Faribault. “While the results for natural gas reduction in Faribault are one of our more dramatic achievements, we have been committed to investing in and pur-suing sustainability (company wide).”

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Story by BRIANA GEHRINGPhoto by JERRY SMITH

There’s nothing like get-ting out of the country

for a while, especially if you’re going for the wine.

At least that’s how Kevin and Keri Clemons, owners of Suburban Furniture in Waseca, look at things.

The Clemonses choose places that make great wine, work out the arrangements with their travel compan-ions, Gordy and Julie Os-lund, do the research on the country they’ve chosen and then they are off.

“We all like to eat and cook, so we go to a country where we don’t know about the food and wine,” Keri said.

The idea is to do one area at a time and do it well. The group will spend months re-searching places or events in which they want to go, but once they get there, sponta-neity takes over. If they find a place they like, they’ve been known to spend five days in one place.

“We can’t see everything in two weeks, but we can always go back,” Keri said.

After the first night, they don’t really have specific plans. They rent a car or hop a train and take off for the less explored locations.

Once they get into a town they wish to stay in, they rely on the locals to lead them — both to destinations and in the food they choose.

“I haven’t eaten anything I didn’t like,” Kevin said.

Life-altering experienceUntil recently, all their ex-

periences have been good. The people have always been friendly, they’ve always felt safe, the food has been good and the wine has been outstanding.

During their most recent trip to Chile, the four wine lovers had the experience of their lives, riding out a huge earthquake that hit the region.

As is customary, the trip started out with a bottle of wine. They looked at the label, found out it was from Mendoza, Argentina, and decided to go there. On their way, they stopped for the night and got a big surprise. At about 3 a.m., something that sounded

like hail woke Keri up. It got worse and she realized it was an earthquake.

Keri jumped out of the bed, yelling at Kevin, and ran out of the hotel. She stood outside, hugging the elderly doorman, while Kevin stayed inside.

“By the time I realized she was gone, it was shaking so hard I decided to sit and ride it out,” Kevin said.

When the shaking stopped, the couples wanted to get out of town, but an-other guest told them to stay or they might be targeted by looters. They rode out the af-tershocks until morning and then got out of Dodge.

They drove north through a ravaged Santiago, Chile, and got hung up at the mountains. The locals told them to let the mountains settle before proceeding.

“It is kind of like a snow-storm,” Kevin said. “Rocks were piled up on both sides of the road when we drove through.”

After they finally got to Mendoza, they had a won-derful time, spending the rest of their vacation the way they visualized it from the start.

Great escapesThe Clemonses use the

time away as a breather from their business, but found there are certain rules to follow during these trips. For example, they never talk about the next trip, saying it takes away from the trip they are on. They always take the locals’ recommendations. They don’t go to the same place twice. And they only go for two weeks.

“We found that if you go for a week, it’s not quite long enough because you’re still worrying about work,” Keri said. “We tried longer but we started worrying.”

The Clemonses are thank-ful for the opportunity to take these vacations, but they said they probably wouldn’t do them without their travel companions or having the peace of mind their employees give them while they are away.

“We’re really fortunate to have staff we trust 1,000 percent,” Kevin said. r

— Briana Gehring can be reached at 507-444-2378.


Some of the furniture and accessories Kevin and Keri Clem-ons sell at Suburban Furniture in Waseca remind them of the many trips they’ve taken together with friends.

Caricature35Corridor professionals draw strength from outside the office

Good food, great wines draw Clemons to faraway places

““We all like to eat and cook, so we go to a country where we don’t know about the food and wine.”— Kevin Clemons, owner of Suburban Furniture in Waseca and world traveler

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Documents

35C June/July Issue