200 Minnesotans You Should Know
Originally Posted in the Twin Cities Business Magazine on April 1, 2010.
There are people you simply should know.
They are people who shape your world, whether you recognize it or not—people who come up in casual discussions, who frame points of view, whose very names form points of reference.
On the following pages, you will find profiles of CEOs of Minnesota’s largest companies, public and private. You will find lenders, venture capitalists, and other financiers.
Even if you don’t know them personally, you should know who they are and what they do—assuming, of course, that your world is the business world, and that much of your business is done in Minnesota.
You will also see, on the pages that follow, entrepreneurs, including individuals who have started several enterprises. There are builders—of buildings and businesses—and thought leaders, public influencers, and leaders of some of the not-for-profit enterprises that enrich your world. Leaders of law and accounting firms also appear.
Who won’t you find? Prince, the musician—even though it would be pitiable not to know his best productions. Twins catcher Joe Mauer, even though your life will be improved by watching him work. You won’t find Governor Tim Pawlenty, the novelist Vince Flynn, or the guy who played Scrooge last year at the Guthrie Theater. We are presenting a roster of people who occupy the business community. We left off professional athletes, actors, entertainers, writers, artists, and all but a few educators.
We also left out crooks—there’s no profile of Tom Petters—and elected officials, although we hope we don’t have to remind you that you should know the names of your representative in Congress, the mayor of the city in which you live, and your state senator and representative. We never considered including journalists.
Is 200 the right number of names? Well, sure it is. It highlights the fact that this is the 200th issue of Twin Cities Business.
A better question is whether my associates and I—Gene Rebeck, Christa Meland, Melissa Loth, Eric Kelsey—and a group of freelancers who regularly contribute to the magazine have selected the right 200 people to feature. And that’s where you come in.
As you know, part of the fun of reading a who’s who–style feature like this is discovering names you might not have thought to include. As we know—and please recognize that we do know this—there is also frustration in finding that the people compiling the list have left off someone who clearly, unequivocally should be on it.
So here’s what we’ll do: We’ll take your suggestions at 200plus@tcbmag.com. Send us the person’s name, title, company or organization name, and no more than 150 words about why he or she is a Minnesotan to know, and we’ll post your additions, too.
The 200 Minnesotans List
1 Agin Schmidt, Carolyn – Law Office of Carolyn Agin Schmidt
2 Ames, Richard – Ames Construction
3 Amplatz, Kurt – AGA Medical Holdings
4 Anderson, Lee – APi Group
5 Annexstad, Al – Federated Insurance Companies
6 Austin, William – Starkey Laboratories
7 Avent, Sharon – Smead Manufacturing Company
8 Bachman, Dale – Bachman’s
9 Baker, Douglas M. – Ecolab
10 Barber, Greg – Eide Bailly
11 Barr, Collin – Ryan Companies
12 Barton, Raymond L. – Great Clips
13 Bell, Peter – Metropolitan Council
14 Bellamy, Lou – Penumbra Theatre Company
15 Berman, Lyle – Lakes Entertainment
16 Berman, Mike – Numerous medical device firms
17 Blashack Strahan, Jill – Tastefully Simple
18 Brainerd, Mary – HealthPartners
19 Bruininks, Robert – University of Minnesota
20 Buckley, George W. – 3M Company
21 Burnet, Ralph – Coldwell Banker Burnet
22 Campbell, James – Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota
23 Campbell, Jon – Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota
24 Carlson Nelson, Marilyn – Carlson
25 Carr, Dan – The Collaborative
26 Caruso, Sarah – Greater Twin Cities United Way
27 Casey, Lynn – Padilla Speer Beardsley
28 Christianson, Tony – Cherry Tree Companies
29 Ciresi, Michael V. – Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi
30 Cohen, Burt – MSP Communications
31 Cooper, William – TCF Financial Corporation
32 Cotton, Jeff – Deloitte
33 Cracchiolo, James – Ameriprise Financial
34 Dahlberg, Kenneth – Carefree Capital
35 Davis, Mark – Davisco Foods International
36 Davis, Richard – U.S. Bancorp
37 DeNucci, Mark – Boulay Heutmaker, Zibell & Company
38 DeYoung, Jeff – Baker Tilly Virchow Krause
39 Dolan, James – Dolan Media Company
40 Dowling, Joe – Guthrie Theater
41 Doyle, Dennis – Welsh Companies
42 Duff, Andrew – Piper Jaffray Companies
43 Dunn, Brian – Best Buy Company
44 Ehmke, Lee – Minnesota Zoo
45 Engelsma, Bruce – Kraus-Anderson Companies
46 Ettinger, Jeffrey M. – Hormel Foods Corporation
47 Evenstad, Ken – Upsher-Smith Laboratories
48 Fagen, Roland “Ron” – Fagen
49 Feldman, Kaywin – Minneapolis Institute of Arts
50 Feldman, Nancy – UCare
51 Feltl, John – Feltl and Company
52 Finkelstein, Paul D. – Regis Corporation
53 Fiterman, Michael – Liberty Diversified International
54 Flack, Greg – Schwan Food Company
55 Foster, Chris – Fallon
56 Frandsen, Dennis – Frandsen Corporation
57 Frauenshuh, David – Frauenshuh Healthcare
58 Frécon, Leslie – LFE Capital
59 Fruechte, Christine – Colle & McVoy
60 Fry, Art – 3M Company
61 Gage, Skip – Gage Marketing Group
62 Gavin, Sara – Weber Shandwick
63 George, Bill – Medtronic
64 Geraghty, Patrick – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
65 Gorman, Michael – Split Rock Partners
66 Grabarski, Sam – Minneapolis Downtown Council
67 Halloran, Patrick – Wayzata Investment Partners
68 Hawkins, William – Medtronic
69 Heffelfinger, Thomas – Best & Flanagan
70 Helgeson, Michael – Gold’n Plump Poultry
71 Hemsley, Stephen – UnitedHealth Group
72 Herkert, Craig – Supervalu
73 Hewitt, Bradford – Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
74 Himle, John – Himle Horner
75 Hinderaker, John – Faegre & Benson
76 Hogan, Randall J. – Pentair
77 Holmes, Gary – CSM Corporation
78 Hopp, Deborah – MSP Communications
79 Hotchkiss, Philip – BigCharts
80 Hubbard, Stanley S. – Hubbard Broadcasting
81 Humphrey, Jim – Andersen Corporation
82 Jacobs, Irwin – Jacobs Trading Company
83 Jaeger, Doug – Adolfson & Peterson
84 Johnson, John D. – CHS
85 Johnson, B. Kristine – Affinity Capital Management
86 Joly, Hubert – Carlson
87 Kane, Jean – Welsh Companies
88 Kaplan, Sam – Kaplan Strangis& Kaplan
89 Kelley, Douglas – Kelley Wolter & Scott
90 Kelly, Richard – Xcel Energy
91 Khanna, Gopal – Office of EnterpriseTechnology
92 Kierlin, Robert – Fastenal Company
93 Kling, William – Minnesota Public Radio
94 Klingensmith, Michael – Star Tribune
95 Kocherlakota, Narayana – Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
96 Kolar, James – PricewaterhouseCoopers
97 Koneck, John – Fredrikson & Byron
98 Kotula, Donald – Northern Tool & Equipment
99 Kraemer, Michael – Short Elliott Hendrickson
100 Kurowski, Greg – Periscope
101 Layman, Sandy – Iron Range Resources
102 LeJeune, Michael – Fabcon
103 Leipold, Craig – Minnesota Wild, Minnesota Sports and Entertainment
104 Lescarbeau, Mike – Carmichael Lynch
105 Leuthold, Steven – The Leuthold Group
106 Lewis, Donald – Hamline University School of Law
107 Lindahl, John – Norwest Equity Partners
108 Lindsay, Joy – StarTec Investments
109 Litman, Scott – Magnet 360
110 Lucas, Peggy – Brighton Development
111 Lundberg, Steven – Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner
112 Mackay, Harvey – MackayMitchell Envelope
113 Mallin, Dan – Magnet 360
114 Marvin, Susan – Marvin Windows And Doors
115 McBeth, Daryn – Minnesota Agri-Growth Council
116 McElroy, Dan – MN Dept. of Employment and Economic Development
117 McNerney, Peter – Thomas McNerney & Partners
118 Meshbesher, Ronald – Meshbesher and Spence
119 Mezile, Harold – YMCA of Metropolitan Minneapolis
120 Mingo, Guy – Marsden Holding
121 Mitchell, Patricia – Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
122 Mondale, Walter – Dorsey & Whitney
123 Mooty, John – Gray Plant Mooty
124 Morfitt, Martha – River Rock Partners, Airborne
125 Morgan, Thomas G. – Faegre & Benson
126 Mortenson, M. A. “Mort” – M. A. Mortenson Company
127 Nath, Mahendra – Nath Companies
128 Nelson, Russ – Nelson Tietz & Hoye
129 Ngo, Viet – Lemna International
130 Nitzsche, Randy G. – Northland Securities
131 Norback, David – RSP Architects
132 Noseworthy, John – Mayo Clinic
133 Offutt, Ron – R. D. Offutt Company
134 Olseth, Dale – SurModics
135 Olson, John – Olson
136 Opperman, Vance – Key Investment
137 Page, Gregory – Cargill
138 Patel, Kal – Best Buy Company
139 Patrick, Stephen – BWBR Architects
140 Paulus, Kenneth – Allina Hospitals and Clinics
141 Perkins, Richard “Perk” – Perkins Capital Management
142 Peyton, Whitney – CB Richard Ellis (CBRE)
143 Phillips, Edward J. – Talenti Gelato E Sorbetto
144 Pohlad, Jim – Twins Sports, Inc.
145 Powell, Kendall – General Mills
146 Prokopanko, James – Mosaic Company
147 Rechelbacher, Horst – Intelligent Nutrients
148 Remele, Lewis – Bassford Remele
149 Roberts, Phil – Parasole Restaurant Holdings
150 Roche, William – RSM McGladrey
151 Rolnick, Arthur J. – Federal Reserve Bank
152 Ronning, Joel – Digital River
153 Rosen, Thomas – Rosen’s Diversified
154 Rubin, Kate – Minnesota High Tech Association
155 Russomanno, Frank P. – Imation Corporation
156 Schoenecker, Guy – BI
157 Schram, Lee – Deluxe Corporation
158 Schulze, Richard – Best Buy Company
159 Shank, Stephen – Capella Education Company
160 Sheffert, Mark – Manchester Companies
161 Short, Marianne – Dorsey & Whitney
162 Sit, Roger J. – Sit Investment Associates
163 Smith, Sally – Buffalo Wild Wings
164 Smith, Kevin – Minnesota Opera
165 Soran, Phil – Compellent Technologies
166 Spell, William – Spell Capital Partners
167 Spong, Doug – Carmichael Lynch Spong
168 St. Peter, Dave – Minnesota Twins
169 Starks, Daniel J. – St. Jude Medical
170 Stassen, David – Split Rock Partners
171 Steiner, James – Lowry Hill Private Asset Management
172 Steinhafel, Gregg – Target Corporation
173 Stillman, David – Bridgeworks
174 Stofer, Boyd – Marquette Real Estate Group
175 Stout, John – Fredrikson & Byron
176 Sweeney, Michael – Goldner Hawn Johnson& Morrison
177 Switz, Robert – ADC Telecommunications
178 Tandon, Rajiv – Adayana
179 Tattersfield, Michael – Caribou Coffee
180 Taylor, Glen – Minnesota Timberwolves; Taylor Corporation
181 Taylor, Jean – Taylor Corporation
182 Tennant, Melvin – Meet Minneapolis
183 Tilford, David – Medica
184 Tobin, William – Cresa Partners
185 Tunheim, Kathy – Tunheim Partners
186 Vänskä, Osmo – Minnesota Orchestra
187 Viere, Gordon – LarsonAllen
188 Villafana, Manny – Kips Bay Medical
189 Viso, Olga – Walker Art Center
190 Volpi, Michele – H. B. Fuller Company
191 Wahlstrom, Dale – The Biobusiness Allianceof Minnesota
192 Wallin, Winston – Wallin Foundation
193 Walters, Tom – Grant Thornton
194 Weaver, Charlie – Minnesota Business Partnership
195 Wehrenberg, Steve – Campbell Mithun
196 Werbalowsky, Jeffrey – Houlihan Lokey
197 Wiehoff, John – C. H. Robinson Worldwide
198 Wilf, Zygmunt “Zygi” – Minnesota Vikings
199 Wilgers, John – Ernst & Young
200 York, William – AgriBank