Minnesota District Office Success-stories

Minnesota District Office Success Stories

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Minnesota Business Advances Hispanic Market Development

Grupo Avance Juan Ramirez is founder and president of Minneapolis-based Grupo Avance, a business that helps companies expand sales into Mexico, Latin America and U.S. Hispanic markets. A native of Mexico, Ramirez studied business and marketing at...

Picture of Susan Lindgren, President of YESS!

Women in Business Champion Receives Minnesota and Regional Honors

Susan Lindgren, President of YESS! – Your Extraordinary Success Strategies – and Ideal Coaching, Inc., has been named the Women in Business Champion of the Year for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Minnesota District...

Small Business Owner Seeks Start-up Guidance from SCORE, Opens Non-Profit

In Central America, fire stations and emergency medical clinics are often founded by persons who tragically lost someone close. These volunteers do not want to let the same thing happen to someone else in their community. Karin Reichensperger, who...

Small Business Owner Seeks Start-up Guidance from SCORE, Opens for Business

Amy and Darrell Hauge are celebrating their first anniversary as owners of Amy’s Classic Confections, a retail store specializing in unique candy baskets custom made for special occasions. Located in the Minneapolis skyway at 6th and...

2005 Small Business and Champion Award Winners

Small Business Person of the Year, Lynn R. Gordon, French Meadow Bakery French Meadow Bakery was founded in 1985 in the kitchen of Lynn Gordon’s home; it has steadily gown year by year into what is now a $4.8 million wholesale business....

Owner of Meyer Contracting, Inc. Named Minnesota Minority Small Business Person of the Year

Kathleen Meyer, owner of Meyer Contracting, Inc., Minneapolis, has been named Minnesota Minority Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The award recognizes Meyer for excellence in her field and for...

President and CEO of Minnesota CDC Named Financial Services Champion of the Year

Alexandra Blum, President and CEO of Minnesota Business Finance Corporation, has been named Financial Services Champion of the Year for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Minnesota District Office as well as the upper Midwest Region...

President and CEO of Permac Industries Named 2006 Small Business Person of the Year

Darlene Miller, President and CEO of Permac Industries based in Burnsville, Minn., has been named the Minnesota Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Small Business Person of the year is selected...

Chairman for Comfort for Courage Named the Veterans Small Business Champion of the Year

Andrew Davis, Chairman and Co-Founder of Comfort for Courage, has been named the Veterans Small Business Champion of the Year for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Minnesota District, the upper Midwest Region, and the Nation. The...

Native American Woman-owned Business Named Minority Small Business Person of the Year

Mary Moldenhauer, owner of Greystar Electronics, Inc., Duluth, has been named Minnesota Minority Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The award recognizes Moldenhauer for excellence in her field and for...

Small Business Owner Receives Advice from SCORE, Expands for Growth

Julie Ann Segal lives her philosophy. “I believe that each person has the capacity to create a living or working environment that reflects their spirit and enhances health and wellbeing,” she says. Segal has built a successful business...

Small Business Owner Receives Advice from SCORE, Strengthens Marketing and Business Structure

After losing his job of over 20 years, Phillip Porter decided to put his MBA from St. Thomas to work and start his own business. As he considered the possibilities, he began cataloguing the valuables in his home. He discovered the merits of...

Executive Director Named Financial Services Champion of the Year

Kristin Wood, Executive Director and Assistant Secretary of SPEDCO, has been named Minnesota Financial Services Champion of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Financial Services Champion award is presented annually in each...

Business Editor Named Small Business Journalist of the Year

Dawn Peake, Business Editor of the St. Cloud Times, has been named the Minnesota Small Business Journalist of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Small Business Journalist of the Year is selected annually to honor journalists...

Resource Partner Named Women in Business Champion of the Year

SCORE Counselor Named 2007 Minnesota Minority Small Business Champion of the Year

Charles Seashore, SCORE Counselor, has been named the Minnesota Minority Small Business Champion of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Minority Business Champion is selected annually to honor individuals who have fulfilled a...

Defense Alliance of Minnesota Named 2007 Minnesota Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year

Defense Alliance of Minnesota has been named the Minnesota Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year for the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Defense Alliance is staffed by Paul J. Wagner, Founder; Commander Chip Laingen, U.S. Navy (Ret...

Small Business Owners Named 2007 Small Business Persons of the Year

Tom Grones, CEO and President, and Dan Rudningen, Vice President of Sales, of GeoComm, Inc. based in St. Cloud, Minn., have been named the Minnesota Small Business Persons of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Small Business...

Restaurant Owner Becomes a Caterer - Success Story of Custom Catering by Short Stop

Byron Bjorklund, owner of Custom Catering by Short Stop based in St.Cloud, Minn., has been named the Minnesota Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Small Business Person of the year is selected...

Minority-owned HUBZone Business Owner Named Minnesota Minority Small Business Person of the Year

Elise Hernandez McGuire, owner of Ideal System Solutions, Inc., Pine River, has been named Minnesota Minority Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The award recognizes Hernandez for excellence in her field,...

Small Business Owner Receives Help from SBDC, Receives Micro-loan for Start-up Capital

Jorge and Maria Euceda recently received a loan through the Southwest Initiative Foundation’s (SWIF) Micro-Enterprise Loan Program to start “Tortilleria Si Señor,” a local shop that makes fresh, authentic corn flour...

Small Business Owner Consults with SCORE, Achieves High Growth

Inventor Makes a Splash Minneapolis graphic designer and life-long musician Sid Tincher found herself in a familiar predicament in 2001. While playing her guitar, she reached for a drink. She recalls, “What should have been a simple task...

Small Business Owner Named 2008 Small Business Person of the Year

James Edward (Jim) Marchessault, CEO and President, Business Card Service, Inc. based in Burnsville, Minn., has been named the Minnesota Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Small Business Person of...

Small Business Owner Receives Micro-loan for Expansion, Growth

Glacial Ridge Winery, Inc. in Spicer, MN Expands with Loan from the Southwest Initiative Foundation Ronald and Kimberly Wothe recently received a loan from the Southwest Initiative Foundation’s (SWIF) Micro-Enterprise loan program for the...

Minority-Owned Business Named Minority Small Business Person of the Year

Tom A. Chacon, owner of Boring Machine Corporation, Fridley, has been named Minnesota Minority Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The award recognizes Chacon for excellence in his field, demonstrated...

Woman-owned Business Receives Help from SCORE, Achieves High Growth

Making Dreams Come True Stacey Stratton, executive recruiter and owner of True Talent Group, a sales recruitment company based out of Apple Valley, recently turned a lifelong dream and guidance from SCORE into a thriving enterprise with...

MEDA Consultant Named Minority Small Business Champion of the Year

Edgardo Rodriguez, Business Consultant at the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA), has been named the Minnesota Minority Small Business Champion of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Minority Small Business...

Small Business Program Manager Named Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year

Thomas H. Koopmeiners, Small Business Program Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has been named the Minnesota Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year for the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Veterans Small Business Champion Award...

Director of Center for Economic Development Named Women in Business Champion of the Year

Elaine S. Hansen, Director, University of Minnesota (UMD) Center for Economic Development, has been named the Women in Business Champion of the Year for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Minnesota District Office. The UMD Center for...

Lender Named SBA Financial Services Champion

Richard B. Beeson, Jr., President of Park Midway Bank, has been named Minnesota Financial Services Champion of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Financial Services Champion award is presented annually in each state to...

Native American Minority-Owned Business Named 2009 Small Business Person of the Year

Andrew Wells III, President and CEO of Wells Technology based in Bemidji, Minn., has been named the Minnesota Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Small Business Person of the year is selected annually...