One year after her first One Take interview, Christine Lantinen returns to discuss how Maud Borup weathered the pandemic; how its attracting and retaining talent both in the Twin Cities and Le Center, Minn.; why it’s looking to expand capacity yet again after just adding 70,000 square feet last year; whether employees are required to […]
Tastefully Simple Founder and CEO Jill Blashak Strahan shares during in a brief interview what it was like to grow her 1995 startup into a $143 million-a-year business, and then lead through seven consecutive years of losses before Covid-19 hit. Ironically those recent tough times forced her organization to return to being scrappy like it […]
Founder and CEO Bob Schafer created a highly successful bakery supply business from scratch all from operating cash flow; no debt. Mixing and/or distributing 150 million pounds a year of ingredients to food manufacturers, this Minnesota Family Business Award-winning company has weathered three recessions since its founding in 1991. Thus far it is handing the […]
Looking for some inspiration this holiday weekend, or just a few great ideas? Tune into one or more of these short CEO interviews on navigating through the Coronavirus economy if you haven’t already done so. They’re available to download and listen to on the go, or to watch or listen to via your laptop, iPad or […]
This week’s One Take CEO Interview is with Mainstreet Bakery’s Stacy Demskie
In this week’s episode of One Take CEO Interviews, Restaurant Technologies chief Jeff Kiesel shares how his business prepared for and then adjusted to a drop in business due to Covid-19 shutdowns, and is now gearing up for growth. His Mendota Heights, MN-based company is the nation’s most efficient fry-oil business, providing everything from fresh […]
In this week’s unedited One Take interview, Maud Borup’s Christine Lantinen talks about leading through the Covid-19 economy, how she and her team have changed marketing tactics, production processes and more, plus their need to hire more than 100 hourly employees and her thoughts on how business leaders can best deal with the stress created […]
During extremely challenging times and setbacks, successful businesses often find ways to pivot toward new opportunities, focusing more on what’s possible rather than what didn’t work. During the COVID-19 economic slowdown, if you’ve found a way to pivot, let us know and we’ll share it on this site and elsewhere as we talk with others […]
Dairy farmers nationwide are in their fifth year of low milk prices that have driven thousands out of business. Other issues challenging the industry include decreased consumer demand in some dairy segments, and unresolved foreign trade issues that are harming exports and boosting surpluses. In Minnesota, the median income at a dairy farm dropped by nearly […]
[Star Tribune March 4, verbatim] The idea seemed far-fetched from the start: build a warehouse 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean, heat it to tropical levels and fill it with saltwater tanks to grow shrimp. But state and local officials bought in to the idea when one of western Minnesota’s largest companies, Marshall-based Ralco, four […]