Nominee BOLD Moves

Check out the BOLD moves of the 2022 nominees: 

 

Academy for Women's Empowerment

It's COVID. Kristi's book is published March 8, 2021. How do you get the word out in a quiet, exhausted, overwhelmed world? A summer book tour in the MOXIE MOBILE. After a successful Kickstarter, Kristi purchased a 2012 Jeep Wrangler with 134,000 miles on it and headed out on a 10 week tour through Middle America: Des Moines, Dubuque, Chicago, Lansing, Toledo, Richmond, Nashville, Columbia, KC, Denver, Custer, and Sioux Falls. She stopped at bookstores, wine bars, friend's & stranger's houses, women's groups, women-owned businesses, and more spreading her three steps to unapologetic: 1. Take up space. 2. Be first.  3. Look for the helpers. Today, the MOXIE MOBILE has 156,000 miles and ticking. Kristi plans to start again in February-heading South of course.

 

Align Business Advisory Services

Dana Fennessey joined Align Business Advisory Services in October 2021 to help expand the company's presence and representation of companies in the Minnesota market to achieve their strategic and personal goals.

 

All Clean Food

Convertible note offsetting a discount for shareholders at series A

 

All In One Accounting

Heide and the AIOA team have revolutionized their approach to how they attract and retain talent, partner with clients that align with their values, and the commitment to enhancing their brand. This focus has directly affected not only top line revenue by making them a member of the MSPBJ Fast 50, they have been laser focused on maintaining financial and cultural health along the way.

 

Ameristar Laser & Waterjet Cutting

The company started to utilize automation in the manufacturing process which substantially increased the utilization and throughput of the company, now being able to run certain technology and client orders through the night, unmanned;  This has contributed to increased the revenue significantly, doubled margin and reduced costs by 10-20%.

 

Ampersand Families

Ampersand Families is boldly moving into a new phase in its history.  After 13 years, co-founder and executive director Michelle Chalmers is shifting out of leadership within the agency to provide innovation and consultation to other organizations and initiatives to bring more equitable, trauma-informed, family-affirming practices and policies to child welfare.  This bold move will allow the agency to advance its mission in new, powerful ways while also bringing in fresh leadership to bring the internal functions of the organization into alignment with the rapid growth the agency has experienced.  It is a win-win-win for the agency, youth and families in our community, for the child welfare system and for Chalmers' ability to leverage her 32 years of experience in the field.

 

Amusée

Amusée swiftly changed the direction of how we deliver our events + wine education, changing everything to a virtual setting.  By utilizing Leslee's second company, Sip Better, she was able to send wines to corporate and private groups so that she could teach the classes live with wines representative of only small farming families who had a very difficult time shipping and selling their products in 2020.

Leslee's third company, Cépage, was born end of 2020 as a result of bringing ‘more’ to the virtual experience.  They created a boutique gift box company (Cépage) so that they were able to literally create a full experience for folks – sending wine, artisan produced foods, cheeses, charcuteries, etc. from around the globe.

 

Ancona Title & Escrow

In 2019 Ancona created the Clean Energy Initiative.We are launching a series of CLEAN ENERGY INITIATIVES that will reduce our company’s impact on the climate and further differentiate Ancona as the title company with a new and fresh approach. 

Buying, selling, and owning a home affects energy and the environment in countless subtle ways. Our goal is to find areas in the real estate process that we can influence for the better of the environment. We want to make business decisions that advance our planet towards a sustainable future. 

That’s why we are taking a close look at our operations and reducing our ecological footprint any way we can. Ancona Title & Escrow is thrilled to join the growing ranks of businesses determined to drive the progress of a clean energy economy.

 

ANI Pharmaceuticals

ANI Pharmaceuticals received long-awaited FDA approval for its Cortrophin Gel and has plans for a full-scale commercial launch of the product in the first quarter of 2022. Additionally, ANI’s $210m acquisition of niche generics specialist Novitium Pharma is expected to close imminently.

 

ASR Consulting Group

Arnaldo has acquired over 150 small business clients in 30 different states all within its first year of operation with ASR Consulting Group. The way they do tax and accounting is on another level, they help educate clients through out the process and they provide and endless amount of value.

 

Atlasticity

Atlasticity was founded on the main principle of inspiring our clients to lead with innovative ideas, modernize their operational strategies, and drive digital transformation within those organizations to stay competitive in the marketplace.  We design, build, and optimize innovative cloud solutions to support our clients' growth initiatives.  As an AWS Consulting Partner, start up's and enterprises alike are benefiting from our scalable solutions backed by the global leader in cloud innovation.

With the unrelenting acceleration of cloud and tech adoption during the pandemic, Atlasticity saw how many businesses in our community desperately needed to shift with innovative ideas and solutions in order to survive and thrive.  From this very experience of pushing ourselves out of the comfort zone to adapt and grow in an unprecedented time, we are dedicated to elevating our community through advisement and services that help businesses break through as a market leader in their industry.

 

Authentic Brand

Built a 1,200+ member community in 18 months by identifying an underserved executive community of entrepreneurial leaders.

Authentic Brand serves entrepreneurial businesses ($5-100M in annual revenue), many of whom use EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), based on the book Traction. Authentic Brand also runs on EOS, and in 2018, Jennifer Zick (Founder & CEO) began talking with local business owners and leaders about the opportunity to bring local EOS business leaders together to build connection and community.

Those conversations led Jennifer to a discovery: While most CEO's already had a peer forum (EO, Vistage, Other), most of their "second in command" (Integrators) did not. After identifying this whitespace, Jennifer made plans to host a local gathering of Integrators at the Authentic Brand office - and the first in-person gathering was set to be held in April of 2020.

COVID forced a change of plans, and in May, 2020, Jennifer and Authentic Brand forged ahead to host the event virtually. Instead of the original 20 registrants, the event drew more than 75 from across the country. The community quickly gained word-of-mouth momentum, and has grown exponentially month-over-month since its start.

Within 18 months, the Integrator Community had grown to more than 1,200 “second in command” leaders of entrepreneurial businesses, from across 48 US states, and 14 other countries. Authentic Brand continues to host this virtual peer forum each month, free of charge to all Integrators in companies at all stages in their growth, across a wide variety of industries. The group also has a Slack channel that allows global participants to collaborate and engage around the clock on issues important to their role and overall business health.

Not only has the community grown quickly, but attendees report a 99.9% positive experience and plans to attend future events. This positive sentiment has attracted several sponsors who are invested to ensure the community can continue to grow as an inclusive, high-value forum for peer-to-peer executive connection.

 

AV8 Flight School

Purchased Hummingbird Aviation in 2019. Grew it from $1 million to $2.5 million. This is now the only aviation school that teaches both fixed wing and rotor (helicopter) in the region. Created AV8 Properties for hangar expansion. Rebuilt a slew of offices, classrooms and hangar space at Flying Cloud. Invested millions. Created AV8 Flight Assets to purchase new birds. 8 aircraft, 3 helicopters. Now acquiring Modern Avionics for $1.3 million at Flying Cloud Airport to enhance maintenance service offerings and add avionics rebuilds and modernization. Imagine an old airplane - still flies just fine - but the console and tech are OLD. Most will spend $60k to upgrade the console to two Garmin screens. This is what Modern Avionics delivers. We'll take this to a $5 million company in a few years. 

 

Bauer Design Build

A few years back we struggled with consistently answering the questions of "what sets Bauer apart, what is your niche, why Bauer." So we took on the BOLD exercise of really drilling down on the answers to these questions. We went through a nine month re-branding exploration. As a company we are very diverse in the product types we build. As result we were trying to be everything to everyone. During our re-branding we were brutally honest with ourselves. We asked and received candid feedback from our employees, clients, subcontractors, consultants, and trade partners.

 

Best Christmas Ever

The vision of BCE began with a single dad battling Ulcerative Colitis (UC) in 2010. It was Christmas Eve, and he was looking at an empty Christmas tree with that sinking feeling on how he was going to tell his young son in the morning that Santa Claus wasn’t coming this year.

Later that night, he heard a knock at the door, he answered to see his mother and some other relatives with 2 huge bags full of gifts!

This surprise took him back, but blew him away as he felt the power of the generosity of others!  What would have likely been their worst Christmas ever, was instead the Best Christmas Ever!

God planted a seed that night to pay it forward.  Don and his childhood friend Jason rallied a small group of family & friends together to give a surprise BCE to a local family, just as he had received! Ever since then, the number of families who have received a BCE has continued to grow throughout the United States, Canada, and even touched ground in Costa Rica!

 

BevSource

The business has grown to over $100MM in revenues, and in November, sold a majority interest to Shore Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity fund that focuses on the food and beverage markets.

 

Boveda

In a time where many companies were shrinking, Boveda has been expanding sales cross-boarder. They have maintained their focus on serving a client base they are passionate about (Tobacco and Wood Instruments), but also taking advantage of a new and innovative use for their product - Cannabis.

 

CKC Good Food

In early March of 2020 when Covid was still a new word, and no one fully understood the scope of the problem on the horizon, Nancy acted on a premonition and placed a large order for pre-packaged meals to have on hand “just in case”. This represented a large expense for a product that they had no planned use for, and would take up substantial space in cold storage. CKC was in the business of serving hot fresh meals, not packaged food that children would have to heat themselves.

Day’s later, when the country shut down and school children were sent home, CKC jumped into action. They were able to quickly shift gears from preparation and delivery of daily hot meals to packaging and delivering kits that included 7 days’ worth of both heatable and shelf stable breakfasts and lunches, containing whole grains, proteins, vegetables and milk.

Their quick actions meant that they were able to deliver 40,000 meals within days of the schools being shut down, and got a jump on placing subsequent orders with their suppliers for more. When food supplies started to run dry around the country, CKC had a plentiful stock and a strong line of communication with their supplier, Upper Lake Foods, to keep them top priority.

Always with an eye for quality, variety, and being responsive to ethnic considerations, CKC was able to rotate meals over a 3 to 4 week cycle to provide variety, and also developed a grocery style meal that allowed for batch cooking.

CKC’s program was so successful that a neighboring school district that was struggling to find food supplies reached out for CKC’s help, adding 50,000 more meals per week to their packing process.

 

Clearfield

Clearfield grew revenue to $140 million in its fiscal year end September 20, 2021, as compared to $93 million in its FYE 2020 and $85 million in its FYE 2019. Clearfield’s

products are used in fiber deployments by national telco carriers, community broadband and cable television operators. As you may have guessed, COVID-19 has demonstrated the absolute necessity of gigabit speed bandwidth and Clearfield’s products fit perfectly into this demand curve. Clearfield has something special to showcase this year due to their resiliency in the face of COVID and ability to capture the unique opportunities that have been presented.

 

Coalition9

Aaron Eggert spent the first part of his career having great success in sales and business, and became a partner in a thriving office furnishings and technology firm. In 2017, after Aaron turned forty years old, he found himself at a crossroads. He was beyond happy in his personal life, but even though he was successful in his professional life, there was something missing. He asked himself, “What am I doing to create purpose and solidify my legacy?”

While he spent a couple years assisting small businesses with revenue strategy, the idea around creating a community for leaders and entrepreneurs of all levels was beginning to grow. Through his work with numerous businesses, it was becoming abundantly clear that people were searching for meaningful connections and opportunities to build deeper relationships—a need that has grown even deeper after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Aaron leaned into this idea and began the creation of Coalition9. After consulting with leaders and entrepreneurs within the greater Twin Cities, they developed the LeadForward™ facilitation process and proceeded with a beta test group in the spring of 2020. The Coalition9 Community was launched in the fall of 2020 and, in the first year, Membership grew from 0 to 120, with a list of people waiting to be placed in groups starting in 2022.

 

COCREATEX

COCREATEX INC has reinvented social networking by originally inventing decentralized social networking in a most competitive time and place. And the solution is highly adaptable. Within the last 24 hours, CoCreateX team members in support of hip hop legend MN Fats, recognizably envisioned a solution to a major challenge with social programming, possibly deployable in less than a week. While centralized social networks, who for their own benefit impose algorithms on users who generate and consume all content, CoCreateX’s decentralized product allows individuals and organizations the ability to control their own messaging between audiences, free from a platform agenda but with tools to maximize user and owner value. As opposed to an exploitative ‘free’ user model where user data is the property of the social network. CoCreateX provides each OwnSocial network as a basic utility for users who pay a monthly fee and sell ads to earn more.

CoCreateX provides anyone with their OwnSocial(R) network, portable to their own URL, at the push of one button, in one minute, and for a starting price of $5 per month. For enterprises, CoCreateX offers an OwnSocial(R) networking platform capable of supporting millions of users across 1,000 independently served social networks for a startup cost of $25,000, and $10,000 per month.

 

COYABLU

COYABLU is the culmination of Nicole Anthony’s vision to create the perfect craft tequila cocktail.  COYABLU is a convenient,  ready-to-drink hard seltzer with sophisticated, unique flavor combinations. A clean, preservative free and refreshing product that uses the highest quality ingredients to enhance life’s moments.

COYABLU has so far been financed solely by a select group of local business owners, friends, and family. A testament to Nicole’s business acumen and achievement, these investors firmly believe in her vision and that the resulting craft tequila cocktails will be successful - not only for the share value, but more importantly, for the larger community. COYABLU is run by a tight-knit team that adheres to the cultural values of Excellence, Resourcefulness, Enthusiasm, Innovation, and Humor to make decisions, solve problems, and provide products of outstanding quality.

Nicole is authentic, transparent, leads from her heart and trusts her gut. She is unwavering in her pursuit of a truly premium product and treats the team as though they are the most invaluable part of this business, because they are. The coming year will bring new flavors, new markets, and new team members to COYABLU.

 

Cytotheryx

Liver failure affects 4.9 million adults in the US annually, primarily due to Tylenol overdose, chronic alcohol use and hepatitis virus. Aside from liver transplant, no other treatment options are currently available, causing more than 45,000 deaths in the US annually.

There are limited high-quality primary human hepatocytes (chief functional cells of the liver) available as they do not grow outside the body and are derived from cadaver livers that are poor quality and not readily available. A consistent, clinically safe supply of primary human hepatocytes could provide opportunity for treatment options to address liver failure, including liver assist devices, transplantation/cell therapy and gene therapies.

Our genetically engineered bio-incubator preferentially multiplies primary human hepatocytes. It has no immune system, so it does not reject human cells and has a gene deficiency that causes liver failure. Healthy human liver cells expand in the liver of the bio-incubator, resulting in access to a consistent, high-quality supply of cells.

 

Datasite

Phase of the M&A lifecycle. Other Datasite applications include: 

Datasite Outreach, which helps dealmakers connect with as many potential buyers as possible to generate maximum interest in an asset.  

Datasite Acquire, which helps potential buyers assess and acquire targets. 

Datasite Diligence, which helps dealmakers conduct due diligence on strategic transactions, including initial public offerings, acquisitions, mergers or restructurings. 

Since its launch, Datasite Prepare has quickly proven to be an efficient and effective way for dealmakers to organize and share deal documents and artifacts before they become part of the diligence process. For example, in just 12 months, one in five investment banking projects on Datasite’s platform begins in Datasite Prepare. This has included over 3,000 projects with over 57 million pages of content. 

By speeding up the deal preparation process, ensuring the right deal information is shared with the right people at the right time, the application is quickly becoming the industry standard.

 

Craft & Crew Hospitality

The Benowitz family has been operating a portfolio of restaurants dating back many years. David Benowitz came on board to help his dad out, serving as the COO, in 2004. Luke came aboard as the GM of all operations in 2009. They did not have any ownership in the restaurants that David’s father, Steve, owned at the time. However, they were responsible for running all of the operations of the 4 restaurant locations. They quickly proved themselves by undertaking a huge brand overhaul and extensive remodel at those locations. Financial results have spoken for themselves with what those changes did to the top and bottom lines. David and Luke decided they wanted to expand the portfolio and start a new restaurant which they would own themselves. We approved financing for them for The Block Restaurant in St. Louis Park, MN, which involved buying a building and doing major renovations to open in October of 2019. That restaurant has outperformed initial expectations and has had phenomenal success, even demonstrating profitability in 2020 while being severely impacted by the COVID restrictions. In late 2020, another opportunity came about to buy a location in Minnetonka, MN. Because of the success, we were able to get on board with financing this new location as well, even at a time when many restaurants were failing in the middle of the pandemic. Duke’s on 7 in Minnetonka, MN opened in June of 2021. This location is also proving to be very successful. These guys have been excellent to work with and are a wonderful clients. They have brought substantial amounts of personal equity to the table on these projects and have put together outstanding business plans and financial projections. It was a BOLD move to embark on a brand-new restaurant location in the middle of a pandemic!

 

Durabotics

Durabotics has customers that utilize autonomous robots that can tend to multiple CNC or assembly machines 24/7. In the programming the robot goes to the customer's machine, pulls out its battery pack, inserts it into the customer's machine and draws power to talk to the machine. It then performs a function such as pulling out a part and placing it in a tray. It may use a tool or just insert another part to have work performed. Once the work in complete the robot closes the window and goes to the next machine that needs tending. The usage of the autonomous robot is to performs functions for which the customer has difficulty hiring a sufficient number of employees to do the work. Durabotics is also a distributor of several types of robots that can be programmed for a multitude of usages. One source of application is for restaurants, in which the autonomous robot can be programmed to bring food and beverages to a table. There are numerous other usages such as hospitals distributing food to a patients room, or used to transfer products or medicine within the hospital. The applications of this robot are numerous. Durabotics also has robots for warehousing and distribution that transports pallets of product within a warehouse.

 

E&C's Snacks

E&C's Snacks has found a home with consumers that value good ingredients and healthier options in their snack foods while still indulging a little bit!  Prior to the pandemic, their dedication to quality ingredients and manufacturing attracted consumers in droves, making them the top selling cookie brand at Costco.  The pandemic accelerated sales, along with new strategic distributor partnerships.  In the last three years, they have gone from $13,000,000 to an expected $70,000,000 in sales, 538% growth!

 

Egan Company

Egan Company had operated a successful sheet metal fabrication business called Fab Duct for over 20 years, but had hit a plateau in the ability to grow and scale the business. They began to look for options where the business could find it's next path to growth. That's when they reached out to Go-Fetsch Mechanical, a local, female owned mechanical contractor to share their idea. Egan met with the leaders of Go-Fetsch to share their idea that this could be an opportunity for Go-Fetsch to vertically integrate their installation service with the sheet metal products they were currently buying from Egan or other suppliers. They were quickly interested in the opportunity and could see the same path to growth that Egan had envisioned. Egan transitioned the business to Go-Fetsch in the summer of 2021 and have been partnering with them ever since to help support their success.

 

Elevated Boxes

This concept is the brain child of Alan Haskins, owner of the marketing & creative agency Nimble Impressions.  This is something he wanted to do for quite some time and the first covid year (2020) was a perfect time to do it.  With the agency being slower than normal a bunch of projects and concepts came to life. 

It's BOLD because it is a new adventure into a new and budding industry.  The main bold aspect came in 3 forms...  1) Forming the parent company called Elevated Boxes.  2.) Acquiring Love MN Box.  3.) Developing DBA brands within Elevated Boxes to future growth and acquisitions/sales. 

 

Elire

Prior to the 2020 pandemic Elire was set to grow at an incredible rate.  We had started a couple of years earlier on a huge endeavor to improve our culture so recruit and retain new talent to support this expected growth.  We began doing annual all employee surveys, exit interviews and at least monthly one-on-one meeting between all supervisors and their employees.  Through this process we have been able to make major improvements in our benefits, compensation structure, and culture.  Though 2020 was a struggle we were able to utilize the government funding programs and were able to make it through the 2020 year without reducing headcount at all.  This set us up for 2021 to be a banner year!  By creating a great place to work and continuing our diligent sales cycles, Elire was able to increase revenues by over 50% from 2020 to 2021.  Now 2022 pipeline is shaping up to give us a year where we should grow again by 20-25%!

 

EMC

EMC’s BOLD move addresses a persistent but unaddressed pain point for public-facing facility owners/operators by launching a solution that automates more efficiently and cost-effectively life safety testing and maintenance of emergency lighting. By making this BOLD move, EMC is transforming itself from a best-in-class, 18-year-old service organization that has helped businesses save millions of dollars in energy costs into a technology and edge computing product company that helps companies lower operating expenses while creating safer and more code compliant environments.

Launched this year, the EMC Emergency Light Test (ELT) system converts existing emergency lights and exit signs into intelligent, wireless devices that automate code-required testing and streamline maintenance. It uses a Bluetooth mesh wireless or sub-GHz, non-mesh wireless frequency to automate building emergency light testing processes. The ELT easily retrofits most new and existing emergency lighting systems. With its optional cloud-based platform, it can scale to meet organizations’ needs, whether facilities are local or nationwide, at a single site or in multiple locations.

The ELT BOLD-ly fills a market gap where there are currently three emergency light testing processes:

“Dumb” testing using ladders/poles to push a button on individual devices

Self-testing devices that test every 30 days and blink to alert someone checking each individual device for notifications

Fully self-diagnostic, highly proprietary closed platforms

The ELT System also enhances risk management, helping with compliance with NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code). The only emergency light testing application available on the market today that integrates with third-party maintenance management systems, it easily generates required compliance reports that can be sent to jurisdiction officials.

In a time where employees are scarce, facility managers can put away ladders and manual test processes, realizing immediate cost savings and lowering compliance burdens.

 

EntreBank

EntreBank will be the FIRST new community bank in the last 14 years in the seven-state region. Federal Reserve System Governor Michelle Bowman acknowledged the huge demand for community banks in a recent speech in which she highlighted how community banks have a better understanding of their local markets and economies, build stronger relationships with their clients and provide more diversification and greater access to underserved businesses and households.  Our five co-founders are passionate about these same issues and (pending regulatory approval) are opening EntreBank in early 2022 to address the vital needs of small to mid-size companies and entrepreneurs within our community. The deep, proven experience within the EntreBank team provides the creativity, confidence, and foresight to reveal new opportunities and uncover uncommon solutions that fit the unique needs of each business owner.

 

Evocent Leadership Development

During the pandemic, business took a significant slow down.  As a result of her response to market changes in 2020, EVOCENT achieved 145% revenue growth over the prior pre-pandemic year.  Christine established EVOCENT 5 years ago and has seen consistent strong growth year to year.  With some business projects put on hold, all speaking engagements cancelled as well as some mid-project cancellations when covid hit.  Christine had to make some major changes in how she delivered her services. A major pivot to deliver all services remotely via zoom also meant redesigning workshops to ensure that participants would get maximum value from a virtual experience.  This required some out of the box thinking and some experimenting to keep them highly interactive and engaging.  She created new service offerings and shifted her delivery to fully remote.  In addition, she found partners to work through to source additional work.  During the early months of covid 19, Christine also took the time to strengthen her practice by investing in a few intensive coaching excellence programs and a team coaching certification.

 

Evolve Systems

Evolve Systems is entering its 20th year of operation and decided to make a BOLD move and initiate a rebranding that talked more to who they are, who they serve and how they do it. With their experience in the digital marketing and branding space, it was time for Evolve Systems to practice what they preach and showcase the incredible work they preform for their clients.

With the civil unrest and racial inequality recognized by the killing of George Floyd, the team at Evolve Systems came together and discussed how they, as a small family-owned business, could make a positive impact in the community. The team decided to create an initiative called, "The evolve'D Project". The evolve'D project is a program where a B2B certified minority-owned businesses can submit an application to be selected to receive a branding refresh, a free website and a digital marketing content calendar catered to their needs. The overall estimated value is around $20,000 investment into the community.

 

FamilyWise Services

Effective July 1, 2020, FamilyWise merged with Minnesota Communities Caring for Children (MCCC).  The non-profit will operate under the FamilyWise name and be led by Chief Executive Officer, Ann Gaasch. 

MCCC is a leader in child abuse prevention and parent empowerment.  As part of the merger, FamilyWise will leverage MCCC’s training services and informal family support model by implementing them across the merged organization.  The additional services will be brought to communities currently being served, only strengthening the offerings of those it serves.  

Additionally, the merger will allow the combined and integrated organization to serve new audiences, as it will open up the geographical reach of the non-profit, enabling a state-wide focus.

 

Finley's Barkery

As two former special education teachers, co-founders Angie and Kyle saw an opportunity to serve a greater purpose through our pets. So, they created Finley’s, named after their resilient rescue pup and CTO(Chief Treat Officer). Finley's goal is to create paid employment opportunities for people with disabilities while dedicating 50% of net profits to initiatives providing employment training, accessibility, health & wellness, and advocacy platforms for people with disabilities. What started as a classroom concept 10 years ago, quickly grew to shipping their first pallet out of their garage in a blizzard. Today, with the industry’s most trusted manufacturing, distribution, and retail partners behind them, they are continuing to impact more people across the country!

 

FlyGirl Creative

At the end of 2019, CEO (Chief Eternal Optimist), Janice Stanford, parted ways with her business partner and restructured the company as a woman/minority-owned company. In early 2020 the pandemic hit and she changed her marketing strategy to focus solely on B2B in the middle market vs. the large box retailer clients that helped fuel the business. With a more laser-focused strategy, her company was able to help B2B companies that needed to go to market and attract new customers during a pandemic.  They went from tap dancing for every meal to acquiring three retainer-based clients and earning the trust and respect of nearly a dozen additional brands that came to them for help.

 

Forester Pontoons

In an effort to keep up with demand, supply chain issues needed to be resolved. Due to these serious kinks in the supply chain, the company needed to embark on transformational developments.   Investment in creating the ability to manufacture the vast majority of all components needed for the entire Forester line was created.  This reduced the reliance on out-sourcing as well as minimized shipping issues.

 

Forethought Planning

Shannon decided at the beginning of January 2020 that she would leave her stable career with a global financial firm, generous income supporting her family and parents, and full benefits to launch her own firm to radically change the financial industry. A non-compete, non-solicit, and corporate lawyers ready to sue if Shannon even tried to speak with her previous clients she left to start over from scratch. Just a month and a half after her departure, the world would radically change. And yet Shannon did not let her vision crumble. She rolled up her sleeves, pulled up her laptop and microphone and starting connecting virtually. Money is personal and it touches every area of our lives. Shannon is bound and determined to educate and empower women and under-represented people around their wealth. Creating jobs for women and diverse individuals in an industry that looks very male and pale. She is now is on track to earn $500+k in revenue in 2022 as she grows her team. In 2021, she has added 5 people to her team and looks to grow that by even more in 2022.

 

Free Bikes 4 Kidz

FB4K was started as a one-time hobby in a two-car garage. After a 25-year career writing and producing music for TV commercials (Target, McDonalds, Pepsi, etc.) I made an observation--most garages I looked in seemed to have a bike or two that were outgrown and simply collecting dust. Being an avid cyclist, I enlisted my cycling club in what I thought would be a two-week hobby, collecting, refurbishing, and giving bikes away to kids who didn’t have one as a Christmas present.

A decade later that 'hobby' has given away over 100,000 bikes, has programs in fifteen cities, and is the largest organization of its kind in the US.

Our model is unique in that we have created an extensive pallet of resources--everything that is needed to launch and run the FB4K program. It's 'plug & play.' We went through the Kaisen method of lean manufacturing to study our methodology, tweak and perfect it, and make it sharable. We provide everything from an illustrated "Playbook,' all legal documents, Style Guide, a curated website, marketing materials, collateral, etc. Everything needed to run a successful program has been created and is provided. We do extensive training--a 2-day Executive Director's Summit each year, quarterly business reviews with webinars. We have a page for sharing of best practices, regularly evaluating and tweaking our processes to make improvements. (It costs us less than $25 to put a child on a bike with a brand new helmet. In an independent audit, 90+% of  every donation goes directly into putting a child on a bike.)

Our current vision is to be in 100 cities and give away 1,000,000 bikes in the next 5 years.

 

Free Geek Twin Cities

After COVID-19 forced Free Geek Twin Cities (FGTC) to close its thrift store, the organization needed to re-think its entire operation. This was the origin of the BOLD move—opening a new online store and expanding the physical thrift store space. In a moment of crisis, FGTC chose to grow.

Work on the online store began after the lockdowns ended. Using a skeleton crew, the organization’s website was completely redesigned, and the store’s inventory was slowly listed online. Online sales with in-store pickup started at the end of May 2020.

Then FGTC volunteers began tearing down walls in September 2020. But with unexpected staff and volunteer turnover, as well as COVID, the renovation was severely delayed. FGTC did not have the funds to stay closed for too long.

In March of 2021, one year after closing for COVID, the new physical store finally opened. Now, with a new thrift store that is about twice its original size, the online store still accounts for roughly 20% of total store sales. In one big, BOLD move, FGTC transformed its small thrift store to a thriving omni-channel retail operation.

 

Fun2Raise Marketing & Events

As a result of the pandemic, we were able to convert our entire platform from print to digital to let schools and advertisers connect digitally to the schools' community.  PTOs can communicate directly to students and parents through our tool.  We provide a free calendar, directory and platform for schools to communicate to their communities. Parents can connect with other parents in the schools.  Our newest product is rolling out custom social media feeds to schools nationwide.

 

Game Day Technologies by Atomic Data

What if there was a way to make the lives of sports and entertainment venue stakeholders easier by saving them money and by providing their guests the ultimate, frictionless experience? That’s a bold thought! By harnessing its wealth of expertise, the Atomic Data team founded Game Day Technologies, a company that does just that by providing venues a holistic approach to technology.

With venues now anchoring vast multi-use entertainment, housing, and retail destinations, an all-encompassing, integrated, and bold approach to technology is required. Entertaining guests used to be simpler, but the entertainment industry has since evolved, making it more difficult for owners to know which technologies are essential and which are a waste of money. At the end of the day, venue stakeholders save by working with an IT partner who can strategize and keep the owners’ best interests at heart.

Since its founding in 2019, Game Day Technologies has made some courageous moves. After only three years, Game Day Technologies has provided owners’ representation, vendor selection, and right-sizing technology recommendations for two Major League Soccer teams (Minnesota United FC and FC Cincinnati), saving them several millions of dollars in capital investments. On top of that, Game Day Technologies developed the proprietary Game Day Dashboard®, a remote monitoring application that allows owners and operators to see the health of their entire network, game day operations, and key game day metrics, all within a single pane of glass and in near real time.

Other recent wins included modernizing technology for 5,000 Great Clips locations, architecting and deploying a venue-wide Wi-Fi network for Minneapolis’ Rock the Garden concert, and providing network architecture services, private MPLS networking, and 24x7 support for Canterbury Park, one of Minnesota’s premier entertainment destinations.

 

GenEQTY

As more and more small and medium-sized companies failed and the ripple effects that those closed doors had on communities became more prevalent, the vision for the company's core product expanded. It was clear that capital injection was only one part of the equation and the world watched as big banks and government agencies struggled to get resources into the hands of struggling businesses. The discrepancies of who received resources were glaring - women-led companies and diverse led companies were being left behind. The technological infrastructure needed to serve the market across the value chain within old legacy institutions was missing. We could help. We could provide impact by arming banks with new insights and data of the health and needs of a business in real-time. We could also on the other side use those same decisions to empower businesses with an intelligent AI CFO in their pocket. We became a true B2B2C startup building an end-to-end solution for SMEs and the partners that serve and do business with them.

 

Goldfine Jewelry

“Jewelry is definitely a way to express our personal style, but it can also tell a story, connect people, be a token of love, represent a treasured memory, or a loved one. Jewelry can inspire us to do great things, make us feel bold, brave, important, and even beautiful. When you wear a piece from Goldfine, what do you feel?” ~Sara Beth Goldfine Baratz

 

Growth Operators

At the start of 2020, the company formerly known as "GO with GROW" split off their sales and marketing division and rebranded as, Growth Operators. It was a BOLD move to look at their offerings to their clients and say, "If we are laser-focused on what we do BEST, we can TRULY help our clients Grow. The leadership team became Stacey Voves as President (formerly from the banking industry), Molly Hiller as COO (formerly from the accounting industry) and Rick as the CEO (formerly a CFO within the retail space).

Along with a pure and concentrated direction of offering their clients The BEST services in HR, Accounting & Finance, they put a HUGE emphasis on not just the rebrand of their look, but also the brand CULTURE. It paid off with not only a huge leap in business, but also a leap in new employees - expanding from less than 30 employees to 45 (as of November 21, 2021.) It's one thing to SAY you've grown in revenue and staff, it's another to actually accomplish that. For the first time, they were listed as one of the Top 5000 Companies by Inc Magazine, and awarded "Best Places To Work 2021" by Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

 

HGA

On Friday, March 13, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was on everyone’s mind as hospital capacity was a growing concern. Tents were going up in Central Park to house patients. Hospitals were stopping elective procedures and giving all their attention to create more ICU capacity in other spaces within the hospital. Meanwhile, the CDC guidance stated that patients undergoing aerosol generating procedures should be cared for in Airborne Infection Isolation rooms for caregiver safety, which were in even shorter supply than ICU beds.  Kurt Spiering from HGA and Ben Bruns from Boldt got on a call to see if there was an opportunity to leverage their shared expertise in healthcare design & construction, modularity and prefabrication to create something to help their healthcare clients and patients. Within days of that conversation, HGA and Boldt mobilized resources – from the Minneapolis headquarters of HGA to vendors and suppliers nationwide – to design and develop high-quality modular critical care units that could address the COVID-19 hospital bed shortage.

The end result of the light-speed process undertaken by this partnership was the STAAT Mod™.  These critical care units were designed to address the safety of patients and healthcare workers affected by COVID-19.  The modular product is noted as being the only quick-ship prefabricated solution that delivers true Airborne Infection isolation rooms. The first units were fabricated then shipped to Adventist HealthCare, Fort Washington Medical Center on April 20th with endorsement from Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. The first patients were admitted to the STAAT Mod in May 2020. Said Griffin L. Davis, Vice President & Chief Medical Officer at Adventist Fort Washington Medical Center of the STAAT Mod, "When you enter the unit, it feels like a new hospital wing and it is a seamless addition to our existing structure. The amazing thing for us was that we quadrupled our ICU space in two months. The modular ICU has quality construction and state-of-the art technology and quality.  It represents the future of health care construction and I’m glad we have it."

Since that time, the STAAT Mod has been installed in three other locations in Maryland, and a 71-bed inpatient hospital was installed at Northside Hospital in Georgia.

 

HistoSonics

HistoSonics has developed a breakthrough sonic beam therapy with the ability to destroy targeted liver tissue, completely non-invasively and without ionizing radiation, providing advantages to patients and physicians that don’t exist today.

 

Honour Capital

Founders saw an opportunity in the finance industry to service business' growth opportunities.

 

Hope Breakfast Bar

Their focus on charitable work while also expanding is impressive.  Their community focused approach makes them stand out from many companies, which I believe has helped contribute to their growth.

 

i-Lumen Scientifc

Angel backed venture to develop the first treatment for AMD. Patients with this disease eventually lost their sight and there is currently no treatment for it.

 

InnerCity Tennis Foundation

InnerCity Tennis reaches over 6,000 young people each year, ages 3 to 18, including at-risk kids, children of color, children from low-income families, and children diagnosed on the autism spectrum. ICT attracts diverse families from all over the city. Their free-of-charge programs and scholarships for their fee-based programs ensure that InnerCity Tennis programming is vailable to all children, regardless of their financial circumstances.

 

Integrated Consulting Services

ICS’s bold move is providing high level financial and business advisory services to small, entrepreneurial companies at an affordable level.

After working in the CPA industry for over 25 years, Craig Siiro thought there had to be a better way to serve the small, entrepreneurial market. Oftentimes these businesses do not have the financial resources to hire a Chief Financial Officer or business consultants.  Where the typical CPA and consulting firm focuses on billing and collections, ICS focuses on the client and their needs. This allows ICS to serve an underserved market. ICS does this through:

1) Making decisions that put the customer and their needs first: a. Services are provided on a flat monthly fee, rather than billing for hours that accumulate unseen each month. Typically, the first month or two of an engagement come at a loss for ICS as hours initially exceed the flat fee. b. Fees are intentionally kept within reason for smaller businesses, particularly those that are already in distress. Businesses in distress often pay a premium for services due to the additional time and risk involved. This is where ICS makes the BOLD decision to differentiate by prioritizing their clients wellbeing over their own profits. c. In 2020 ICS made the decision to provide FREE services for two small businesses that were in desperate need of a financial model.

2) Building a brand that strives to be part of the team vs an outside consultant: a. Through weekly meetings and phone calls, ICS team members are building trusting relationships – even friendships with their clients. The team always speaks in terms of “we” with clients when discussing challenges to overcome and work to be done. b. Clients can call, text, or email any day of the week to talk with their consultant, and can do so without the fear of being nickel and dimed for their time. c. Team members are aware of and responsive to personal developments in the lives of their clients, sending gifts and cards for important life events such as weddings, births and deaths, and also celebrating their clients’ achievements by nominating them for the BOLD awards. (ICS nominated 2 clients in 2021 alone).

3) ICS is breaking the mold of the dry bean-counter accounting firm through events such as Thirsty Thursday. Beginning in 2020, when group gatherings were only possible in private outdoor spaces, ICS started Thirsty Thursday as a way of gathering people for the sole purpose of connection. Even though covid restrictions have largely ended, ICS will continue to host Thirsty Thursday and other events designed to bring people together for fun and connection.

 

Girl Scouts Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys

A well known component of Girl Scouting is the Cookie Program, the largest girl-run business in the world. Once a year, Girl Scouts around the country venture into the entrepreneurial world to learn business and financial skills and earn money to fund their Girl Scouting goals. Through “learning by learning,” Girl Scouting aims to empower girls through the development of five essential skills: goal setting, money management, people skills, decision making, and business ethics.  Running a cookie business in 2021 was like no other.  It required Girl Scouts River Valley, staff, volunteers and girls to be innovative, creative and dig deep.  The pandemic was not going to stop the Girl Scout cookie Program!  Staff, Volunteers and Girls were BOLD and success was theirs!

 

Joshin

Melanie and Melissa’s experiences as a sibling to a big brother with developmental disabilities taught them compassion and understanding; traits which allow them to see people for their capabilities, not disabilities.  When their brother suddenly passed away, Melanie and Melissa took a pause and assessed how their life’s work could more directly impact people with special needs. They co-founded their first company from a mission to provide services to adults with disabilities. As they grew that company, the inspiration to create Joshin emerged as a problem became clear – there was no care platform designed for families with special care needs to easily find pre-screened sitters and caregivers.  Caregivers, more than anyone else, needed on-demand specialized care at their fingertips. This inspired the creation of the first-of-its-kind specialized care platform - Joshin.com.

 

Kaleidoscope

The cost of higher education is prohibitively expensive. On average, students incur more than $30,000 in loans, which is a 26% increase from just a decade ago. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this trend, with more than 45 million Americans impacted by student debt. To confront this crisis head-on, Minnesota-based Kaleidoscope is mobilizing the private sector to fund a realistic path to education and enrichment.

In September 2021, Kaleidoscope debuted a new tool, Award Builder. Award Builder allows any individual or organization to design and launch an award program within minutes. If you’re a person with the desire and resources to help, you can begin offering award opportunities online with just a few clicks. Sites like GoFundMe and Kickstarter normalized supporting a cause or investing in a new product. Award Builder is a catalyst for that same behavior, only in reverse—anyone looking to help students can quickly and effortlessly offer their support.

An inability to create customization has previously dissuaded individuals and organizations from launching award programs—this is where Award Builder’s new technology comes into play. Award Builder offers unlimited program design variations, allowing sponsors to customize their own program in an easy, friction-free way.

Kaleidoscope's two-sided marketplace is unique to the awards market, housing a vast number of opportunities all in one place. Award Builder will further expand the Kaleidoscope marketplace, allowing anyone to create an award and open countless possibilities for applicants. This tool is a game-changer for education, empowering more people to support college dreams, expand the workforce, build meaningful relationships with recipients, and benefit society as a whole.

 

KeyeStrategies

KeyeStrategies has initiated and accomplished numerous BOLD moves since the company launched in 2012, especially in the past twelve months, including the launch of a book and podcast show, both aimed at expanding exit planning awareness among business owners and their advisers. The national influx of approximately 12 million Baby Boomer owners who should be preparing for exit (and are not) prompted these projects.

The question was "how can we get the word out to the masses that exit planning needs to happen and that a team is necessary in order to maximize better outcomes?" The answer, write a book about it. Julie chose to focus on women entrepreneurs as the subject of her book; something no one had ever done before. Julie, a lifelong entrepreneur herself has gone through her own exit. Her book "Poised for Exit: A Woman Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Transition" tells her story, along with the exit stories of several clients. It was launched in May of 2020 in the heat of the pandemic; not an ideal time to launch a book, but she did it anyway. Then, to offset the losses of her cancelled book promotion engagements, she launched her podcast show "Poised for Exit" the following month.  The audience for both the book and podcast are business owners and their advisers. The collaborative work of the book shows up in the stories she tells and in the exit planning tools she compiled from several professional firms, from various practice areas. The collaborative effort of a team is what helps to insure an owner can exit on their own terms, which is the book's underlying message.

The podcast is also a major effort in professional collaboration, in that each episode features a guest with a specific specialty or expertise who shares advice, stories and tips for business owners to use and apply in their business and in their life. The content of the show spans all aspects of the best in business practice, including exit planning. Julie knows that no single adviser has all the answers, but collectively they get pretty close. And, answers are what business owners need; especially right now. The Poised for Exit podcast focuses on what owners need to know; not just to survive but thrive and it does so in a most collaborative way.

Julie has become known in professional circles as a major collaborator. Her work for the Exit Planning Institute is a big example. She launched one of the first chapters of the Exit Planning Institute in the Twin Cities in 2016 and it remains one of the most successful chapters for EPI in the country. Her collaborative work for EPI included launching and growing the chapter, launching the EPI State of Owner Readiness Survey in 2017 and co-organizing several very successful Owner's Forum events, which again were collaborative with ACG and several other organizations. She was named the EPI Leader of the Year in 2017 and is dubbed "The Collaborator" at EPI. She's also a Faculty Member for EPI and teaches other Chapter Presidents 'how she did it' in growing the local chapter, and other collaborative initiatives.

Julie's newest BOLD move in collaboration is with a global professional services firm where she will serve as an independent consultant in small business advisory and instruction for the RFN Academy; a national exit planning initiative made up of credentialed professionals from various US firms who teach and advise both business owners and professional advisers.

 

KEYSTONE GROUP INTERNATIONAL

To help organizations understand the impact that positive culture can have and how to start the journey of improving their culture, Keystone developed a model to help Simplify Culture. The Culture Strategy Intersect (CSI) Model was created to help organizations drive alignment between their strategy and culture in a simplified approach. We believe that Culture and Strategy are not separate initiatives in your business. They impact each other and can create a competitive advantage when we manage them as one broader approach.  The goal of this model is to simply culture to a set of factors that allows an organization to identify areas of strength and opportunity to drive sustainable improvement in their culture and create a positive impact on their strategic results. Change comes when we first recognize where change is needed, and this model helps organizations get a clear perspective on where they have opportunities to change and evolve.

 

Latitude Studios

Latitude Studios was conceived out of a need. During the pandemic, Andy and his wife Sarah were thrust into work-from-home life like so many of us.  Andy was an engineer and Sarah, a teacher. Having full-time careers combined with distance learning kids made it difficult for everyone to have the space and quiet they needed to work and be successful. So Andy began brainstorming about where he could work. He started in the garage, but with Minnesota weather and kids coming and going, he knew it was only temporary. Next.  he tried working in his enclosed trailer/fish house. With the addition of a small air conditioner, this was a great solution. He found he could be “at home” working and still available to his kids when needed, all the while having a clearly separated and defined workspace that wasn't in their home. The new workspace allowed Andy to go to work to work in the morning, but still lock the door and leave work at the end of the day. Hence, Latitude Studios was born, reimaging and repurposing shipping containers.   Instead of being stacked up in some shipyard rusting away. Latitude systems has designed an innovative need driven/practical use product and brought it to market.  They bring the consumer a stable, reliable, safe option to work, to play, to exercise whatever your need.  This really enhances the end users' lives.  These products are sustainable and they are recycling and upcycling what is known to be an eyesore and trash.

 

Lip Esteem

It has been my absolute please to know Tameka Jones, the most amazing founder and CEO of Lip Esteem. Tameka was laid off as a result of the pandemic resulting in unemployment and pandemic subsidy benefits flowing her way.  Despite the fact that Tameka could have relaxed and collected her monies, she knew this was not the way she wanted to live her life.  She thought about the beauty business she came from and loved and made the strategic decision to invest her money into her own company - with a focus on developing healthy, good for you products and a brand that would bring beauty and joy to others.  And, with an intentional focus on the way to bring others up through her mentoring and example.  Her story is not with out trial and error - the story of so many entrepreneurs.  She first tried to make her own lipstick formula.  When that was less than successful, Tameka worked with a natural products manufacturer to get the formula right.  Tameka is a light-filled presence that inspires others, so much so that her story is featured on Season 6 of the Emmy-winning, Deluxe program, Small Business Revolution as seen on Hulu and YouTubeTV.  Just released in November, 2021, Season 6 focuses on Deluxe's home town of the Twin Cities that celebrates and shares six black-owned businesses.  Tameka and her LipEsteem Episode Three inspires and warms the heart, providing hope to many future entrepreneurs.  As a result of her early success, Tameka is on a whirlwind speaking tour most recently speaking at the Business Diversity Summit of the Economic Club of Minnesota.  Tameka is also an alumni of the Lunar Start-Ups Accelerator program.

 

Luce Line Brewing

Key Go - No Go Moments: Luce Line Brewing had raised its needed capital and had spent more than a year planning and obtaining needed licenses in the regulated industry when Covid-19's impact was starting to be understood. We had four go-no go situations from Q2 to Q4 of 2020: 1. The decision to take down equity capital and hire our brewer; 2. The decision to take on the lease of our building and dramatically renovate the building into a brewery; 3. The decision to close on the bank loan; and 4. Continue even when the governor closed our industry to indoor customers the day we opened. In each case the decision to not go was either equal to or of less value to the decision to go. Throughout the development and start of the business, investors maintained a high confidence in the success of the business.

Restructuring the Loan: Our loan package was restructured three times before we were able to close, and two rounds of equity capital were raised. 1. We decided not to purchase the building and instead lease it; 2. We pivoted when one of the investors reneged on their personal guarantee to the bank; 3. With a few new investors we met bank requirements and closed. Platinum Bank of Minnesota kept a level head throughout the process when others were leaving the market.

Surprising Performance: Since opening the doors in November of 2020, each month has been modestly profitable. This contrasts to our pro-forma expectations of losing money for at least the first 12 months of operation. We accomplished this when few people knew of us or our beer and the Governor announced the closing of our industry to indoor businesses. We pivoted to selling crowlers (large cans of beer) through constant social media and creative outreach to customers. We kept costs low and never gave up. We would have never made it without the support of our local base of friends and customers.

Results After the First Year: Looking back over the first year of operation we were glad to have built a great relationship with our customers. We developed a reputation for making great beer; we helped local charities raise more than $50,000; we established our Founding Membership and added member cycling, running, and other clubs; we provided a variety of music, festivals, and other events; we serviced our debt and are current with our vendors; and we became profitable. In keeping our momentum we have built value within the organization and expect to see additional value achieved in a year to 18 months.

 

LueMelit

I took an idea in my head and made it come to life. I invented new light switches that are patented around the world. I paid for all of it on my own, no shark tank, no investors. I have 100% share in my company and plan to go all the way, like Steve Jobs did. I have already met with Home Depot and other large retailers. My goal is to go global as fast as I can.

I had to go through three factories in order to end up with my final prototype. I have over $200K invested in this project. I know it’s going to take over the industry. I have products that no other light switch company has. I am ready to make a huge impact. I have shown my toggle switch on social media. However, my rocker switch will not be shown until my release. I can provide photos privately. My website will be released at that same time. We have everything ready to go, just waiting on UL.

My goal is to build shelters around the US, with LueMelit funds. Not just any shelter, life changing shelters. I can explain later, if you’d like.

 

Machining-Technology

Over the past 8 Years, 3 synergetic acquisitions were done to complement the strong organic growth. The company grew from $ 1MM to $ 12 MM. Also, $8MM of own capital was injected to buy state of the art equipment. Several new products were launched, a B2B e-channel was successfully set-up and last but not least our customers did recognize the quality of the products as well as the great service provided by rewarding us with additional business.

 

MAS-HVAC

MAS-HVAC was established in 2010, operating out of Florida. Given the strategic relationship with a Minnesota based vendor, the bold decision was made to uproot the business and relocate to Minnesota in an effort to eliminate transportation of components across the country. MAS-HVAC moved operations from Florida to Minnesota in February 2020, along with several key employees.

 

Maud Borup

This company is woman owned, veteran owned.  This company has developed strategic relationships with very well known firms to expand their market, they’ve moved to an online platform as well, and developed innovative products to offer sustainable products quality foods that respect the environment.  They’ve expanded manufacturing in a time when many were contracting.

The owner had a recipe book, and now their biggest problem is scaling at 20% growth per year.   They’ve invested significantly in expanding manufacturing, built their strategic relationships, refined their key staff and doing big things because of it.

 

MDI: Minnesota Diversified Industries

We are a social enterprise which means we operate like a for-profit business, but we are always accountable to our mission. It’s not about growing revenue; it’s about developing people and growing job opportunities. From production to leadership, people with and without disabilities work side-by-side to foster an inclusive culture to meet customer needs.

By 2026, MDI is striving to positively impact 2,500 lives through meaningful employment & related services.

We do this through jobs at MDI for people with and without disabilities, DPI–PWD self-disclosed placements, community placements of one day or more, employee related services, scholarships, Career Skills, and transition programs.

 

Mereen-Johnson

The premise behind 1905 Automation is simple – provide automated solutions to customers problems, helping them replace the hands they cannot hire. We are all familiar with the labor shortage. It effects all sectors, but especially so in areas where jobs are dull, dirty, or dangerous. Mereen-Johnson has over 116 years of experience making high production capital equipment. Our machinery is in all 50 states and over 40 countries. Our customers range from small custom cabinet shops to multinational corporations and Fortune 500 companies. Our primary sector is the cutting, sizing, and shaping of wood. As a result, we also have a tremendous amount of experience material handling and other forms of automation. We started 1905 Automation to leverage our already considerable automation experience in order to expand our reach in the wood sector, but also beyond wood. We did this in order to diversify our business. It’s a BOLD move because it takes us out of our well established and safe comfort zone. We believe it is worth the risk as the automation sector will be growing exponentially in the years to come as workers become harder, and harder to find.

 

MN Ice

They are growing successful company that is on the move. They have acquired some competitors, they have invested in their equipment and space to make it more efficient and are constantly adding accounts.

 

Mustard Seed Ventures

Mustard Seed Ventures has found opportunity to continue the dreams and growth of privately owned companies under the guidance and leadership of one holding company.

 

National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)/Be The Match®

The National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP)/Be The Match®’s business is saving lives through cellular therapy. We deliver on this promise by managing the world’s most diverse registry of potential unrelated blood stem cell donors and through our robust network of partners, we connect donors and patients, collection and transplant centers, researchers and physicians. When the pandemic shut down borders and crippled global logistics and supply chains, it literally put lives at risk.

In the transplant field treating blood cancers, it is critical that patients receive their life-saving cells without delay. Before their transplant, the patient’s immune system is weakened by high doses of chemotherapy, which means that the healthy donor cells are their only chance for survival. These cells are transported by hand by volunteer couriers from the collection site to the transplant location. Roughly 50% of Be The Match-facilitated transplants involve an international travel leg, and couriers have only a 24-48 hour window in which to deliver viable cells wherever in the world the patient is.

When the travel ban from Europe was issued in mid-March 2020, we saw a greater than 80% reduction in flights in and out of the U.S., a 47% drop in couriers, and a 39% probability of donor unavailability. In the face of border closures, travel bans, and flight cancellations, Be The Match secured the only known blanket program travel waiver from the CDC. It required close collaboration and negotiation with State Department, Department of Health & Human Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, former Vice President Mike Pence, the Center for Disease Control, and Department of Homeland Security to get this exception to the European travel ban so that patients in the U.S. could receive the bone marrow transplants they need.

But we still had to facilitate the actual travel and transport of cells. The week of March 16th alone we had a 159 total collections scheduled from an international donor center. We recruited and trained 300+ couriers and partner courier companies to move products, arranged and rearranged private flights, and negotiated travel approvals from local and national governments around the world. The logistics required to pull this off were truly bold – from staff literally driving across entire countries to hand cells across borders, to securing a seat on a humanitarian flight as the only path out of a fully locked down country. Through these efforts, Be The Match did not miss a single transplant and went on to have a record-breaking year.

 

Northborne Partners

At its core, Northborne was founded based on best practices, backed by the years of experience from its Management.  In April of 2021, the Firm’s founders came together and formally launched Northborne, creating a Firm in which its clients experience best-in-class deal execution and work product, coupled with an internal work culture that emphasizes empowerment and collaboration.

The inception of Northborne grew out of its leaders’ desire to get back to their roots and focus on the basics when it came to middle market investment banking.  The culture of the Firm needed to focus on collaboration and have an entrepreneurial emphasis… which is exactly what the leaders at Northborne have successfully created.

Northborne is different than most middle market firms in that its not in the perpetual chase of landing private equity driven business, which is synonymous with larger deals.  Rather, the Firm takes a concerted effort in working with founder and family-owned businesses, in which Northborne’s leaders can make a real impact for all constituents involved in the deal – the owners, the employees, and the surrounding communities.  Northborne’s leadership understands the life changing aspect of its work and doesn’t take the responsibility lightly.  Leadership emphasizes an omnipresent standard at the Firm of doing what is in the best interest of all parties involved and seeks to make a meaningful difference through its work.  The Firm’s uncompromising values starts at the top but ultimately trickles down to the work performed even by its analysts. 

The internal, employee culture at Northborne is another focal point in which Northborne’s leaders highlight and value, realizing its talent is its most valuable asset.  Management has created a positive work environment that emphasizes the importance of work-life balance, often a rarity in investment banking firm cultures.  Northborne’s leaders also focus on fostering the internal relationships of its employees and by nurturing these internal relationships, the Firm has built a culture where employees are able to foster new ideas, ultimately enabling the Firm to better serve its clients.  Development is also a key initiative of the Firm’s leaders, as they always aim to foster development through empowerment with junior employees, encouraging them (when proven ready) to do take on more responsibility than what is typical at large bracket investment bank.  Northborne’s investment in its employees and culture has been the catalyst in its success and is evidenced by its growth.

Based on the aforementioned BOLD moves of Northborne Partners, the Firm has been able to gain vast momentum in the trailing twelve months and will have closed +20 deals.

 

Obsidian Group

Obsidian Group has accumulated a commercial real estate portfolio of over $30m in assets in under 3-years. Their portfolio consists of mostly industrial real estate while also investing in multi-family, retail and single family homes. Their most recent acquisition was a $10.3m flex warehouse building in Plymouth anchored by Silk Road Medical. Their brokerage team has also grown substantially with five full-time brokers in addition to Obsidian Group's three principals

 

Parker Daniels Kibort      

Parker Daniels Kibort has increased its practice by close to 3x since the start of the pandemic. Their growth is significant for a law firm that is growing organically and not through acquitsion. The firm has won many high profile public view cases recently that continues to increase the firms clientele, demanding more attorneys and expanding the company. The firm has doubled the size of its space and continues to work on expanding the footprint in the community.

 

PCs for People

In 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, PCs for People doubled our number of locations, opening offices in 3 new states (Maryland, Missouri and Illinois). 

We also exponentially increased the number of families receiving a computer from roughly 23,000 when we were a BOLD finalist in 2019 to over 50,000 YTD 2021 (as of December 1 2021)!

In addition, having maxed out the number of families we could serve through our internet program by our vendor, PCs for People launched an entirely new service, becoming an internet service provider - providing local wireless internet towers to serve low income families in the area.

 

Peace Coffee

Pre-pandemic, foodservice was over 20% of Peace Coffee's sales. When COVID closed offices, colleges, cafes and restaurants in March of 2020, the majority of this business evaporated. In addition, Peace Coffee owned and operated four branded retail locations that were shuttered. The business responded by focusing all of its attention on channels where people were still buying coffee. Realizing that there was about to be a spike in gorcery store sales, we added a second shift at our roastery to make sure we were producing enough coffee to keep shelves full. We quickly retrenched our marketing team's focus for the year and prioritized building sales on peacecoffee.com. By the end of the year, Peace Coffee's wholesale volume was up 17 percent and revenue was up over 20%, driven by expanded geography, new distribution with Grocery retailers and increased Ecommerce demand. We tripled our ecommerce consumer base over 9 months.

 

PHS West

The company had historical success in the hospital market providing powered material handling and product transport products.  A decision to move aggressively

into the data center market with a line of powered transport products has tripled revenue in the past five years.

 

Platinum Bank

Platinum Bank has experienced rapid growth over the past three years that significantly outpaces their community bank peers. This success is especially significant in that occurred in-part during a pandemic, where organizations were forced to overcome barriers including software limitations, a remote workforce, and economic uncertainty.

Despite these challenges, Platinum Bank deployed an nCino solution to streamline credit decisions, increased headcount by 53% (2019-2021), and increased total assets by 79% from $279 Million (2019) to $500 Million (2021 Projected).

This was made possible by Platinum Bank’s model which prioritizes moving quickly, acting creatively, and connecting business owners to critical resources.

 

Polaris

Polaris BOLD move is the strategic acquisition of Bennington Pontoons from the country’s largest pontoon boat maker, Boat Holdings, for $805 million as part of an all-cash transaction, creating unprecedented growth and shareholder value during a global pandemic and the recent innovation and launch of the Ranger XP Kinetic, one of the first UTV of its kind. 

 

REVocity

This unique approach uses a private equity model to raise funds in small to mid-sized communities and make impact investments in local real estate projects.  Rebound brings its structure and real estate development expertise, while partnering with local leaders to raise money and identify projects.

 

Redpath and Company

Created a new division, Transaction Advisory Services, which has grown and been successful for the firm.

 

RedTeam Security

Recently as more employees began to work from home offices and IT teams worked tirelessly to quickly lift critical applications to cloud environments, countless organizations unwittingly became vulnerable to major cloud data security incidents as cybercriminals took advantage of hastily configured networks. Even companies with sophisticated cyber security programs wondered if they could withstand these new threats.

Determined to beat the cybercriminals at their own game and better arm companies for these elevated attacks, our pen testers went to work on a more advanced security solution called Advanced Adversary Simulation.

Our entire team of penetration testing engineers worked in collaboration to develop this solution using industry-leading frameworks as a guide after recognizing a need to provide more advanced security solutions to challenge an organization’s existing defenses against a simulated real-world attack. Using NATO CCDCOE and the US Army Red Teaming Handbook as their guide, our pen testers designed a forward-thinking service offering called Advanced Adversary Simulation (AAS), which leverages best practices and industry secrets. Armed with a new methodology, the pen testing team revealed the new service offering and stressed the critical need for organizations to have a better way to defend against highly advanced and intentional attacks on their network.

Through our pen testing team's daily research, they offer a unique perspective and know which tools and techniques are the most relevant to defend against an actual attack. With attack vectors changing so rapidly, toolsets that were successful on previous engagements are no longer in valid format. Our custom tools are designed specifically for AAS and are built using hundreds of hours of in-house development. These tools and others created during the engagement will bypass high-end antivirus to support the team in achieving its objectives.

During these sophisticated engagements, RedTeam Security will spend weeks occupying the mind of an attacker and amass a slew of data. Using this highly valuable information, organizations can better defend against a real-world attacker. If security recommendations are followed, neither RedTeam Security nor an actual attacker will be able to replicate the path that was used to capture the organization's protected data.

 

Roers Companies

We didn’t get where we are today by following the conventional path. When others throw in the towel, we double down. While competitors play it safe on their home turf, we venture into untapped markets. We follow an unconventional development roadmap into communities with outstanding real estate potential and little competition, delivering greater prospects for returns than traditional markets.

 

Rohloff Associates

In an industry that has been viewed as stagnant and status quo, Rohloff Associates is defying the perception of a CPA firm’s tax season being dictated by terrible hours. RA’s passion to reimagine the CPA firm to improve the health & well being of the entire YOU started with an internal focus. RA has made the step into the modern world by capping all staff hours at 50 hours during tax season. Believing in work life harmony, the team has doubled in size during the COVID pandemic while embracing work from home flexibility before it was required. While other firms are concerned about the billable hour, RA has achieved a path of value billing that doesn’t rely on billable hours. The team is rewarded for being modern, efficient and relationship driven.

Focusing on hires that target the firms core values of caring for people, willing to be vulnerable, and trust in evolving has created a culture that empowers each member of the team to have a voice, be heard, and be part of a team that supports each other. As a small employer, they offer maternity and paternity pay, flex schedules, work from home stipends, and the ability to have a life during tax season.

RA tracks the capacity of the team to start hiring a full ¾ person ahead, as opposed to waiting until everyone is at max capacity and burning out.  While it is more to take on financially, it allows the team to stay steady and work on training new employees when there is time and not at critical mass, causing work to be less then par. 

By investing time into the internal team first allows RA to focus on each team members unique abilities and putting them in spots to succeed and find purpose in their career. This allows the team to work in their strengths and with clients who want a relational and not transactional CPA. RA also launched a WIN! Culture to call out each other’s accomplishments as well as provide the team with fun ways to recognize WINs with donating company money to a charity of their choice.

With a few close personal losses over the past few years, RA also revamped their bereavement policy to allow people time to grieve and come back when they are ready.  This proved invaluable this past year with the unexpected loss of their founder. 

 

Rowland Paint

A woman owned paint contractor who is hiring and training in a currently all-women crew. Introducing women to the building trades.

 

SJE

SJE engaged Chartwell to evaluate the Company’s strategic alternatives. Based on the results of this analysis, SJE’s Board of Directors determined it was in the best interest of the Company and its’ Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”) participants to pursue a potential equity partner. With this objective, SJE explored private equity proposals to fulfill many of its objectives, including obtaining growth capital for future acquisitions and internal organic growth as well as continuity of the Company’s name, headquarters, management, culture, and employee base.

On June 17, 2021, SJE received a majority equity investment by Audax Group ("Audax"). Audax Group is a leading alternative investment manager with offices in Boston, New York, and San Francisco. Since its founding in 1999, the firm has raised over $27 billion in capital across its Private Equity and Private Debt businesses. Audax Private Equity has invested over $6 billion in more than 135 platforms and over 950 add-on companies, and is currently investing out of its $3.5 billion, sixth private equity fund. Through its disciplined Buy & Build approach, Audax seeks to help platform companies execute add-on acquisitions that fuel revenue growth, optimize operations, and significantly increase equity value. With more than 250 employees and over 100 investment professionals, the firm is a leading capital partner for North American middle market companies.

“For a highly successful employee-owned company, the timing was right for us to transition ownership to ensure the best return for our employees,” said Dave Thomas, President and CEO of SJE. “We had a tremendous opportunity to make the retirement benefit of the ESOP an immediate reality for our team.  Following the investment from Audax, we will continue to operate as we have historically, and remaining committed to our core values of unity, humility, agility, drive, and ownership”

 

SelfEco, a VistaTek Company

As a third-generation manufacturer, Danny Mishek has been around manufacturing processes and materials his whole life. He saw firsthand the hardships of being a contract manufacturer – market volatility, having to layoff good employees due to ups and downs in business, etc… - and he dreamt of having his own product line and more control over the business. Danny also saw the number of environmentally hazardous materials that can be produced during the manufacturing process and he began to wonder “Why do we need to create things that last 800-1200 years? There must be applications that only need single use or shorter life spans”. Thus SelfEco was born in 2014.

What started with just a 50 pound bag of raw, plant-based materials, has turned into everything from recyclable and compostable cutlery, martini glasses, champagne glasses and most recently, gardening pots.

Unlike traditional pots that are made from oil and take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills, SelfEco pots are made from plant-based materials that are easily compostable. Simply plant the entire pot into the ground and within about 4 weeks, the pot will break down and release nutrients to self-feed the plant throughout the process.

SelfEco’s latest BOLD moves in this space are the development of groundbreaking technology and innovative biodegradable horticulture containers for which they have recently received two patents for – one was issued on November 12, 2019, and the second was issued on July 21, 2020. This brings the company’s total patent count up to 6. Additionally, in a recent study conducted with Proven Winners, the SelfEco pots performed as good as, or better than, their traditional growing process that utilizes fertilizer.

The bottom line…The agriculture industry produces 4 billion petroleum pots per year. Only 5% truly get recycled and the rest end up in the landfill. The SelfEco garden pots have the ability to change an entire industry for the better. Made from plants and put back into the ground to make more plants. It truly is a closed looped sustainable process.

 

Slipka Foundation

In partnership with local organizations and schools, the Slipka Foundation has provided micro-scholarships for students participating in extracurricular activities. This includes all extracurricular activities--sports, the arts, and others. The Slipka Foundation has helped hundreds of student to be able to participate in valuable activities that enrich their lives, give them purpose, and provide lifelong character-building experiences. The Slipka Foundation has served as the catalyst for communities to come together to ensure that no young person, no matter what his or her socioeconomic circumstance, has to forego participation in extracurricular activities.

 

SQUIGL

Innovative Technology

 

Starkey

Starkey’s newest family of hearing aids, Evolv AI, launched a new era of hearing technology – using information from both ears to localize the direction of sound, the hearing aid automatically reduces background noise and zeroes in on speech. This provides natural sound effortlessly, as users do not need to make any adjustments themselves with the always-on and always-automatic technology.

Starkey is the first in the industry to develop fall detection and alert technology. If a user falls, the hearing aid will automatically alert three emergency contacts, giving the user’s exact location. Starkey has heard stories from around the country of this technology saving peoples’ lives.

Additionally, Evolv AI uses state-of-the-art machine learning technology to automatically suppress background noise and increase speech audibility and intelligibility as the world continues to wear masks. Due to the pandemic, relying on lip-reading to better hear your friends, family or neighbors has suddenly become impossible while wearing a mask. This led Starkey to develop Edge Mode for Masks and Mask Mode, in which the hearing aid can detect if someone is wearing a mask. Once a mask is detected, the hearing aid will make real-time adjustments to allow the user to hear more clearly – a feature that is critical to help those with hearing loss connect with others during the pandemic.

Finally, Evolv AI hearing aids are also compatible with iPhone and iPad, making it possible for those with hearing loss to have hands-free conversations. With the release of iOS 15 and iPad OS 15 earlier this year, Apple has added support for bidirectional hearing aids, such as Starkey’s Evolv AI hearing aids, which include exciting new bidirectional streaming technology. This 2-Way Audio protocol allows the hearing aid microphone to be used for voice pick-up during calls.

 

Step One Foods

Step One Foods was developed by cardiologist Elizabeth Klodas, MD who wanted to offer her patients a simple dietary solution for maintaining healthy cholesterol levels. To overcome the biggest barriers to eating better - time and complicated meals - Dr. Klodas developed a food-based approach with products that are convenient, science-based and delightful to eat.

 

Stinar

Stinar Corporation is a 74 year-old company.  The company was born out of the original owner's garage to support the Minneapolis airport.  The company grew substantially in St. Paul and later was sold to an unrelated party.  Later, the company suffered substantial losses and filed bankruptcy.  Our management company saw value in a company with a market presence over 7 decades.  We purchased the company in late 2018, revived the company, and in late 2019 moved the company from its twin cities location to rural southern Minnesota.  It was a bold move and it has paid off.  We have been able to establish a tremendous amount of vendor relationships in southern Minnesota that we could not achieve in the Twin Cities.  We understand the business, we have recruited and employed an almost entirely new workforce, and we are investing heavily in capital equipment and training to better the company and our workforce.

 

Summer Lakes Beverage

Summer Lakes Beverage is taking the MN cocktail and mix industry by storm.  They have experienced massive growth and expansion.  Starting with one mix (The original BootLeg) and now 4 total mixes.

 

Telo

Four undergraduate students from the University of Minnesota founded Telo LLC in December 2020 during the midst of the global pandemic whilst in a remote learning experiential course through the Holmes Center of Entrepreneurship at the Carlson School of Management.

The initial motivation behind Telo came from one of its co-founders who grew up with a dad with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) which led to his involvement with the National MS Society. Through his involvement with this organization and his personal experiences he gained a keen understanding of the challenges his community faced, and learned how assistive products can greatly improve a person's quality of life but also lack a lot of innovation. Understanding that the rollator walker is often the last ambulatory device to keep people living independent before becoming wheelchair bound, Telo set out to design the first innovation to the rollator walker in 40 years, bringing to market a patent pending posterior rollator with integrated technology for activity tracking and remote therapy applications

 

The Good Bread Company

The Good Bread company acquired Franklin St Bakery, a Minneapolis-based wholesale bakery that supplies restaurants, retailers and other food operations. Franklin St Bakery was launched in 1994 in the kitchen of one of the original owners' restaurants. Work toward the deal began during the first COVID-19 mandatory shutdown. The baking industry was in shambles. It required faith and vision from all involved parties to press forward despite the uncertainty of surrounding of the environment. Throughout the deal it was essential that all parties worked collaboratively with a CAN DO attitude to work through various COVID related uncertainties.

 

The Latitude Group

Hillary spent 10 years growing within The Latitude Group before purchasing the company in January 2021, in the middle of covid. During that time, she moved the company’s location to create more long-term flexibility and scale, invested in technology to streamline its infrastructure and grew their internal team by 100%. Externally, Latitude launched customized DEI hiring programs with local companies focused on attracting and retaining talent in a near negative unemployment market, signed new clients and expanded their footprint into four new states. All of this resulted in annual revenue growth over 2021.

 

The LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance

After scandal collapsed the former organization holding this space, the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance was born like a phoenix from the ashes.  Opening its doors in June of 2020, it has secured sponsorships from nearly every major residential real estate company and major bank in the Country.  Since membership opened to the public on October 1, 2020, the Alliance has added over 1800 members in just a year, and is looking at expansion to Europe and South America.

 

The Packaging Lab

With over 40 years of experience in the packaging industry the founders know how complicated and frustrating it can be to find a solution to custom packaging needs.  They created the Packaging Lab in 2019 to simplify the process of ordering custom pouches and packaging films that get a product into the market and in the hands of customers very quickly.  Financing was provided through VisionBank and the SBA 504 program.

 

The Wine Company

When companies take on a new, risky initiative, a global pandemic hits, and the economy takes a plunge, most companies would focus on their core business, let go of the initiative, and/or pull back. The Wine Company did just the opposite and further backed their decision to enter the craft spirit market.  The Wine Company made the decision to enter this new channel of craft spirits a year pre-COVID and stayed the course despite an extremely challenging environment during the Pandemic. 

The Wine Company originally focused its craft spirits launch on the restaurant industry, as about one third of its clients were in the restaurant sector.  As we all now know, the restaurant industry was/is deeply impacted by the Pandemic and put the new channel launch at risk. 

The Wine Company focused on its greatest asset, its workforce, and optimized all talent on hand.  The collaboration and nurturing of its employees allowed for the Company to have a record year in FY21, largely in part due to the new craft spirit channel driven by the dedication of its employees.

Persistence accompanied by its humbleness, allowed the Company to focus on its talent, pivot the craft spirit launch, and grow business.  Best said by Robbin Hilgert, “… What was in their rearview mirror was no longer the compass… [The Wine Company] had to really collaborate as a company.”

 

theNEWmpls

Holistic approach to health and wellness in communities with marginalized groups.

 

Tierra Encantada

Tierra Encantada was founded by Kristen Denzer in 2013, when she was seeking childcare for her own children. She noticed the childcare industry lacked a high-quality bilingual program that focused on the growth of the whole child, offered a nutritious meal program, and provided a home away from home for her children. Thus, was the beginning of the first Tierra Encantada center in Eagan, MN. Not long after came the opening of two more centers in the Twin Cities Metro to bridge the gap for bilingual childcare in the marketplace. Then in 2019, Tierra Encantada recognized bigger impact opportunities and set a pivotal goal: to be able to serve families across the nation with an unparalleled early education experience as the largest Spanish Immersion Childcare provider in the nation. With three centers already open to Twin Cities Metro families, Tierra Encantada opened their Seward location in 2019, and not stopping there, the decision was made to launch Tierra Encantada into the franchising business in addition to opening their first corporate office. And then at the height of the pandemic, they opened their largest center yet near Hiawatha in the summer of 2020. Wanting to continue expanding Tierra Encantada’s mission for providing a distinguished early education experience through a high-quality bilingual education program to young children, the company signed on to three additional centers in 2020, expanding the business further in the Twin Cities Metro and also new markets including  southern Minnesota and their first out of state center in Chicago, Illinois. From serving 90 children and 22  employees in 2013 to over 840 children and over 170 employees today, the impact of Tierra Encantada continues to grow monumentally and sets a trajectory for the future of childcare.

 

True North Equity Partners

Brian has found opportunity to continue the dreams and growth of privately owned companies under the guidance and leadership of one private equity company.

 

Trunkdrop

The world was struck by covid-19 in 2020 and everyone had to pivot in some form or fashion. With delivery services being in HIGH demand and an already current ride sharing business coming to a screeching halt, Jon like us all, decided to pivot and Trunkdrop was born. A true on-demand delivery courier service.

 

TurnSignl

This unique tele-legal subscription service is currently live in Minnesota and Georgia, and expanding rapidly across the country. TurnSignl was born out of necessity, in the same city where George Floyd tragically lost his life to police violence. Our hope for the future is to make drivers feel safe and empowered every time they get on the road.

 

United Way

BOLD act of kindness, connection and generosity to provide professional tools to assist those in crisis, transition and need.

 

Utilimarc

Utilimarc is leveraging its leading foothold in the Utility fleet analytics market to develop new metrics and decision-support tools around vehicle electrification (EV) and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).  This is a growing mandate not only in the private sector, but public and construction sectors.  Relating to utility companies specifically, Utilimarc's products enables essential construction and maintenance of grid infrastructure to support EV rollout, including the federal funding for charging stations.

 

Vail Place

In addition to the recent tactics that we have adopted in response to COVID-19, we have extensive experience providing housing support to a broad demographic of people with serious mental illness including those most in need, such as individuals who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness, very low income, experiencing difficulties in locating housing vacancies, and facing challenges in getting accepted to housing due to background barriers such as felonies, misdemeanors, prior evictions or poor credit. Our housing program, despite the heath emergency and obstacles that come with it, remained just as successful as previous years in connecting these individuals to safe, stable and affordable housing of their choice. Our clients also have access to the full range of additional social services at Vail Place helping to address the many physical, emotional, and social needs that tie into successfully obtaining and keeping housing.

Although our housing division is relatively small in comparison to other local providers, our housing staff served 423 people in 2019 and 437 in 2020. We are expecting those numbers to increase significantly in 2021 due to our recent work in growing our housing program and available services.

Program participants are some of the most vulnerable and underserved in society, representing a diverse cross-section of the larger community. All participants are adults (ages 18+), with serious mental illnesses and complex health and social needs. 98% live well below federal poverty guidelines; nearly 80% have co-occurring medical conditions like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease; and over 30% were homeless or at risk of homelessness.

We work with some of the populations who are most difficult to reach and to successfully house including individuals who are staying in shelters, sleeping in places not meant for human habitation, couch hopping, sleeping in tents, and riding in public transportation to stay warm, among many others. We do not discriminate, and we make every effort to address the needs of everyone on a case-by-case basis.

This is one of the things that makes our housing program at Vail Place so unique and effective. We do not take a “one size fits all” approach to housing (or any of our services). We recognize that each individual served has different needs and we actively, and boldly, work to meet those specific needs. We do that through a wide variety of housing options..

 

Village Bank

Village Bank’s BOLD Moves and overall community commitment is to do whatever it takes to provide local entrepreneurs access to capital to create jobs, build their business and achieve their dreams. Built by an entrepreneur for entrepreneurs, we look for ways to say yes to businesses’ financial opportunities and to not put businesses in a box.

From 2019 to 2021 Village Bank has remained focused on becoming the go-to small business lending resource for entrepreneurs. In 2019, we experienced our first full year as an SBA Preferred Lender and became a top 20 SBA lender. Although this was a huge feat, Aleesha Webb, President of the Bank, envisioned her Villagers could do even better the following year and set a goal to do $20MM in SBA loans and become a top 10 SBA lender in 2020.

In March 2020, when the world began to shut down due the impacts of COVID-19, the top 10 SBA Lender goal appeared at risk. However, Village Bank doubled-down on our commitment to serve our community and welcomed businesses to apply for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan with Village Bank, regardless of whether they were a customer or not. There was an outpouring of PPP requests, and each and every Villager dug deep and worked countless hours to assist in the processing and completion of over 500 PPP loans in 2020 and another 300+ in 2021. Although this stat is impressive in and of itself, it is important to note that 60% of PPP loans made came from non-customers. When other banks were turning away businesses, Village Bank found a way to help them all. As a result, hundreds of businesses gained access to critical PPP funds to keep their doors open in 2020. Even more impactful were the thousands of employees who could retain paychecks to help families and their communities survive.

Looking back on Webb’s original vision in 2019 to invest in and grow the SBA department, her vision truly became a reality when Village Bank became a top 10 SBA lender in 2020, and then in 2021 we ranked in the top 5 financial institutions for SBA lending in Minnesota*. Even more BOLD, is that the goal was to do $20MM in SBA loans and in 2021, Village Bank did over $43MM in SBA loans. That is more than double the original goal that everyone said we couldn’t do as fast as we wanted.

This accomplishment is unprecedented, as it typically takes decades to become a top 5 SBA lender. Village Bank did it in less than 3 years! Having achieved this BOLD Move, Village Bank has not wavered on our SBA focus and has shifted from helping customers to survive in 2020 to thrive in 2021 through our #STRONG21 initiative.

 

VoSee

LingoForce is technology that allows hospitals to know which interpreters are available so all requests can assure patients will have clear communication improving healthcare outcomes for the Deaf community as well as for people speaking languages other than English. The LingoForce marketplace allows businesses to tailor the technology to their specific needs. And it is the first that offers interpreters a business solution that allows them to grow their clients, work with multiple agencies and hospitals with one mobile application, instead of the siloed systems of today. It breaks the barriers that create the hurdles for businesses and people in need of clear communication.

 

Wealth Enhancement Group

Since the sale of a majority interest in WEG to TA Associates in 2019, WEG has completed 29 acquisitions of financial advisory firms across the country.  In September, they took on a second private equity investor, Onex Partners, which will only accelerate WEG's acquisition strategy.

 

Wellbeats

There is a new normal in workplace wellbeing, and Wellbeats has embraced this change to help engage a remote workforce in the wellbeing initiatives employers offer. Their BOLD move includes revitalizing and expanding their class selection and improving the experience for users. Wellbeats’ current lineup of more than 1,000 classes reflects important trends that have emerged over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the demand for mental health support and the need for classes designed specifically for children. To that end, Wellbeats partnered with on-demand mental wellness provider Healbright to offer expanded mental health support on topics including stress, mindfulness, parenting, anxiety, and burnout, all of which are highly relevant in an environment where adults are eight times more likely to screen positive for serious mental illness. The company also created 23 new classes to support mental and physical wellbeing for children ages 3 to 10, 76% of whom do not get enough exercise. In addition to meeting the physical activity needs of children, Wellbeats designed these new classes to be accessible for children with mental or physical disabilities, who are less likely to be active than their able-bodied peers. Users can adapt their participation to fit their own ability level, and 20% of the classes feature kids with disabilities assisting instructors on screen. Further, the company evolved its member experience to deliver a more personalized and engaging wellness journey, while also enhancing users’ ability to connect with other members virtually in order to foster social interaction among employees and recreate the group fitness experience from the comfort of home. Taken together, these BOLD moves have helped employers support employee wellbeing and strengthened Wellbeats’ position as the leader in on-demand, virtual wellbeing, while contributing to significant corporate growth.

 

WomenVenture

Over the past three years, WomenVenture developed a business training program to meet the specific needs of business owners of mid-sized, established businesses who are ready for growth and expansion.

WomenVenture saw a gap in business education available for women who already owned a business and were ready to take that business to the next level. Following extensive market research, they developed “Accelerating Success”, a program for women business owners who were more than two years post-start-up and had top line revenue in excess of $100,000. Since this is the tipping point for many business owners, so it made sense to work at this level to boost the financial acumen and marketing abilities of these business owners.

 

Xena Therapies

Opal and Onyx Cool began manufacturing wearable therapies in Feb. 2021.  One month later they had to shut down operations due to Covid-19.  The company quickly pivoted from a B2B strategy to direct to consumer with national media appearances on Good Morning America, The View and QVC.  Despite revenue challenges, the company continued to innovate and bring new products to market including Onyx Cool Safety Pro Vest for heat stress - which launched the week after the White House announced an inter-agency task force and OSHA rulemaking process to protect workers from heat stress.  Also during Covid-19, the company's Opal Cool line of products became an approved vendor of cool therapy products for the National MS Society.  The Opal Cool Wraps were also featured technology in a clinical study conducted by St. Catherine's University for women with MS.  The results will be published this Spring.

 

ZeSa

ZeSa has successfully achieved market validation with sales of their pre-production version of their patented instability training devices created for that purpose and customer feedback. Sales have been made to 25 Pro Sports Teams in the NFL, NBA, WNBA & MLB, in addition to independent Pro Trainers, Pro Athletes, Sports Medicine Professionals, Physical Therapists, Chiropractors and others. ZeSa has now advanced the design of their patented devices to allow for high volume manufacturing and production, and is moving forward towards launch with national and global sales.