How is Your Family Business’s Equity Holding Up?

By Tom Hubler, Executive Consultant When businesses talk about equity and value, they talk almost exclusively in financial terms such as how much the company is worth in dollars. This makes perfect sense given the purpose of a business is to make money to grow and sustain itself, its owners and employees. With family businesses, however, there’s another form of equity that must be worked […]

BITN – August 2021

Business In The News is a compilation of business stories from around Minnesota and neighboring states usually not reported on by Twin Cities media. These stories provide business leads, trends and insights we hope you will find useful. Ghost of a Chance? Firm Covers Hotel Costs to Attract 1,500 Temp Workers To lure 1,500 seasonal workers this fall, a Mankato-based business that owns Fun.com and […]

10 Most Prevalent Obstacles to Family Business Succession Planning

By Tom Hubler, Executive Consultant In a presentation at the University of St. Thomas Center for Family Enterprise Family Business Forum, John Davis, family business consultant, researcher and educator, commented that everything consultants like himself teach, their clients already know. In order to be successful, they need to confront or deal with the obstacles. Of course, the first question that popped into my mind was: […]

Surprised by Abundance – and Putting it to Good Use

By Steve Coleman, Partner As Americans change during this pandemic, being a pet owner has moved into first place ahead of having children. Why is this happening? Maybe it’s addressing an unmet need for close relationships. Maybe it’s human desire for giving and receiving love. Maybe it’s a great way to meet new people. We got a new puppy last August, and now we can […]

BITN – July 2021

Business In The News is a compilation of business stories from around Minnesota and neighboring states usually not reported on by Twin Cities media. These stories provide business leads, trends and insights we hope you will find useful. Mankato to Remain an MSA The Biden administration has scrapped plans to reclassify metropolitan statistical areas across the nation, including the Mankato MSA. With a population of […]

Do’s and Don’ts of Pursuing Investors for a Startup

By Ron Leaf, Partner Back when I was managing a venture capital investment partnership, I received a call from a consultant who asked if he could introduce me to an entrepreneur seeking capital for his business. Without knowing the entrepreneur was also on the call, I said ‘yes.’ The consultant handed off the call to the entrepreneur who immediately started his pitch. The business, he […]

What to Do When None of the Kids Can Take Over the Family Business

By Tom Hubler, Executive Consultant James Schultz appeared to be at the top of his game. A locally recognized leader in his industry, he had earned a national reputation for craftsmanship and business acumen. But his dream to have his three sons work in the business had become a nightmare. While each had grown up in the company, none demonstrated the necessary skills to take […]

Success Depends More on Character Than Skill

By Bill English, Partner In his book, Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality, Dr. Henry Cloud says, “there are a lot of people who are competent and good at what they do who don’t get to be leaders or ‘hugely successful’.” He goes on to write that in order for competent individuals to be successful, they must be able to build alliances […]

BITN – June 2021

Business In The News is a compilation of business stories from around Minnesota and neighboring states usually not reported on by Twin Cities media. These stories provide business leads, trends and insights we hope you will find useful. DNA Produced in Fargo Helps Produce COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Fargo-based Aldevron LLC reports it has worked overtime to make enough DNA for pharmaceutical companies to produce hundreds […]

Tapping the Hidden Value of Work in Progress

By Dean Bachelor, Founder and Chairman It was the year 2010. The Great Recession of 2008–2009 had created an opportunity for Platinum Group to help banks deal with their troubled credits (loans). Years ago, we formed Platinum Receiver Services to facilitate receiverships capable of addressing the disposition of assets that banks require when they are near or at foreclosure. We received a phone call from […]