By Dean Bachelor, Founder It was the late 1980’s. I was having lunch with the president of a bank in Red Wing, Minn., at the St. James Hotel, the landmark hotel founded by 11 civic-minded businessmen in 1875. I had just stepped into the role of CEO at Durkee-Atwood, the town’s second largest employer (Red Wing Shoe employed 500+ and Durkee-Atwood had 325 employees). Located in […]
Heading Into February 2021
By Dale Kurschner, Executive Consultant Welcome to Business in the News (BITN), a monthly compilation of business stories from around the state usually not reported on by Twin Cities media. These stories provide business leads, trends and insights we hope you will find useful. Downtown Duluth is Hot: Building Boom Continues The City of Duluth issued permits for construction projects valued at a record-high $399 […]
Crafting the Plan
By Tom Hubler, Executive Consultant With the New Year starting, it’s a great time to make sure you have a plan for your business (and if you do, that it’s as thorough and up to date as it should be). I always say a plan is better than a New Year’s resolution because it will guide you through the year with much better results. And […]
New Year’s Resolution: Help Businesses Focused on Improving Our Community
By Steve Coleman, Partner, Platinum Group All of us are living different priorities today. Wise observers say we are experiencing in this pandemic what would have normally taken ten years to change. My personal awareness of what it means to live out a core value – do the right thing – has been sling-shotted into a top priority for 2021, no longer an idea of […]
2021 Newsletters
Read the articles from our 2021 newsletters.
Take Time to Reflect, Monthly
By Bill English, Partner After talking with a CEO friend of mine this week, she thanked me for asking the questions I raised. They made her stop and think, and then explain what she accomplished last year and what’s in front of her to achieve in 2021. I didn’t ask profound questions. She was thankful for the opportunity to stop working, think, and then articulate […]
Benefits of a Common Family Vision
By Tom Hubler, Executive Consultant This article is Part 4 of a continuing series about the delicate issues among family businesses. Part 1 discussed financial vs. emotional equity and this article deals with trust and gratitude, which are necessary for emotional equity. Part 2 described family business challenges relating to trust and gratitude. Part 3 addressed the essential need for family meetings to balance the boundary between business […]
Give More by Giving Wisely
By Randy Kroll, Partner It’s that most wonderful time of the year, a time to exercise abundant generosity in gift giving within our families, to our friends and neighbors, and especially, to community organizations that help those facing life crises or challenges. But hold off on contributing to your favorite charities until you consider this approach for making what could be the biggest and boldest […]
2020 Newsletters
Read the articles from our 2020 newsletters.
Bankruptcy Avoided Through Sale Transaction
How Platinum helped owner and lender to identify a buyer, cover debt and save jobs









