Apr 1, 2010

200 Minnesotans You Should Know

Originally Posted in the Twin Cities Business Magazine on April 1, 2010.

There are people you simply should know.

They are people who shape your world, whether you recognize it or not—people who come up in casual discussions, who frame points of view, whose very names form points of reference.

On the following pages, you will find profiles of CEOs of Minnesota’s largest companies, public and private. You will find lenders, venture capitalists, and other financiers.

Even if you don’t know them personally, you should know who they are and what they do—assuming, of course, that your world is the business world, and that much of your business is done in Minnesota.

You will also see, on the pages that follow, entrepreneurs, including individuals who have started several enterprises. There are builders—of buildings and businesses—and thought leaders, public influencers, and leaders of some of the not-for-profit enterprises that enrich your world. Leaders of law and accounting firms also appear.

Who won’t you find? Prince, the musician—even though it would be pitiable not to know his best productions. Twins catcher Joe Mauer, even though your life will be improved by watching him work. You won’t find Governor Tim Pawlenty, the novelist Vince Flynn, or the guy who played Scrooge last year at the Guthrie Theater. We are presenting a roster of people who occupy the business community. We left off professional athletes, actors, entertainers, writers, artists, and all but a few educators.

We also left out crooks—there’s no profile of Tom Petters—and elected officials, although we hope we don’t have to remind you that you should know the names of your representative in Congress, the mayor of the city in which you live, and your state senator and representative. We never considered including journalists.

Is 200 the right number of names? Well, sure it is. It highlights the fact that this is the 200th issue of Twin Cities Business.

A better question is whether my associates and I—Gene Rebeck, Christa Meland, Melissa Loth, Eric Kelsey—and a group of freelancers who regularly contribute to the magazine have selected the right 200 people to feature. And that’s where you come in.

As you know, part of the fun of reading a who’s who–style feature like this is discovering names you might not have thought to include. As we know—and please recognize that we do know this—there is also frustration in finding that the people compiling the list have left off someone who clearly, unequivocally should be on it.

So here’s what we’ll do: We’ll take your suggestions at 200plus@tcbmag.com. Send us the person’s name, title, company or organization name, and no more than 150 words about why he or she is a Minnesotan to know, and we’ll post your additions, too.   

The 200 Minnesotans List

1 Agin Schmidt, Carolyn – Law Office of Carolyn Agin Schmidt

2 Ames, Richard – Ames Construction

3 Amplatz, Kurt – AGA Medical Holdings

4 Anderson, Lee – APi Group

5 Annexstad, Al – Federated Insurance Companies

6 Austin, William – Starkey Laboratories

7 Avent, Sharon – Smead Manufacturing Company

8 Bachman, Dale – Bachman’s

9 Baker, Douglas M. – Ecolab

10 Barber, Greg – Eide Bailly

11 Barr, Collin – Ryan Companies

12 Barton, Raymond L. – Great Clips

13 Bell, Peter – Metropolitan Council

14 Bellamy, Lou – Penumbra Theatre Company

15 Berman, Lyle – Lakes Entertainment

16 Berman, Mike – Numerous medical device firms

17 Blashack Strahan, Jill – Tastefully Simple

18 Brainerd, Mary – HealthPartners

19 Bruininks, Robert – University of Minnesota

20 Buckley, George W. – 3M Company

21 Burnet, Ralph – Coldwell Banker Burnet

22 Campbell, James – Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota

23 Campbell, Jon – Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota

24 Carlson Nelson, Marilyn – Carlson

25 Carr, Dan – The Collaborative

26 Caruso, Sarah – Greater Twin Cities United Way

27 Casey, Lynn – Padilla Speer Beardsley

28 Christianson, Tony – Cherry Tree Companies

29 Ciresi, Michael V. – Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi

30 Cohen, Burt – MSP Communications

31 Cooper, William – TCF Financial Corporation

32 Cotton, Jeff – Deloitte

33 Cracchiolo, James – Ameriprise Financial

34 Dahlberg, Kenneth – Carefree Capital

35 Davis, Mark – Davisco Foods International

36 Davis, Richard – U.S. Bancorp

37 DeNucci, Mark – Boulay Heutmaker, Zibell & Company

38 DeYoung, Jeff – Baker Tilly Virchow Krause

39 Dolan, James – Dolan Media Company

40 Dowling, Joe – Guthrie Theater

41 Doyle, Dennis – Welsh Companies

42 Duff, Andrew – Piper Jaffray Companies

43 Dunn, Brian – Best Buy Company

44 Ehmke, Lee – Minnesota Zoo

45 Engelsma, Bruce – Kraus-Anderson Companies

46 Ettinger, Jeffrey M. – Hormel Foods Corporation

47 Evenstad, Ken – Upsher-Smith Laboratories

48 Fagen, Roland “Ron” – Fagen

49 Feldman, Kaywin – Minneapolis Institute of Arts

50 Feldman, Nancy – UCare

51 Feltl, John – Feltl and Company

52 Finkelstein, Paul D. – Regis Corporation

53 Fiterman, Michael – Liberty Diversified International

54 Flack, Greg – Schwan Food Company

55 Foster, Chris – Fallon

56 Frandsen, Dennis – Frandsen Corporation

57 Frauenshuh, David – Frauenshuh Healthcare

58 Frécon, Leslie – LFE Capital

59 Fruechte, Christine – Colle & McVoy

60 Fry, Art – 3M Company

61 Gage, Skip – Gage Marketing Group

62 Gavin, Sara – Weber Shandwick

63 George, Bill – Medtronic

64 Geraghty, Patrick – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

65 Gorman, Michael – Split Rock Partners

66 Grabarski, Sam – Minneapolis Downtown Council

67 Halloran, Patrick – Wayzata Investment Partners

68 Hawkins, William – Medtronic

69 Heffelfinger, Thomas – Best & Flanagan

70 Helgeson, Michael – Gold’n Plump Poultry

71 Hemsley, Stephen – UnitedHealth Group

72 Herkert, Craig – Supervalu

73 Hewitt, Bradford – Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

74 Himle, John – Himle Horner

75 Hinderaker, John – Faegre & Benson

76 Hogan, Randall J. – Pentair

77 Holmes, Gary – CSM Corporation

78 Hopp, Deborah – MSP Communications

79 Hotchkiss, Philip – BigCharts

80 Hubbard, Stanley S. – Hubbard Broadcasting

81 Humphrey, Jim – Andersen Corporation

82 Jacobs, Irwin – Jacobs Trading Company

83 Jaeger, Doug – Adolfson & Peterson

84 Johnson, John D. – CHS

85 Johnson, B. Kristine – Affinity Capital Management

86 Joly, Hubert – Carlson

87 Kane, Jean – Welsh Companies

88 Kaplan, Sam – Kaplan Strangis& Kaplan

89 Kelley, Douglas – Kelley Wolter & Scott

90 Kelly, Richard – Xcel Energy

91 Khanna, Gopal – Office of EnterpriseTechnology

92 Kierlin, Robert – Fastenal Company

93 Kling, William – Minnesota Public Radio

94 Klingensmith, Michael – Star Tribune

95 Kocherlakota, Narayana – Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

96 Kolar, James – PricewaterhouseCoopers

97 Koneck, John – Fredrikson & Byron

98 Kotula, Donald – Northern Tool & Equipment

99 Kraemer, Michael – Short Elliott Hendrickson

100 Kurowski, Greg – Periscope

101 Layman, Sandy – Iron Range Resources

102 LeJeune, Michael – Fabcon

103 Leipold, Craig – Minnesota Wild, Minnesota Sports and Entertainment

104 Lescarbeau, Mike – Carmichael Lynch

105 Leuthold, Steven – The Leuthold Group

106 Lewis, Donald – Hamline University School of Law

107 Lindahl, John – Norwest Equity Partners

108 Lindsay, Joy – StarTec Investments

109 Litman, Scott – Magnet 360

110 Lucas, Peggy – Brighton Development

111 Lundberg, Steven – Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner

112 Mackay, Harvey – MackayMitchell Envelope

113 Mallin, Dan – Magnet 360

114 Marvin, Susan – Marvin Windows And Doors

115 McBeth, Daryn – Minnesota Agri-Growth Council

116 McElroy, Dan – MN Dept. of Employment and Economic Development

117 McNerney, Peter – Thomas McNerney & Partners

118 Meshbesher, Ronald – Meshbesher and Spence

119 Mezile, Harold – YMCA of Metropolitan Minneapolis

120 Mingo, Guy – Marsden Holding

121 Mitchell, Patricia – Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

122 Mondale, Walter – Dorsey & Whitney

123 Mooty, John – Gray Plant Mooty

124 Morfitt, Martha – River Rock Partners, Airborne

125 Morgan, Thomas G. – Faegre & Benson

126 Mortenson, M. A. “Mort” – M. A. Mortenson Company

127 Nath, Mahendra – Nath Companies

128 Nelson, Russ – Nelson Tietz & Hoye

129 Ngo, Viet – Lemna International

130 Nitzsche, Randy G. – Northland Securities

131 Norback, David – RSP Architects

132 Noseworthy, John – Mayo Clinic

133 Offutt, Ron – R. D. Offutt Company

134 Olseth, Dale – SurModics

135 Olson, John – Olson

136 Opperman, Vance – Key Investment

137 Page, Gregory – Cargill

138 Patel, Kal – Best Buy Company

139 Patrick, Stephen – BWBR Architects

140 Paulus, Kenneth – Allina Hospitals and Clinics

141 Perkins, Richard “Perk” – Perkins Capital Management

142 Peyton, Whitney – CB Richard Ellis (CBRE)

143 Phillips, Edward J. – Talenti Gelato E Sorbetto

144 Pohlad, Jim – Twins Sports, Inc.

145 Powell, Kendall – General Mills

146 Prokopanko, James – Mosaic Company

147 Rechelbacher, Horst – Intelligent Nutrients

148 Remele, Lewis – Bassford Remele

149 Roberts, Phil – Parasole Restaurant Holdings

150 Roche, William – RSM McGladrey

151 Rolnick, Arthur J. – Federal Reserve Bank

152 Ronning, Joel – Digital River

153 Rosen, Thomas – Rosen’s Diversified

154 Rubin, Kate – Minnesota High Tech Association

155 Russomanno, Frank P. – Imation Corporation

156 Schoenecker, Guy – BI

157 Schram, Lee – Deluxe Corporation

158 Schulze, Richard – Best Buy Company

159 Shank, Stephen – Capella Education Company

160 Sheffert, Mark – Manchester Companies

161 Short, Marianne – Dorsey & Whitney

162 Sit, Roger J. – Sit Investment Associates

163 Smith, Sally – Buffalo Wild Wings

164 Smith, Kevin – Minnesota Opera

165 Soran, Phil – Compellent Technologies

166 Spell, William – Spell Capital Partners

167 Spong, Doug – Carmichael Lynch Spong

168 St. Peter, Dave – Minnesota Twins

169 Starks, Daniel J. – St. Jude Medical

170 Stassen, David – Split Rock Partners

171 Steiner, James – Lowry Hill Private Asset Management

172 Steinhafel, Gregg – Target Corporation

173 Stillman, David – Bridgeworks

174 Stofer, Boyd – Marquette Real Estate Group

175 Stout, John – Fredrikson & Byron

176 Sweeney, Michael – Goldner Hawn Johnson& Morrison

177 Switz, Robert – ADC Telecommunications

178 Tandon, Rajiv – Adayana

179 Tattersfield, Michael – Caribou Coffee

180 Taylor, Glen – Minnesota Timberwolves; Taylor Corporation

181 Taylor, Jean – Taylor Corporation

182 Tennant, Melvin – Meet Minneapolis

183 Tilford, David – Medica

184 Tobin, William – Cresa Partners

185 Tunheim, Kathy – Tunheim Partners

186 Vänskä, Osmo – Minnesota Orchestra

187 Viere, Gordon – LarsonAllen

188 Villafana, Manny – Kips Bay Medical

189 Viso, Olga – Walker Art Center

190 Volpi, Michele – H. B. Fuller Company

191 Wahlstrom, Dale – The Biobusiness Allianceof Minnesota

192 Wallin, Winston – Wallin Foundation

193 Walters, Tom – Grant Thornton

194 Weaver, Charlie – Minnesota Business Partnership

195 Wehrenberg, Steve – Campbell Mithun

196 Werbalowsky, Jeffrey – Houlihan Lokey

197 Wiehoff, John – C. H. Robinson Worldwide

198 Wilf, Zygmunt “Zygi” – Minnesota Vikings

199 Wilgers, John – Ernst & Young

200 York, William – AgriBank

1 Agin Schmidt, Carolyn – Law Office of Carolyn Agin Schmidt

2 Ames, Richard – Ames Construction

3 Amplatz, Kurt – AGA Medical Holdings

4 Anderson, Lee – APi Group

5 Annexstad, Al – Federated Insurance Companies

6 Austin, William – Starkey Laboratories

7 Avent, Sharon – Smead Manufacturing Company

8 Bachman, Dale – Bachman’s

9 Baker, Douglas M. – Ecolab

10 Barber, Greg – Eide Bailly

11 Barr, Collin – Ryan Companies

12 Barton, Raymond L. – Great Clips

13 Bell, Peter – Metropolitan Council

14 Bellamy, Lou – Penumbra Theatre Company

15 Berman, Lyle – Lakes Entertainment

16 Berman, Mike – Numerous medical device firms

17 Blashack Strahan, Jill – Tastefully Simple

18 Brainerd, Mary – HealthPartners

19 Bruininks, Robert – University of Minnesota

20 Buckley, George W. – 3M Company

21 Burnet, Ralph – Coldwell Banker Burnet

22 Campbell, James – Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota

23 Campbell, Jon – Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota

24 Carlson Nelson, Marilyn – Carlson

25 Carr, Dan – The Collaborative

26 Caruso, Sarah – Greater Twin Cities United Way

27 Casey, Lynn – Padilla Speer Beardsley

28 Christianson, Tony – Cherry Tree Companies

29 Ciresi, Michael V. – Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi

30 Cohen, Burt – MSP Communications

31 Cooper, William – TCF Financial Corporation

32 Cotton, Jeff – Deloitte

33 Cracchiolo, James – Ameriprise Financial

34 Dahlberg, Kenneth – Carefree Capital

35 Davis, Mark – Davisco Foods International

36 Davis, Richard – U.S. Bancorp

37 DeNucci, Mark – Boulay Heutmaker, Zibell & Company

38 DeYoung, Jeff – Baker Tilly Virchow Krause

39 Dolan, James – Dolan Media Company

40 Dowling, Joe – Guthrie Theater

41 Doyle, Dennis – Welsh Companies

42 Duff, Andrew – Piper Jaffray Companies

43 Dunn, Brian – Best Buy Company

44 Ehmke, Lee – Minnesota Zoo

45 Engelsma, Bruce – Kraus-Anderson Companies

46 Ettinger, Jeffrey M. – Hormel Foods Corporation

47 Evenstad, Ken – Upsher-Smith Laboratories

48 Fagen, Roland “Ron” – Fagen

49 Feldman, Kaywin – Minneapolis Institute of Arts

50 Feldman, Nancy – UCare

51 Feltl, John – Feltl and Company

52 Finkelstein, Paul D. – Regis Corporation

53 Fiterman, Michael – Liberty Diversified International

54 Flack, Greg – Schwan Food Company

55 Foster, Chris – Fallon

56 Frandsen, Dennis – Frandsen Corporation

57 Frauenshuh, David – Frauenshuh Healthcare

58 Frécon, Leslie – LFE Capital

59 Fruechte, Christine – Colle & McVoy

60 Fry, Art – 3M Company

61 Gage, Skip – Gage Marketing Group

62 Gavin, Sara – Weber Shandwick

63 George, Bill – Medtronic

64 Geraghty, Patrick – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

65 Gorman, Michael – Split Rock Partners

66 Grabarski, Sam – Minneapolis Downtown Council

67 Halloran, Patrick – Wayzata Investment Partners

68 Hawkins, William – Medtronic

69 Heffelfinger, Thomas – Best & Flanagan

70 Helgeson, Michael – Gold’n Plump Poultry

71 Hemsley, Stephen – UnitedHealth Group

72 Herkert, Craig – Supervalu

73 Hewitt, Bradford – Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

74 Himle, John – Himle Horner

75 Hinderaker, John – Faegre & Benson

76 Hogan, Randall J. – Pentair

77 Holmes, Gary – CSM Corporation

78 Hopp, Deborah – MSP Communications

79 Hotchkiss, Philip – BigCharts

80 Hubbard, Stanley S. – Hubbard Broadcasting

81 Humphrey, Jim – Andersen Corporation

82 Jacobs, Irwin – Jacobs Trading Company

83 Jaeger, Doug – Adolfson & Peterson

84 Johnson, John D. – CHS

85 Johnson, B. Kristine – Affinity Capital Management

86 Joly, Hubert – Carlson

87 Kane, Jean – Welsh Companies

88 Kaplan, Sam – Kaplan Strangis& Kaplan

89 Kelley, Douglas – Kelley Wolter & Scott

90 Kelly, Richard – Xcel Energy

91 Khanna, Gopal – Office of EnterpriseTechnology

92 Kierlin, Robert – Fastenal Company

93 Kling, William – Minnesota Public Radio

94 Klingensmith, MichaelStar Tribune

95 Kocherlakota, Narayana – Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

96 Kolar, James – PricewaterhouseCoopers

97 Koneck, John – Fredrikson & Byron

98 Kotula, Donald – Northern Tool & Equipment

99 Kraemer, Michael – Short Elliott Hendrickson

100 Kurowski, Greg – Periscope

101 Layman, Sandy – Iron Range Resources

102 LeJeune, Michael – Fabcon

103 Leipold, Craig – Minnesota Wild, Minnesota Sports and Entertainment

104 Lescarbeau, Mike – Carmichael Lynch

105 Leuthold, Steven – The Leuthold Group

106 Lewis, Donald – Hamline University School of Law

107 Lindahl, John – Norwest Equity Partners

108 Lindsay, Joy – StarTec Investments

109 Litman, Scott – Magnet 360

110 Lucas, Peggy – Brighton Development

111 Lundberg, Steven – Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner

112 Mackay, Harvey – MackayMitchell Envelope

113 Mallin, Dan – Magnet 360

114 Marvin, Susan – Marvin Windows And Doors

115 McBeth, Daryn – Minnesota Agri-Growth Council

116 McElroy, Dan – MN Dept. of Employment and Economic Development

117 McNerney, Peter – Thomas McNerney & Partners

118 Meshbesher, Ronald – Meshbesher and Spence

119 Mezile, Harold – YMCA of Metropolitan Minneapolis

120 Mingo, Guy – Marsden Holding

121 Mitchell, Patricia – Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

122 Mondale, Walter – Dorsey & Whitney

123 Mooty, John – Gray Plant Mooty

124 Morfitt, Martha – River Rock Partners, Airborne

125 Morgan, Thomas G. – Faegre & Benson

126 Mortenson, M. A. “Mort” – M. A. Mortenson Company

127 Nath, Mahendra – Nath Companies

128 Nelson, Russ – Nelson Tietz & Hoye

129 Ngo, Viet – Lemna International

130 Nitzsche, Randy G. – Northland Securities

131 Norback, David – RSP Architects

132 Noseworthy, John – Mayo Clinic

133 Offutt, Ron – R. D. Offutt Company

134 Olseth, Dale – SurModics

135 Olson, John – Olson

136 Opperman, Vance – Key Investment

137 Page, Gregory – Cargill

138 Patel, Kal – Best Buy Company

139 Patrick, Stephen – BWBR Architects

140 Paulus, Kenneth – Allina Hospitals and Clinics

141 Perkins, Richard “Perk” – Perkins Capital Management

142 Peyton, Whitney – CB Richard Ellis (CBRE)

143 Phillips, Edward J. – Talenti Gelato E Sorbetto

144 Pohlad, Jim – Twins Sports, Inc.

145 Powell, Kendall – General Mills

146 Prokopanko, James – Mosaic Company

147 Rechelbacher, Horst – Intelligent Nutrients

148 Remele, Lewis – Bassford Remele

149 Roberts, Phil – Parasole Restaurant Holdings

150 Roche, William – RSM McGladrey

151 Rolnick, Arthur J. – Federal Reserve Bank

152 Ronning, Joel – Digital River

153 Rosen, Thomas – Rosen’s Diversified

154 Rubin, Kate – Minnesota High Tech Association

155 Russomanno, Frank P. – Imation Corporation

156 Schoenecker, Guy – BI

157 Schram, Lee – Deluxe Corporation

158 Schulze, Richard – Best Buy Company

159 Shank, Stephen – Capella Education Company

160 Sheffert, Mark – Manchester Companies

161 Short, Marianne – Dorsey & Whitney

162 Sit, Roger J. – Sit Investment Associates

163 Smith, Sally – Buffalo Wild Wings

164 Smith, Kevin – Minnesota Opera

165 Soran, Phil – Compellent Technologies

166 Spell, William – Spell Capital Partners

167 Spong, Doug – Carmichael Lynch Spong

168 St. Peter, Dave – Minnesota Twins

169 Starks, Daniel J. – St. Jude Medical

170 Stassen, David – Split Rock Partners

171 Steiner, James – Lowry Hill Private Asset Management

172 Steinhafel, Gregg – Target Corporation

173 Stillman, David – Bridgeworks

174 Stofer, Boyd – Marquette Real Estate Group

175 Stout, John – Fredrikson & Byron

176 Sweeney, Michael – Goldner Hawn Johnson& Morrison

177 Switz, Robert – ADC Telecommunications

178 Tandon, Rajiv – Adayana

179 Tattersfield, Michael – Caribou Coffee

180 Taylor, Glen – Minnesota Timberwolves; Taylor Corporation

181 Taylor, Jean – Taylor Corporation

182 Tennant, Melvin – Meet Minneapolis

183 Tilford, David – Medica

184 Tobin, William – Cresa Partners

185 Tunheim, Kathy – Tunheim Partners

186 Vänskä, Osmo – Minnesota Orchestra

187 Viere, Gordon – LarsonAllen

188 Villafana, Manny – Kips Bay Medical

189 Viso, Olga – Walker Art Center

190 Volpi, Michele – H. B. Fuller Company

191 Wahlstrom, Dale – The Biobusiness Allianceof Minnesota

192 Wallin, Winston – Wallin Foundation

193 Walters, Tom – Grant Thornton

194 Weaver, Charlie – Minnesota Business Partnership

195 Wehrenberg, Steve – Campbell Mithun

196 Werbalowsky, Jeffrey – Houlihan Lokey

197 Wiehoff, John – C. H. Robinson Worldwide

198 Wilf, Zygmunt “Zygi” – Minnesota Vikings

199 Wilgers, John – Ernst & Young

200 York, William – AgriBank