On the street

• Apol’s was awarded Harley-Davidson Motor Company’s Silver Bar and Shield Circle of Achievement Award for the North Plains region based on their motorcycle and related product sales performance, an evaluation of customer service and satisfaction, and various operational measures.

“One of the reasons the Harley-Davidson brand has such tremendous customer loyalty is because of the efforts of dealers such as Apol’s,” said Mike Kennedy, Harley-Davidson’s vice president of North America Sales. “We’re really proud to have Apol’s as part of the Harley-Davidson family.”

Apol’s Harley-Davidson has been in business in Raymond for 38 years and in Alexandria for six years. Apol’s has earned the Bar and Shield award an industry leading 15 times.

• Barb Ostrander has joined The Competitive Edge as a marketing consultant partner. Ostrander’s focus will be to expand the company’s strategic marketing and implementation support for businesses in addition to facilitating growth opportunities through leadership development. Prior to joining The Competitive Edge, Ostrander spent 11 years in the wireless industry as a senior marketing professional for Rural Cellular Corporation and later Verizon Wireless. Most recently she headed up marketing for Diversicom, a broadband company.

Ostrander has a nearly 20 years of experience in marketing to consumers and businesses with expertise in brand development and strategic planning. She continues to offer leadership to various organizations in her community of Glenwood.

• Paula Jackson of RE/MAX Lakes Area Realty in Alexandria was recently recognized as a Top Agent by RE/MAX North Central.

She earned a place on the Top 100 list of Minnesota agents, based on commissions and transactions in a single year.

Jackson ranked number 58 in 2010 year-end commissions for individuals and number 68 in 2010 year-end transactions for individuals, among more than 1,200 RE/MAX Associates in Minnesota.

In addition, Jackson was recently honored by being named to the RE/MAX North Central 100 Percent Club. As the fourth highest regional honor for sales in a single year, only 18 percent of RE/MAX Associates in Minnesota achieved the 100 percent level.

Jackson has been a licensed real estate agent since 1978 and has been with RE/MAX since 1999. She services Alexandria and its surrounding communities and currently holds her GRI (Graduate, REALTOR Institute), ABR (Accredited Buyer’s Representative), CRS (Certified Residential Specialist), and CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Expert) designations.

• Gary Desha of Alexandria recently joined AFLAC, the number-one provider of guaranteed renewable insurance with more than 450,000 United States payroll accounts. AFLAC is also a Fortune 500 company with assets exceeding $80 billion, insuring more than 50 million people worldwide.

• Time Well Spent of Alexandria welcomes Haylee Gibson to their staff. Gibson has been in the hair industry for seven years. She got her education at MSCTC in Wadena. She specializes in cutting and coloring and recently attended advanced education classes in St. Paul and learned the newest trends in cutting and coloring.

Gibson is taking new clients and walk-ins Wednesday through Friday. She can be reached at (320) 763-4468.

• Mary Nielson, a certified lash extensionist, will be offering extension services at Hair A’La More, 209 6th Avenue in Alexandria. Nielson was trained and certified by Mary Jane Dana with Lavish Lash in Riverside, California in 2010 and has been specializing in extensions since. Eyelash extensions are a semi-permanent technique for thicker, longer and natural looking lashes without mascara. Individual synthetic lashes are permanently bonded to your natural lash and last three to six weeks between fills. They are water resistant and require minimal maintenance.

• A book signing by author Vernal Lind will be held Saturday, April 30 from noon to 2 p.m. at Cherry Street Books, 503 Broadway in Alexandria.

Lind’s new novel, Beyond the Darkness, is the third in his historic fiction trilogy about the Anderson family and their rural Minnesota farm. Set during the World War II era, the books tell of a country and a way of life undergoing tremendous changes. Strong family values and faith are tested as the Andersons struggle to adapt to a new way of life.

The first two books in Lind’s series are Beyond Those Hills and Beyond the Storm. A former high school English teacher in several communities including Hoffman, Lind is now retired and lives in Battle Lake.

Tags: on the street, business