On the Street - July 6, 2012

• Politics in Minnesota and the Capitol Report have announced that Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen has won an award for the 2012 Leaders in Public Policy in the business category.

Ingebrigtsen is receiving the award along with Representative Dan Fabian and Jeff Smith of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for their work in modifying environmental review requirements.

A program recognizing honorees will be held Tuesday, July 10 at the St. Paul Hotel from 4 to 7 p.m. The event is sponsored by the law firm Best and Flanagan.

Ingebrigtsen resides in Alexandria and was first elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2006.

Politics in Minnesota and the Capitol Report are media outlets covering state politics and public policy. The Capitol Report is the only independent newspaper dedicated to covering the Minnesota Legislature, state politics and public policy. Politics in Minnesota is Minnesota’s premiere public affairs news service. Both are owned by Finance and Commerce Inc. of Minneapolis.

For more information, visit politicsinminnesota.com/2012/06/leaders-in-public-policy-award-winners-announced/.

• Kim Roering, president of the Alexandria Jaycees, is proud to announce that the organization donated a total of $14,500 to 10 local area food shelves in March during food share month, including $5,500 to the Outreach Food Shelf in Alexandria. The Alexandria Jaycees also sponsored the April 26 United Way Food Drop with a donation of $2,500.

The Alexandria Jaycees are a local service organization that promotes community involvement and individual development. They also coordinate the annual Jingle Bells Telethon that provides food and toys annually to more than 1,000 local families in need.

Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. Visit www.alexjaycees.com for additional information about the organization’s activities, events or how to become a member.

• Sam Wagner, director of advanced manufacturing at Donnelly, shared some of his Lean manufacturing expertise at the annual Training Within Industry (TWI) Summit held May 15-16 in Orlando, Florida.

TWI is a segment of Lean manufacturing that supplies management with the critical leadership and analytical skills to help create a culture of sustainable, daily continuous improvement.. This approach has proven to be highly effective in producing improvements in safety, quality, cost, delivery and productivity.

Wagner is recognized as an expert in Lean techniques, speaking and writing frequently on TWI, mistake proofing and other practices. At the TWI Summit, Wagner led a breakout session titled “Role of the Champion for Improvement,” focusing on the need to have a particular employee step up and play the role of the champion to sustain the gains of TWI.

Based in Alexandria, Donnelly’s 220 employees are dedicated to setting the standards in the custom injection-molding marketplace for “How Short Run Is Done.” The company’s focus is on providing its OEM customers with value added engineering and highly customized manufacturing and customer support services. Visit www.donnmfg.com to learn more.

• Terry Anderson, regional sales coordinator with AFLAC, recently qualified for the 2012 1st Quarter Founders Award for Management Excellence. Anderson has been with AFLAC for nine years and his sales team covers 24 counties in northwest Minnesota.

AFLAC is the number-one provider of guaranteed renewable insurance with more than 450,000 U.S. payroll accounts. AFLAC is also a Fortune 500 company with assets exceeding $80 billion, insuring more than 50 million people worldwide.

The AFLAC regional office is located at 507 North Nokomis NE Suite 203 in Alexandria.

• The Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians held its annual spring refresher at the Minneapolis Convention Center on April 26 and 27. Close to 400 family physicians gathered for the biggest continuing medical education session for family doctors in the state of Minnesota.

Bruce Wymore, MD, who practices in Alexandria, attended the refresher. The conference gives family physicians, family medicine residents and medical students the opportunity to learn about trends in caring for patients and their families.

The Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians is a professional association of about 3,000 family physicians, family medicine residents and medical students organized to assist family physicians in providing quality medical care in Minnesota.

• Katrina Pierson was named a partner and principal at HBH Consultants in February 2012.

In her role at HBH Consultants, Pierson specializes in donor communications and is enthusiastic about engaging a new generation of givers through social media and online giving.

Before joining HBH as a senior associate in 2010, she served as the director of development for the Great River Educational Arts Theatre. Since then, she has worked with more than 20 organizations to enhance their fundraising and communications efforts.

Pierson graduated magna cum laude from St. Cloud State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing and mass communications. She currently serves as chair of the Central Minnesota Sustainability Project and is on the board of directs for the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and Social Innovation. In addition, she is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

“We are delighted for Katrina to become a shareholder with HBH,” said Bob Bunger, founding partner and principal. “She is a remarkably talented professional who has played a significant role in helping our clients since joining the firm.”

Founded in 1997, HBH Consultants is a full-service consulting firm that helps to advance the work of not-for-profits. The firm’s core service areas include philanthropy, capacity building and communications.

• Al Sholts, COO at Alexandria Industries, received the Volunteer of the Year award during the Aluminum Extruders Council annual meeting March 17.

Sholts has served for more than 10 years on the Technical Services Committee, chairing that committee since 2006. He is also an original member of the Business Excellence Steering Committee and leads the Webinars Advisory Team.

The Aluminum Extruders Council is an international association dedicated to helping manufacturers, engineers, architects and others to discover why aluminum extrusion is the preferred material process for better products.

• Scott and Wendy Snyder of TruGreen Lawn Care received the Franchise of the Year award for outstanding service, growth and retention. In addition to the award, they have been one of the top five candidates for the past six consecutive years.

With more than 20 years in the business, their customer-focused approach delivers innovative, market-leading technology and products that provide high levels of performance, customer adoption and satisfaction.

The TruGreen Company leads in the development of new technology for lawn and landscape care. Substantial resources are devoted to evaluating new products and equipment and developing better methods for taking care of grass, trees and shrubs. A few of the services they provide include fertilization and weed control.

• Holly Thoennes of Garfield has become an independent consultant with Tastefully Simple Inc., a national direct sales company featuring more than 60 easy-to-prepare foods.

Thoennes offers food samples at home taste-testing parties, along with ideas for everyday meals, recipes and serving suggestions. All of Tastefully Simple’s products are open-and-enjoy or can be prepared by adding only one or two ingredients.

For more information about Tastefully Simple products or taste-testing parties, contact Thoennes at hollysatt@gctel.net.

• Mona and William Schultz of Alexandria were promoted to the Herbalife President’s Team as independent distributors. They have been with the company since April 1998.

The President’s Team is one of the company’s most prestigious designations for its distributors.

The Shultzes are now eligible to earn bonuses based on their sales volume and a trip to the company’s global headquarters in Los Angeles, California.

“Being a part of the Herbalife family has been such a rewarding and fulfilling career move,” said Mona.

Herbalife is one of the largest nutrition and direct selling companies. It has more than 2 million independent distributers conducting business in 82 countries.

For more information, visit www.herbalife.com.

• Nate Larson of the financial services firm Edward Jones in Alexandria recently won the firm’s Edward Jones Sr. Founders Award for his exceptional achievement in building client relationships.

“It’s truly an honor to be recognized for building relationships with those clients we serve,” said Larson. “And it is also quite inspirational to receive an award named after a firm legend such as Edward Jones Sr., who was so innovative and recognized the need for quality financial advice for long-term individual investors.”

The award is named after Edward Jones Sr., who founded the firm in 1922 under the principle that financial advisors should be treated as business partners rather than employees.

“Nate’s success hinges on his ability to know and understand the financial needs and goals of his clients, long-term individual investors,” said Jim Weddle, the firm’s managing partner. “Our clients most appreciate recommendations tailored to their situations and the high level of personal service Nate provides.”

Edward Jones provides financial services for individual investors in the United States and through its affiliate in Canada. The firm’s business is designed to cater to individual investors in the communities in which they live and work. Edward Jones is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

Tags: business