 BEVCOMM gives back to the community
Faribault County Register
By Antonio Acosta
Register Staff Writer
Philanthropy and capitalism.
Two works you wouldn't think could be used in the same sentence.
After all, the primary objective of a business is to make money - not give it away.
Unless the company is BEVCOMM (Blue Earth Valley Communications) in Blue Earth.
"I think we owe BEVCOMM some gratitude for that," Wells Mayor Shannon Savick told the council at their last meeting.
She was referring to a $5,000 grant the company gave the city to help clean up an abandoned trailer park.
The money was made available through the BEVCOMM Foundation started about a year and half ago.
It cost around $35,000 to clean up the trailer park, with the county and city splitting the bill.
City Administrator Jeremy Germann says he became aware of possible funding from BEVCOMM by word-of-mouth.
"With the tight budget and cuts, it's going to help a lot," he says. "It's a great program for all cities in the county not just Wells."
Bill Eckles, president and CEO of the telecommunications company, says non-profit, public governmental organizations may apply for funding.
"This area has be... Tuesday, 27 April 2010 READ MORE
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TWO INTO 'ONE'
Faribault County Register
Story and Photos By Chuck Hunt
Register Editor
April 26, 2010
Two Blue Earth real estate firms were recently merged into one business. The key word being 'one.' In fact, it is going to be renamed ONE Realty, it was announced last week. Olson Realty and Nelson Realty are both being purchased by Kara Drake and Cornelia Hagedorn, two real estate agents from the former Olson Realty.
"Our new name is a play on words, combining the 'O' from Olson Realty and the 'NE' from Nelson," co-owner Kara Drake says. Underneath the ONE Realty name they are still going to use Olson-Nelson, Inc., as part of their legal business name.
Cornelia Hagedorn adds that the word ONE also signifies their aim at joining the two operations into one real estate agency.
The two new owners say that all the of the staff at both of the two offices are going to remain in place. That includes the five real estate agents from each of Olson and Nelson offices.
Drake and Hagedorn purchased Olson Realty from Kitty Fletcher and Carey Weber. The bought Nelson Realty from Kendal Skaare.
"They ... Monday, 26 April 2010 READ MORE
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W'bago's Brickhouse Pizza opening branch in Kiester
Faribault County Register
by Antonio Acosta, Register Staff Writer
Posted: November 2, 2009
Bake it and they will come.
Brickhouse Pizza has been such a big success in Winnebago that owner Mike Baumann has decided to open another location.
This time he's heading to the eastern part of the county -- Main Street in Kiester.
Bauman recently puchased the Maple Cafe building, which has been vacant for three years.
"It'll be completely gutted out. You won't recognize it when you see it next time," he says.
On Monday, Baumann and Paul Larson were beginning a remodeling project to transform the old restaurant into a pizza parlor.
For the two-man crew it was a week of several 10-hour days.
"We'll have it ready to open sometime during the first week in November," Baumann says.
The new Brickhouse Pizza place will have a similar look to the one in Winnebago. It will have a seating capacity of 50.
Although Kiester is a town of less than 600 people, Baumann thinks there are enough residents in the surrounding area to support the business.
"This is another area that has never ... Monday, 26 April 2010 READ MORE
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 SMS Opens Doors to Public by SARAH DAY, SENTINEL Staff Writer; Published April 1, 2009
WINNEBAGO - Southern Minnesota Signs is taking a new approach to business.
The Winnebago screen printer has expanded - into the former grocery store building on Main Street - and is opening to the public.
Previously, the company only printed apparel via contract with schools, colleges and businesses. Now, anyone can order a custom screen-printed shirt.
Mike Baumann has owned the business with his wife, Tammy, for 24 years.
"We started with a manual press," he said. "We used to print 100 shirts a day. Now we wreck more shirts in a day than we used to print."
The shop can print 60,000 shirts in an eight-hour shift. Baumann declined to say exactly how many it does print.
However, he bills the shop as the largest screen printer in the state, although he isn't sure where it ranks nationally.
Baumann believes students are getting the short end of the stick when they buy apparel with school designs. So his doors are now open for them to place orders at a significantly reduced price.
"Kids ... Monday, 27 April 2009 READ MORE
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 Business diagnosing success
By SARAH DAY
SENTINEL Staff Writer
Published February 26, 2009
BLUE EARTH - In a few short years, the urine drug test manufacturer Express Diagnostics International has turned into a success story.
Paul Johnson, vice president and co-owner, said a group of the company's distributors took a chance on the failing, then California-based company.
"The opportunity came up for us to buy the company because of mismanagement by the previous (ow... Thursday, 26 February 2009 READ MORE
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