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BUSINESS
| 2024 BUSINESS TRADITIONS | H1
TRADITIONS
Roll of Honor 2024 A BRAINERD DISPATCH & ECHO JOURNAL PUBLICATION WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2024
SPORTLAND OUTDOOR OUTFITTERS
Nisswa cornerstone is a family endeavor
Tom Fraki / Echo Journal
From left are Jason and Elizabeth Erlandson, and Jason’s father, Dave Erlandson, behind the counter at Sportland Outdoor Outfitters in Nisswa. Dave Erlandson started Dave’s Sportland in 1979 on the other side of Highway 371.
Dave’s Sportland has been a Nisswa fixture since 1976
F
By Tom Fraki Echo Journal Nisswa
or nearly 50 years, Dave’s Sportland has provided the lakes area with local expertise when it comes to bait and tackle, boat storage, water rentals and outdoor goods. Dave Erlandson, who started Dave’s Sportland, and his son, Jason, see their business as filling a void in central Minnesota for specialty outdoor equipment that other stores might not have. “I don’t know how many times I hear people come in and say, ‘Finally, a store that carries some of this stuff,’” Dave said. Jason said the personal connection to families and the community is both one of the keys to their success and one of the more rewarding parts of their business. “You get a kind of personal connection to the people you’re dealing with on a regular basis, which is kind of fun because you get to watch families grow up. They go from being kids to being adults to having their own families and
72 Years St. Thomas of the Pines Catholic Chapel 11395 Pine Beach Peninsula Rd, East Gull Lake 218-822-4040 www.BrainerdCatholic.org
boat rentals, offer over 65,000 square feet of indoor boat storage, winterizing services, bait and tackle and a wide variety of outdoor gear.
advertisement listing a rental company for sale. “I bought a St. Paul Pioneer Press Sunday paper. I never buy it,
but for whatever reason I bought it. And I was reading through the business for sale section and there was a little, tiny ad for a rental business,” he said. From there, that business purchase acted as a springboard for building a much larger rental company. After more than 30 years of the Erlandsons doing business out of the Dave’s Sportland location, they finished construction and moved into their newest location across Highway 371 last winter, operating as Sportland Outdoor Outfitters. Now, in 2024, Sportland Outdoor Outfitters and its subsequent Sportland brands provide pontoon, personal watercraft and
78 Years
77 Years
74 Years
24428 Smiley Road, Nisswa
BILLIE BROWN POST 627 25807 MAIN ST, NISSWA, MN (218) 963-9946 NISSWALEGION.COM
bringing them back,” Jason said.
History
In 1976, Dave Erlandson leased half of a gas station located about two miles south of downtown Nisswa where he began selling bait and tackle. “The owner of the property, Arnie Moores, owned several gas stations, restaurants, stuff like that and he had the gas station and I leased the other half of that building,” Dave said. In 1981, Dave bought a boat for personal use and stored it at the fairgrounds. After convincing some friends to do the same, boat storage became another facet of the Sportland business. “I stored my boat out at the fairgrounds for 50 bucks. So I talked two buddies into storing their boats out there for $75 each, and I was able to get my boat paid for. So that was my master plan,” Dave said. After purchasing and redoing a building across County Road 13 from his original location in 1989, Dave moved his business to set up Dave’s
69 Years
Trap, Skeet, 5-Stand, Rifle and Pistol Ranges
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Located across from Mt. Ski Gull at
9911 Country Rd. 77, Nisswa
We’re established in what we want to do, and we want to do that well. As our children come into the business, they might decide they have different ideas for growth. - Jason Erlandson Sportland. By chance, in the winter of 19951996, Dave saw an
98 Years
Serving The Brainerd Lakes Area
218-828-1268
Nisswa, MN
800-322-3525 | info@nisswadock.com
65 Years
60 Years
Open from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
contact@lakesareashootingsports.com www.lakesareashootingsports.com
56 Years
38 Years 37
26 Years
218-963-4003
59 Years
Dave’s son, Jason, and daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, have now taken on a share of running the business, and their own children have also gotten involved. “We have our own children that are teenagers, so they help us out,” Jason said. “We have my brotherin-law, James, too. He’s a key person in our business, and he seems to be wellliked by people. He’s
DAVE’S SPORTLAND: Page 7
25532 Murray Rd. Nisswa, MN 56468 218-963-0085
58 Years
218-963-2575
5064 County Road 13 – Schaefer’s Corner PO Box 29, Nisswa, MN 56468 Website: lccnisswa.org Email: lcc@lccnisswa.org Phone: 218-963-2564
For more information
www.NISSWADOCK.com
Family
800-247-6573
23590 Smiley Rd., Nisswa
Nisswa, MN
www.kurilla.com
www.vikinglabel.com
26 Years
18 Years
218-963-7333
5446 LAKERS LANE DOWNTOWN NISSWA 218-963-4361
6 Years
LIVING SAVIOR LUTHERAN CHURCH 8327 Interlachen Road, Lake Shore, MN 56468
Rori Stumvoll 4436 Lower Roy Lake Rd Nisswa, MN 56468 218-838-8898 stumvollex@gmail.com
218-963-7470
22386 State Hwy 371 S 218-963-7470
“Better Boards, Better Service”
22386 State Hwy 371 S
“Better Boards, Better Service”
Pontoons • Jet Skis Fish/Ski Boats • Fish Houses
Rev. Dr. Richard J.M. Hans: (218) 821-2751 Office Phone: (218) 963-9733 livingsavlor@gmail.com doctri901@nisswa.net LivingSaviorChurch.org
8105 Lost Lake Rd, Lake Shore, MN 56468 218-963-4790 zorbaz.com
218-963-7700 @ Love Lake Boating Season:
Gull-Love Lake Marina: 19571 Love Lake Rd, Brainerd
Winter Season:
4758 County Rd. 77, Nisswa
218-963-6724
25559 Main St. • Nisswa, MN
www.mainstreetnisswa.com
H2 | 2024 BUSINESS TRADITIONS | Wednesday, January 31, 2024 | ECHO JOURNAL/BRAINERD DISPATCH
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Cindy Rieck and her dog, Calvin, stand by the Pequot Lakes Physical Therapy sign on Government Drive on Jan. 4, soon after Rieck officially sold the building she built and owned for 38 years. Nancy Vogt / Echo Journal
PEQUOT LAKES PHYSICAL THERAPY SERVICES
After 38 years, Pequot Lakes’ first physical therapist closes doors
C
52 Years
4285 W Lake St, Pequot Lakes, MN
(218) 568-8521
www.pineandlakes.com
33 Years
122 Years
101 Years
www.fnbnorth.com
Since 1902
Hwy 371
Pine River, MN
218-587-2900
88 Years
7 7 Years
59 Years
A business opens
Gardiner’s 218-587-2585
Downtown Pine River
PEQUOT LAKES AMERICAN LEGION
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50 Years
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41 Years
C-B HOUSE MOVERS
...and our business is still picking up!
Pine River Dairy Queen 306 Front Street South Pine River, MN 56474 218-587-4762
33 Years Christopher Clasen, CPA Susan Schiessl, CPA Jane Erickson, CPA
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www.lakesareacpas.com Tax Preparation
14 Years 11
Call me today for your free estimate
Pequot Lakes + Baxter
Jeremy Woodwick
218-821-1800
FRASER – NELSON POST 613 218-587-9151 • Hwy. 371, Pine River • Bar Open at Noon Mon-Sun
Pine River American Legion Post 613
400 Front St,
Pine River, MN 56474 218-587-9151
HWY. 371 & CR 16 Jenkins, MN
218-568-8353 www.apinerestaurant.com
41 Years
34 Years
STATE CERTIFIED–BONDED–INSURED
CROW WING AUTO BODY & TOWING
FREE HALL RENTAL TO NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
RAYMOND SCHRUPP Located at: 1529 36th Ave SW Backus
29313 Patriot Ave Pequot Lakes, MN 56472
218-568-8241
www.SchruppExcavating.com
218-587-4038
218-568-4343
33 Years
27 Years
24 Years
18 Years
Jerry Campbell
LICENSED AND INSURED
Ideal Sharpening Complete Sharpening Service
Current Owner of 14 Years
“3rd Generation Family-Owned”
218-587-2250 3874 16th Street SW Backus, MN 56435
Government Drive, Pequot Lakes (218) 568-8771 www.saloncouturemn.com
14 Years
14 Years
Chris Wohlers
PO Box 49 Pine River 56474
A
DOUBLE AUTOMOTIVE
o
Residential / Commercial Trash and Recycling Collection Proudly Serving the entire Lakes Area:
Terry & Denny Aleckson
587-8727 (Pequot Lakes/Pine River) 692-8727 (Crosslake/Fifty Lakes) 824-8727 (Baxter/Brainerd) www.wastepartnersinc.com
218-587-2558
8 Years
3 Years
1389 St 84 SW Pine River, MN
nema
30581 Patriot Avenue Pequot Lakes, MN 56472
218-568-5001 pequotlakessupervalu.com
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a businessman in St. Paul, and it’s because of his knowledge about business and my wanting to take advantage of that that I came to Pequot,” Rieck said. “And he had already done all the research about how the area was growing. “The year before I came up here, I met with several doctors between
GARDINER’S HARDWARE HANK
P.O. Box 90 - 30954 Government Drive Pequot Lakes P.O. Box 197 - 214 Minnesota Ave N Aitkin
18 Years
Rieck earned her physical therapy degree from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 1979. She worked at the U of M for six years after graduation before embarking on her career
as a business owner. She was familiar with Pequot Lakes because her family had camped in the area before buying a cabin on Upper Hay Lake in 1967. Her parents later sold the cabin after buying a lot two doors down, building a home and moving here permanently in 1979. Rieck lives in that home now. “My dad had been
3 Businesses In One Convenient Location
– 3 Generations –
Barnum’s Auto Parts
with the education cooperative to help kids from birth to age 21 since just a few years after she opened her doors Oct. 14, 1985.
c.
Pequot Lakes indy Rieck will always be proud that she was the first physical therapist to open a practice in Pequot Lakes. But that doesn’t make it any less emotional when, after 38 years in business at Pequot Lakes Physical Therapy Services, she sold her building at the north end of Government Drive and closed her clinic. “I dislike the thought of not being able to
& Wellness, also on Government Drive, in 2022. Rieck will keep the Pequot Lakes Physical Therapy Services business name as she continues to work on a smaller scale with the Paul Bunyan Education Cooperative, working with kids in Pine RiverBackus, Pequot Lakes and Crosslake. She’s had a contract
Su
In
By Nancy Vogt Echo Journal
keep helping people. It’s rewarding to help people,” Rieck said Jan. 4, wiping away tears. That was two days after she closed on the sale of her building to Seth and Danielle Sazama, both doctors of chiropractic. They own Sazama Family Chiropractic & Wellness, with locations in Baxter, as well as Pequot Lakes after they acquired Hopkins Health
St
Rieck sells building, but will continue working on a smaller scale
r veyin
g,
30206 Rasmussen Road, Suite #1 Pequot Lakes, MN 56472
218-568-4940
Non-Profit Animal Rescue and Shelter that dedicates its services to the Brainerd Lakes area and beyond. 2825 76th ST SW, Pequot Lakes MN 218-568-7387 www.babinskifoundation.org
4552 MAIN ST, PEQUOT LAKES, MN 56472 GEEK2GOMN.COM
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ECHO JOURNAL/BRAINERD DISPATCH | Wednesday, January 31, 2024
| 2024 BUSINESS TRADITIONS | H3 Kristy Miller is the latest owner of the Pine River Bakery where she continues producing old favorites and new delights. Echo Journal File Photos
Henry and Ariel Krecklau are the new owners of Pine River’s fitness center, 218 Fitness.
PINE RIVER
The future looks bright along Barclay Avenue City’s main street has a long and successful history Pine River ardiner, Griep, Silbaugh, Rohr, Anderson, Bueckers, Shamp, Amy, Allen and Hill. In Pine River, these names are virtually synonymous with the city’s businesses, particularly along Barclay Avenue. Today, few remain, after these important characters in Pine River’s history have grown older and either died or retired. In spite of this, some might say Barclay Avenue is more lively than it has been in years. What those pioneers in the community did years before, a new generation of business owners has stepped in to continue, and the future for the city looks promising. Some buildings passed from hand to hand without ever totally
closing. Sheri Lillich, daughter of Pine River business owners Roger and Wendy Hoplin, joined Pine River’s hair care community upon opening AC Hair Co. in the spring of 2023 in the former showroom of Sheldon Masonry. Only five years prior, Janel Andrus joined the salon community by purchasing her salon, Shear Grace, from Leigh Metcalf. Though Steve Norman had to close his 46-year business, Pine River Carpet, in 2023, Emalee and Sam Hedberg bought the building almost immediately as a new base of operations for their business, ServPro. Similarly, when Bonnie Eller left Cozy Cottage Cafe in 2023, it passed on to Jana Johnson, who reopened it as The Barclay, embracing both the street name and Pine River’s history. Pine River has long had a bakery, though it has changed hands several times in its over 100 years of history. Most recently, Kristy Miller took the reins, wowing locals with classics like the sawdust roll and new treats like the salted nut roll doughnut. The former Griep’s Jewelry, which was also the town’s resident
111 Years
99 Years
By Travis Grimler Echo Journal
G
is home to Pine River Ink under Kenny Charpentier. A former funeral home became Lifehouse Coffee in 2016 after Riverview Church purchased the property. The former Dark Cravings Coffee shop is home to Serenity Now Yarn and Alpaca Shop under Esther Endicott. In 2019, Pine River’s Essentia Health clinic building by Norway Brook Dam closed once the more advanced facility was built on the opposite end of Barclay Avenue. The building remained empty until 2021, when Kristina Robert Walton (far right) became the owner of Pine River’s newest dining Britton opened Central establishment with the 2023 opening of Damsite Supper Club. Lakes Dermatology in the building. was built using capital titling business, dropped empty for long, as The new clinic they sold to Sharon funds raised by the the shiny accessories building also resulted and Gavin Gensmer, city’s other business when Mike and Carol in the closure of Lakes who had purchased the owners, changed hands Griep retired in 2014, Pharmacy next door. city’s fitness center and from Tom Walters to selling to Mary Didier. moved it into the former Bill and Sandi Zoldey, Didier sold it to Marion PINE RIVER: Page 7 department store, calling with support of their and Christina Linn, it 218 Fitness. daughter, Tami, in 2017. making them the latest In 2022, the fitness Some Pine River to inherit the titling center got new owners buildings did not business, Pine River and a new name once transition as smoothly DMV, since 1959. In 2018, Pine River said again when young couple to new owners. Some Henry and Ariel Krecklau stood empty before a sad farewell to John purchased it. finding buyers, but even and Jackie (Silbaugh) Less recently, one these are proving to be Wetrosky’s shop on of Pine River’s biggest valuable real estate. Barclay Avenue after symbols of community The former Iron Hills 71 years of tradition. togetherness gained Jackie’s family ran the Gun and Pawn is now 218-546-5029 new owners. Pine store as Silbaugh’s home to Emily Rader’s www.c-icourier.com Department Store. River’s community Black Sheep Designs. It did not remain bowling alley, which A former bookstore
113 Years
88 Years
57 Years
54 Years
NEW OWNERSHIP
Jeremy Janzen Auctioneer/Broker Janzen Auctioneers / Cummings Janzen Realty
3855 Independence Rd, Baxter Phone: 218-829-5798
218-927-4488 or 218-851-0879 14 1st street NW Aitkin, MN 56431
37568 County Road 66, Crosslake Phone: 218-692-3101
www.cummingsjanzen.com www.midwestauctions.com/janzen www.janzenauctions.com
www.simonson-lumber.com Toll Free: 800-266-6037
4 3 Years Years 40
41 Years B E ST G O L
THE
sen Pre
ERD THE BRABRAIN INERDLAKES LAKES 201
ted
OURSE
VOTE
#1
9
2019
ch by pat the B rainerd Dis
Sandy Strom-Gieseke
218-838-7006
stromgieseke@gmail.com
AVON.com/repstore/sstrom
23 Years 19 Your area Pharmacist since 2001
1-800-637-4117 WWW.BEAUDRYOIL.COM
22 Years
It is all about Fun on the Golf Course 1 mi. west of Emily on Co Rd 1 (218) 763-2169 ‘Voted #1 Course - 2018 & 2019!!’
www.emilygreens.com
19 Years
Your Complete Fence Contractor CLOW STAMPING COMPANY
Jag Interior Solutions 35762 County Road 3 Crosslake, MN 56442
• Metal Stamping • Fabrication • Weldments & Assemblies
218-839-2349 jaginteriorsolutions.net
Merrifield, MN (218) 765-3111 www.clowstamping.com
Serving the Brainerd Lakes Area
WURDEMAN CABINET CO.
HIGH GRADE WOOD PRODUCTS
Independent Sales Representative
PO Box 1382 Lake Hubert, MN 56459
(We bring the show room to you)
41 Years FC
D
4 4 Years
Arlean’s Drapery & Window Treatments
DESIGNED, BUILT & INSTALLED Crosslake, MN
(218) 692-3772 19 Years
32 Years PUTNAM
Registered Pharmacist Crosslake Town Square • 218-692-2502
34420 County Road 3 · Crosslake NorthlandPetLodge.com stay@northlandpetlodge.com
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34650 CR 3, Crosslake
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27 Years
• Free Estimates • 39 Years of Experience -Installation of New Hardwood Flooring
- Sanding & Finishing of New and Existing Hardwood Floors - Residential and Commercial
Adam Putnam 218-330-7851 Larry Putnam 218-746-3828 Serving Central and Northern Minnesota
17 Years
ON SITE REPAIR TOWING & RECOVERY
320-676-3409
1-800-755-3118 218-534-3118 www.obergfence.com
HARDWOOD FLOORS, Inc.
FOR ALL YOUR AUTOMOTIVE NEEDS
Steve Kappes
49 Years
McGregor, Aitkin, Ironton, Brainerd and Motley
218-545-2277
12 Years
and Arlean’s Drapery
Julie Gowen | Owner/Designer
218.692.4521 jaginteriorsolutions.net
H4 | 2024 BUSINESS TRADITIONS | Wednesday, January 31, 2024 | ECHO JOURNAL/BRAINERD DISPATCH
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Duane Johnson, material lead at Lexington Manufacturing, talks with Kayla Osborn Jan. 9, 2024, on the production line. Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
LEXINGTON MANUFACTURING Employees build a future at one of area’s largest manufacturing firms and processes years as of last June. Business marks machinery Lexington in a choreographed flow Manufacturing is on a scale that produces 25 years in among the largest 2,000 door cores a day. manufacturing firms in The name and the south Brainerd building, on Thiesse Road the Brainerd lakes area, Renee Richardson Brainerd Dispatch
Brainerd onveyor belts move product through Lexington Manufacturing
C
153 Years
in south Brainerd, may be a familiar sight to anyone who attends the Crow Wing County Fair each summer, but less may be known about the business that has called Brainerd home for 25
operating in 140,000 square feet. The company in Brainerd primarily serves the commercial door industry, making fire-rated door components designed to resist fire and smoke
for a designated time period — 45, 60 and 90 minutes. Lexington Manufacturing makes parts and components for the largest door manufacturers in North America. Shawn Long, assistant plant manager, said Lexington’s products may be found in businesses in Brainerd and across the
142 Years
140 Years
135 Years
globe in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. “It’s truly a worldwide company,” Long said. Lexington itself was established in 1981. The company creates engineered wood products used in commercial and firerated doors, furniture, cabinets and stairway components. Duane Johnson
started working with Lexington Manufacturing in Brainerd when the number of people at the location, then at the Northern Pacific Center, could be counted on one hand with fingers left over. That was about 26 years ago. He is the company’s first hourly employee.
134 Years
131 Years
LEXINGTON: Page 5
Trinity Lutheran Church, ELCA St. Francis Catholic Church
409 North 9th Street, Brainerd
506 James Street Brainerd, MN
2024 Fair Dates: July 30 - August 3 P.O. Box 643 BRAINERD, MN 56401
www.BrainerdCatholic.org
829-4705
www.brainerddispatch.com
218-829-6680
122 Years
115 Years
115 Years
218-822-4040
Brainerd
1420 South 6th Street Brainerd MN (218) 829-5147 www.trinitybrainerd.org
Brainerd 829-8781 Baxter 828-5191 Aitkin 927-3794 Member FDIC
crowwingcountyfair.com
107 Years
107 Years
8027 Highland Scenic Rd Baxter MN 56425 218-829-8726
104 Years
Eagles Aerie #287
“Community involvement — people helping people”
218-829-4216
YOUR HOME SOLUTION
817 Juniper Street, Brainerd
702 Industrial Park Rd, Brainerd
11633 MN-18, BRAINERD, MN
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124 Front Street, Brainerd
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Phone 829-9674
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BRAINERD.ISEMANHOMES.COM
102 Years
102 Years
89 Years
87 Years
86 Years
86 Years
218-829-2344
Weizenegger Engel Insurance 15616 Edgewood Drive, Suite 200, BAXTER, MN 56425
84 Years
Brainerd BN Credit Union
Powering the lives of 40,000 members Since 1937
Brainerd Campus 501 West College Drive, Brainerd (218) 855-8000 or 800-933-0346
Toll Free number (800)892-4779
Staples Campus 1830 Airport Road, Staples (218) 894-5100 or 800-247-6836
218-829-4779
829-4721
www.shipmanauto.com
79 Years
78 Years
76 Years
804 Laurel Street, Suite 101 Brainerd, MN 218-829-9065
(218) 829-3585
www.atekcompanies.com
www.klb.cpa
218-829-4719
Years 6366YEARS
65 Years
60 Years
60 Years
309 NW 3rd Street Brainerd, MN 56401
www.clcmn.edu
1711 SE 13th Street Brainerd, MN 56401
218-829-5430 302 5th Avenue NE Suite 4 Brainerd, MN 56401 www.brainerdglass.net Locally Owned Full Service Company
“Member Friendly - Service Driven”
218-829-3278
210 10th Avenue NE Brainerd, MN 56401
Purses, Jackets, Sports Equipment “If you can wear it, we repair it!”
509 Washington St. Brainerd
218-829-2496
74 Years
67 Years
S.T. Monda, O.D. J.J. Hanske, O.D. A.M. Archibald-Swanson, O.D. T.J. Swanson, O.D. M.K. Monda, O.D.
“You’re Locally Owned Backyard Nature and Gift Store”
506 Laurel St., Brainerd
New owners as of July 2017!
218-829-5436
829-0946
516 C St NE, Brainerd, MN
59 Years
55 Years
RESIDENTIAL-COMMERCIAL-INDUSTRIAL
HEATING – VENTILATION – AIR CONDITIONING – COMMERCIAL ROOFING – CUSTOM SHEET METAL
24-HOUR SERVICE 1717 13TH ST. SE. BRAINERD, MN 56401
218.829.1491
Your Area Volkswagen Dealer Since 1959
AUTO IMPORT, INC. 22 WASHINGTON ST. BRAINERD, MN
218-829-3307
WWW.AUTOIMPORTVW.COM
Est. 1964
Covering 6 Counties: Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd and Wadena
www.NPMH.org (320) 639-2025
Colleen Goedker Broker/REALTOR
218-851-3543 BrainerdAreaRealEstate.com
A 55-year tradition of performing arts excellence.
218-855-8199
www.clcperformingarts.com
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ECHO JOURNAL/BRAINERD DISPATCH | Wednesday, January 31, 2024
| 2024 BUSINESS TRADITIONS | H5
LEXINGTON From Page 4
Johnson said his job as a material lead hasn’t changed all that much over the years. He stages material ahead for the machine operators. While the work hasn’t changed as much, technology has and continues to make it easier for employees on the job. “When I first started, we did everything by hand,” Johnson said. “We stacked by hand. We did everything by hand. Now, we push buttons.” The Brainerd plant has 50-70 semitrailers Photos by Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch moving through a week Shawn Long, assistant plant manager, talks about the door cores during a tour with 45,000 pounds Jan. 9, 2024, at Lexington Manufacturing in Brainerd. of material on each of those trucks. Everything is loaded and unloaded inside, protecting the wood products from the weather. Solid door cores move along the conveyor belts and are cut, tongue and grooved, glued, sanded and laminated. The facility uses several thousand gallons of glue a month with the glue arriving in a tanker truck. Door components are put together as stiles and rails are added to the solid door cores where hardware will be mounted later for door knobs or opening and closing arms. Lexington’s fire-rated Kayla Osborn moves product Jan. 9, 2024, at the Lexington Manufacturing doors may end up in Brainerd plant. schools, hospitals or commercial settings. friendly interior, also works with a lot of employees is key for any shows the company’s original equipment business, particularly A job that offers efforts at being efficient manufacturers, Dillon manufacturers. As a career said the company has and focusing on a work those manufacturers Johnson started at done a ton of different environment that people remove labor from their Lexington Manufacturing things over the years to feel good about. processes, it drives on the same day as grow the employee base Technology is evident Lexington’s employee Mike Dillon, who and come up with new throughout the plant growth. began in sales. Dillon, and different ideas. to support employees. A tour through the the company’s first Lexington A spring-loaded cart manufacturing plant, employee and now Manufacturing with its clean and climate automatically adjusts company president, is an example of the ability to rise through the ranks and have career growth within Lexington. Today, the company employs about 266 people between Brainerd and Coon Rapids, with 302 South Sixth Street 100 of those in Brainerd. P.O. Box 411 “I remember when 20 218.829.3597 Brainerd, MN 56401 people was a big crew,” TannerAuto.Net 218-829-1451 (main) Johnson said. 620 West Washington, BRAINERD Fawww.kavanaughs.com mily owned and operated www.brainerdlaw.com At a time when for 51 years attracting and retaining
55 Years
51 Years
47 Years
54 Years
46 Years
54 Years
46 Years
When I first started, we did everything by hand. We stacked by hand. We did everything by hand. Now, we push buttons. - Duane Johnson
as materials are loaded to keep at the proper ergonomic height. An overhead trolley with a device with a vacuum lift takes over the heavy loads so the equipment operator is able to just guide the door core to its location. The vacuum lift or lift tables put the product at the surface level, removing the need to lift things from the floor. On the sanding line, where once employees had to feed the product in and stack the sanded panels on the other end, now one operator is there to intervene if necessary, inspect and monitor the machine, which automatically loads and stacks. The employee doesn’t need to physically touch the panel. Automated moving carts help move lumber around. Dillon said it’s part of the company’s work for continuous improvement. The changes make the job easier so a broader group of people can do it physically and it increases the desirability of the job, Dillon said. If people work four 10-hour shifts and have heavy physical labor all day, every day, it makes
it a challenge to recruit, Dillon said. “We spent a lot of time on just making the job easier — lifting devices, stacking devices, things that eliminate physically having to do the work,” Dillon said, adding the job then becomes more attractive to a number of people. “Certainly, we have more females in our business than we used to. Manufacturing’s not been a very female friendly place in the past. I think that’s been a change we’ve seen over the years that’s been positive,” he said. Dillon said it also makes the work more attractive to young people who may not find their parents’ experience of physical labor in manufacturing the job they want, and who can blame them. Their young employees still lean into the work, Dillon said, but they won’t find it a physical grind. The plant presents a clean and climate friendly working environment with vacuum systems on the machinery taking the sawdust outside to waiting containers.
52 Years
51 Years
LEXINGTON: Page 6
ROSSIGNOL
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LEXINGTON
Trends include working with composite and engineered materials beyond just a wood product, but those containing fiberglass, vinyl and plastic. “I mean, there’s just this host of new materials in the industry,” Dillon said. “And it’s exciting. It’s challenging. I mean, we have to stay ahead of things in terms of what solutions we’re providing to our customers, and then also what processes we have to process those materials and provide those components. “Here in Brainerd, traditionally 95% plus of our materials were all wood or wood-based. And now we’re doing some wood plastic
composite processing, and that required kind of a change in some of our handling and how we treat things here,” he said. Another focus for the company is a constant improvement of the working environment such as reducing noise and spending capital on dust collection to ensure good air quality. The sawdust collectors fill 1 1/2 semitrailers a day with sawdust that is sold to farmers for animal bedding. For Dillon, all those workplace improvements are tactical but not the most impactful. “We’ve spent a ton of time as a business in trying to develop our people,” Dillon said. “And that to me is more impactful. For people, giving them training on the jobs that they need, giving them opportunities to advance and improve, just kind of creating this idea of overall growth. “I mean, we were growing as a company, but one of our core values is growth and it’s not just company growth, it’s individual growth. … We’re proud of our internal promotion and advancement,” he said. “I think we’ve done a really good job of giving people this idea they can grow in their career at Lexington,” Dillon said. Whether people want to climb the company ladder or not, they’ll still have opportunities to expand their knowledge and skills, and for many that leads to a better outcome in terms of pay and benefits and all the opportunities that come instead of job hopping or staying at an entry level job that might be more mundane. Dillon said Lexington is also open with employees and shares company performance information. Quarterly meetings provide employees a chance to ask any question they want.
“We’ve always been open and honest with our employees about how we’re doing as a business from a revenue profit standpoint. We have a profit-sharing kind of incentive system that they share in. I think that’s meaningful. People tie that to their efforts a little bit and take some ownership.” Lexington Manufacturing has facilities in Brainerd, Coon Rapids and Ramsey. If the company expands one of the current facilities, Brainerd would be next in line. The company is also looking at other geographic areas in the nation as the companies it serves consolidate operations. “From operating a business standpoint, we’ve loved it here. It’s been friendly,” Dillon said. “We’ve had a decent supply of employees. … We’ve been able to attract people to move here, when we’ve tried to.” Dillon said the city and Brainerd Public Utilities have been good to work with and BPU has constantly tried to improve their service and infrastructure. “The manufacturers in this area have definitely collaborated a lot and shared best practices,” Dillon said. “There’s not a lot of direct competition among them. So they’ve been open to talk about how to develop employees and other business challenges and things like that. So I think it’s been wonderful to be a part of the manufacturing community here, because they’re all pretty supportive.” Lexington is family owned. Dillon said they take a family approach to it so an employee from the second shift is able to take two hours off to see their child in a band concert. “That’s the culture we’ve always had,” Dillon said.
And he said employees already map that time out looking at what is going on in their department and with their teammates. “It’s actually nice,” Johnson said of working at Lexington. “People get along with one another. And kind of, you know, we all know each other so well.” Johnson said a lot of people have been working at Lexington in Brainerd for 10-15 years and more. A number of people have multiple members of their families working at the company. “Four 10s is beautiful, too,” Johnson said of working four 10-hour days a
32 Years
31 Years
29 Years
28 Years
From Page 5
As with most businesses in the lakes area, especially those involved in construction, the Great Recession took a toll. Lexington Manufacturing had about 140 employees before the Great Recession. “We were running pretty hard back then,” Dillon said. After the recession, Lexington was down to about 40-48 employees. Since then, the company experienced a lot of growth. By focusing on being more efficient, using the product as completely as possible to eliminate most of the waste, and making it easier for employees to do the work, the benefits are visible. “We still aren’t at our peak employment from before the recession and we’ve more than doubled our revenue,” Dillon said. “... A big part of it is just the efficiencies and the automation we put into the operation.”
Trends and continuous improvement
EST. 1992
Photos by Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
Lexington Manufacturing employees Dave Staneart, left, and Kirk Tester work on the production line Jan. 9, 2024.
Kirk Tester works in the Lexington Manufacturing plant in Brainerd Jan. 9, 2024. week. “Lexington is one of the better paying jobs in Brainerd now. And if you come in here and have a good attitude, you’ll like it.” Johnson also pointed to the company’s stability, saying after his 26 years he’s sure it will go on another 26 without him after his retirement, which means he can spend more time camping with his wife and grandchildren. “So if you want a job, you want to stay and it’s good working hours, come on.”
together with a glue roller putting glue on in a pattern to be most efficient in attaching just the right amount of glue needed to the wood pieces. The company gets glue in by tanker truck. Each truck carries 8,000 gallons and the glue trucks arrive about once every 6-8 weeks.
34 Years
Lexington Manufacturing uses glue to put door components
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| 2024 BUSINESS TRADITIONS | H7
DAVE’S SPORTLAND From Page 1
Scottish and has a unique personality. The customers really enjoy talking with him,” he said. The business has seasonal employees who have come in for the busier parts of the year, but the store is very much a family business. “If you come in here in the summer and bump into someone, more than likely they’re family,” Elizabeth said. “We’ve had a lot of really good kids who have worked with us. It’s been quite a change from the old location,” Dave said. “Duke” Erlandson, the family’s dog, is also at the store regularly and has become somewhat of a mascot for the business and a point of visiting for regular customers. While the family has had a number of people to thank for helping keep the various enterprises going, the Erlandsons agreed that the business has required a lot of hard work to get it where it is
We hunt. We go fishing. So with all the stuff we have in here we use in the field or on the water, so we’re actually able to speak from experience when we suggest something. - Elizabeth Erlandson and is not a part-time project. “We’re working seven days a week, and that can get pretty restrictive. Not a lot of people are willing to do that kind of thing,” Dave said. “If you want to be successful at this, you can’t really do it part time, right? Anytime you want to do something really well, you have to do it 100%. You kind of have to dedicate your life to it to meet the needs of the customer base,” Elizabeth said.
Growing business
In January of 2023, Sportland Outdoor Outfitters moved into its newest location just south of the Holiday station at the intersection of County Road 77 and Highway 371, and remains a part of the Sportland Corners tradition. The building is a big step up in terms of space from the store’s old bait and tackle location across the highway next to Schaefer’s Foods and has allowed the business to expand the products it offers to its
Contributed
The Erlandsons opened Sportland Outdoor Outfitters a year ago south of the Holiday station in Nisswa. customers. “Jason and I would want to take credit for designing this place. But she was the one who put it all together, and really well,” Dave said, motioning to Elizabeth. The store features brands such as Sitka, Simms, Free Fly, Kuhl, Two Brothers Innovations, St. Croix Rods and LaCrosse Footwear. Elizabeth said because the products they carry are all products that their family regularly use, they can offer customers more
knowledgeable advice when it comes to finding the right gear. “We hunt. We go fishing. So with all the stuff we have in here we use in the field or on the water, so we’re actually able to speak from experience when we suggest something. What we’ve done with it, why we enjoyed it and why it worked for us,” Elizabeth said. “That can maybe help someone else when they’re going out on their adventure and looking for something to make their experience
Contributed
a lot better,” she said. As of right now the family seems content with where the business is at in terms of expanding, and they’re working to make the business better and do what they do well. “We’re established in what we want to do, and we want to do that well. As our children come into the business, they might decide they have different ideas for growth,” Jason said. Tom Fraki, staff writer, may be reached at 218-855-5863 or tom. fraki@pineandlakes.com.
Contributed
From 1976-1989, Dave Erlandson leased half of the Sportland building for his bait Dave’s Sportland Bait and Tackle was located in a tiny building behind Schaefer’s and tackle store two miles south of downtown Nisswa. Foods from 1989-2023.
PINE RIVER From Page 3
Residents finally got what they wanted in the spring of 2023 when
Robert Walton opened his now popular Damisite Supper Club where people used to go to refill their prescriptions. Even the park just across the street is brand new and shiny.
For years, one corner building sat empty except for its booth tables, eclectic decorations and soda fountain after the closure of Ole and Lena’s. Finally, in 2019, Cy and Lisa Struss decided to
rewind the building’s history to when it was a drugstore, formerly Pfeiffer Drug Store. They reopened as GuidePoint Pharmacy, but kept the oldfashioned soda counter, eventually opening it for cool summer treats. Pine River residents were even surprised when the seemingly impossible happened. The former ALCO building finally sold and reopened as Tractor Supply Company in 2022. Not every business
along Barclay Avenue is new, of course. Gardiner’s Hardware remains the pride of the city. Pine River Insurance and Hanneken Insurance are still the most local insurance companies for miles. Associates in Eyecare still takes care of Pine River’s vision needs, and the gas stations, fast food restaurants, groceries, auto parts stores, real estate agencies, Pine River American Legion and other businesses
along the side streets along the Highway 371 corridor are still going as strong as ever. The last time the Pine River business community grew the way it is today, it made local history. It could be that 30 years from now, there will be a new list of names that come to mind when someone says “Barclay Avenue.”
130 Years
83 Years
78 Years
Travis Grimler, Echo Journal staff writer, may be reached at 218-855-5853 or travis.grimler@ pineandlakes.com. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter at www. twitter.com/@PEJ_Travis.
Paints • Wallcoverings • Blinds & Shades
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Pine River just wouldn’t be the same without a DMV, so Christina and Marion Linn have become the most recent owners of the business, expanding its hours.
Brainerd Lakes Best Paint Store
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Contributed / Cindy Rieck
Cindy Rieck stands outside the facility she had built in 1985 to house her business, Pequot Lakes Physical Therapy. She was the city’s first physical therapist and recently sold the building her business occupied for 38 years.
PHYSICAL THERAPIST From Page 2
The year before I came up here, I met with several doctors between Pequot and Brainerd and Pine River and asked them if they felt there was a need for a physical therapist. And they did.
Pequot and Brainerd and Pine River and asked them if they felt there was a need for a physical therapist. And they did,” she said. She searched for a property to renovate to rent, but she couldn’t find anything. Instead, she bought the land at the north end of Government Drive in 1985, designed a building with her dad’s help and built it. “And I had never been so in debt in my life,” she said with a laugh. “And that can be very motivating to make your business succeed.” It started with just Rieck and her parents as volunteer secretaries. “I did wait two weeks for my first patient,” she said, noting she worked part-time for St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd in the mornings until her business picked up. When she opened, there was just one private physical therapy practice in Brainerd, and a Pine River nursing home that saw outpatients. “There was nothing,” Rieck said. By April 1986, she was working full time at her own business. Later that year, she hired her first secretary and for a short time had a physical therapist assistant. In 1988, she hired her first physical therapist who worked for her for 10 years. That winter, Rieck also built an addition to her building. Over the years, Pequot Lakes Physical Therapy was a clinical internship site for many physical therapy students. And Rieck has had loyal staff over the years, including Kelly Wulf, Carrie Taylor and Brenda Pitan. “All three of them, wherever they go, their employer will be lucky to have them,” Rieck said.
Wulf, office manager for nearly 28 years, said her youngest daughter was in kindergarten when she joined Pequot Lakes Physical Therapy, and now that daughter just had her third baby last month. “To me, the thing I think about the most since most of us have been there is that so many things happened in our lives in that amount of time,” Wulf said. That includes having kids, watching them grow up and attending their weddings; having grandkids; losing parents and attending funerals; and going through divorce. “It was a lot of life that happened in that small group of people,” Wulf said. “It was a very tightknit group, and patients felt that too.” It was mostly women working there all those years so they called it “the chick clinic.” When she first started, Rieck didn’t know if she’d like running her own business and living in Pequot Lakes. Now, 38 years later, she’s proud of her work. “I’ll tell you what I’m most proud of: I got to be Pequot Lakes’ first physical therapist,” she said. She won’t miss the paperwork or
dealing with insurance companies, but she certainly will miss helping people. In addition to her business in Pequot Lakes and work with the education cooperative, Rieck had contracts with Cass and Crow Wing counties over the years, where she traveled to people’s homes for physical therapy work. Rieck has worked with patients from birth to their 90s — the number of patients is over 7,000, and she’s worked with well over 1,000 home care patients. Memorable patients include her very first patient in 1985; Tyler Arvig, who was 5 ½ when she started working with him in 1986; and Trent “Pete” Neva, who was injured in a football game and met his goal to walk during his 1988 high school graduation. Wulf said patients were assigned a number
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- Cindy Rieck
39 Years
Lake Country Echo File Photo
Cindy Rieck opened Pequot Lakes Physical Therapy in October 1985 at the north end of Government Drive. She waited two weeks for her first patient.
About five years ago, as Rieck approached retirement age, she decided to sell both her building and business. But that didn’t happen.
“I wanted to do that for my staff and for the community — our patients,” she said. “But it just didn’t work.” Her goal was to sell the business and then stay on for a year or two through the transition with new owners. Efforts to sell the business started in 2018, and then the COVID-19 pandemic derailed plans in 2020. So she sold the building and had an auction to sell the equipment. Wulf became emotional when talking about a silver bell on the desk that patients would ring when the receptionist was away. The bell had many memories attached to it, such as a baby and another patient who’d work to raise the arm they were having trouble with to ding the bell. A physical therapist whose dad lost his voice when he was dying took the bell home so he could ring it when he needed help. That bell had fallen behind the receptionist’s desk and the auctioneer found it. Wulf gave the
bell to Rieck. In semi-retirement, Rieck looks forward to continuing to work but putting in far fewer hours. “To go from five-plus days a week to nothing would not have been a good move,” she said. “Plus, I still like it. I just want to do it on a smaller scale.” Rieck will continue to travel with her dog, Calvin, while working with the Paul Bunyan Education Cooperative. Her dogs over the years were always present at Pequot Lakes Physical Therapy as they went to work with her every day. “I’m looking forward to focusing my skills on kids,” she said. “I will miss working with the people, but hopefully I’ll see them around town,” she said. She looks forward to having more time to enjoy the area, to travel to visit friends in other parts of the country, and to host friends at her home. Rieck enjoys riding bike and gardening, and she has a rowing scull. She also plans to take Calvin for more walks.
39 Years
38 Years
37 Years
when they came in for the computer system. So Rieck’s first patient was No. 1. The last patient admitted was No. 7,042. “That’s how many people we saw that were new patients,” Wulf said, noting returning patients used their original number, so the practice really had many more than 7,000 visits. “We took care of a lot of people and a lot of people came back,” Wulf said, calling the care homey and personal. “You weren’t in and out in 15 minutes. If you were there for an hour, that’s what happened.” She talked about once picking up a patient and bringing that person to the clinic as something that happens in small communities. “Sometimes our waiting room would be like the coffee shop with different patients there carrying on, laughing, visiting,” Wulf said.
Retirement thoughts
Second Time Around SECOND HAND STORE
Open March-December
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Practicing in the Brainerd Lakes area for over 30 years.
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7789 Hastings Road Baxter, MN
4 Years
218-203-5540
218-829-3457 eufouric.com
13954 Cypress Drive, Suite 200, Baxter, MN 56425
www.elitetitlemn.com 518 2nd Avenue NE, Staples, MN 56479
218-541-5120
Tom Hice
Agent/Owner - CLCS