1938 1977 1955
Electric cooperative brings lights to area 7A Shoppers flock to Burnsville Center 8A Crude oil flows at refinery 9A
dakotacountytribune.biz dakotacountytribune.biz
DATE ##, 2009 DECEMBER 31, 2009
VOLUME 30, NUMBER # VOLUME 30, NUMBER 44
Dakota County Tribune Since 1884
B
U
S
I
N
E
S
S
w
e
e
k
l
y
INSIDE BIZ
See how much we have grown
FORUM
Hennepin County commissioners didn’t make the right decision when taxing to build a baseball stadium. PHIL 4A KRINKIE
Newspaper has documented the important moments in the county’s business history by Tad Johnson
FORUM
DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
In recognition of the link between the Dakota County Tribune and local businesses over the news- The farm home of Soren N. Mickelson in 1938 when REA brought electricity to paper’s 125-year history, the Dakota County Tribune rural Farmington. is re-printing some stories from its archives about the pivotal moments in the county’s business history. We hope readers will find the stories informative and inspirational. It is interesting to see how far some of the county’s business have grown and progressed from their beginnings, sometimes humble and other times very ambitious. For an employee of Dakota Electric to realize how important it was to bring light to rural Farmington in 1938 is a transforming process. For a Flint Hills Resources technician to read about how oil was refined in 1955 is to realize how much the technology has improved. We have included several photos from the businesses because we know that seeing the change is just as important as reading about it. If you have some suggestions of other touchstone moments in the county’s business history that we can republish, e-mail me at tad.johnson@ecm-inc.com.
125 YEARS OF DAKOTA COUNTY BUSINESS
JOE WITT
The frequent criticism that banks have not been lending to businesses and consumers is unwarranted. 4A
BUSINESS 101
We should be encouraging our entrepreneurs to bring the United States out of its current economic recession. RON 5A THOMAS BEST PRACTICES
Resolve in the new year to make this the best 12 months for organizing a plan for promoting your company. STACEY 5A ACKERMAN COLUMNIST
off Rosemount at the Air Traffic Control Center, Eli Terry Eliason T Farmington, in 1958.
ipment in the A maze of vessels, pipes and equ unt oil refinemo main processing area of the Ros ery in 1959.
Dakota County’s business history is inextricably linked to stories in the pages of this, the longest-running newspaper in the TAD county. JOHNSON 6A
&
125 Years of Dakota County Business on pages 6-12
!""'! !
$
General 952-894-1111 Distribution 952-846-2070 Advertising 952-846-2011
The groundbreaking for a new Enggren’s food store in downtown Lakeville in 1978.