TAD JOHNSON JOHN GESSNER TAD JOHNSON
A Cat and the Fiddle plays new tune 6A Powerball winners from Dakota County 7A Business spruces up Rosemount park 7A
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DATE ##,25, 2009 AUGUST 2011
VOLUME 30, NUMBER # VOLUME 32, NUMBER 26
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INSIDE BIZ FORUM
Minnesota’s Community Corrections system is the nation’s best because of its multi-faceted approach. RICHARD 4A CRAWFORD FORUM
Local residents have a chance to shape the content of Minnesota Historical Society’s newest project, MNopedia. HOWARD 5A LESTRUD
Photo by John Gessner
David Trumble, left, and his brother, Mike, are opening Nur Technik to the public with a grand opening on Sept. 10. The European car buffs will specialize in repair and modification of high-performance vehicles, European and domestic.
NEWS
by John Gessner DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
David Trumble developed his taste for European high-performance autos when he bought his first Volkswagen Golf at age 15. Now 23, he’s owned five Volkswagen/Audi cars and worked on dozens more vehicles, European and domestic. The self-taught mechanic and auto-performance specialist will put his skills and passion to the test with Nur Technik, a service and performance business that opens to the public on Sept. 10 in Burnsville. David’s partner is his 30-year-old brother, Mike, a fellow European auto buff who has worked on dozens of cars himself as the duo established their business mostly by wordof-mouth. On Sept. 10 they’ll throw open the doors of Nur Technik,
located at 11920 12th Ave. S. in north Burnsville. Nur Technik specializes in repair and modification of European vehicles as well as highperformance American cars such as the Dodge Viper and Chevrolet Corvette. Servicing of other domestic cars is also available. “Maintenance and repair is definitely the bread and butter,” David said. “It’s kind of like what we do between performance jobs.” For the uninitiated, he explained that “performance” means all facets of making a car run better and faster, from suspension and exhaust systems to engines and brakes. The German translation of Nur Technik is “Only Engineering,” but in naming their business the Euro-buff brothers were also inspired by the Nur-
burgring Raceway in Germany, a testing and proving grounds for manufacturers of performance cars. David said there’s lots of market potential for Nur Technik in an underserved south metro area. “Our demographic would probably be early 20s to mid40s,” he said. “Most of them are kind of people who have been through the phase of their Hondas and going quick and driving stupid, and they’ve matured into the high-end performance spectrum.” That means owners of such brands as VW/Audi (Volkswagen owns the Audi brand), BMW and Porsche, said David, who likes to push his own Volkswagen R32 and its 350-horsepower engine during open-track weekends at Brainerd International Raceway.
His brother owns a 2008 R32, which he’d like to test at BIR. “I haven’t yet,” Mike said. “I’m looking forward to bringing mine in. It’s supposed to go a top speed of 170.” Though only 23, David Trumble has been dreaming of entering the high-end auto business for years. A sixth-year engineering student with a concentration in mechanical design, he rented a single-car garage at the University of Wisconsin-Stout to work on his own vehicles. Last year, he began offering his automotive services to friends and family. Joining forces with Mike, the pair began offering automotive services out of Mike’s garage in Lakeville. In April the Trumbles began renting the 3,000-square-foot space in Burnsville, which has
City leaders credit outgoing executive director for helping to stabilize Burnsville Performing Arts Center. JON 6A ELBAUM CAPITOL COMMERCE
KURT ZELLERS
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Republicans launch effort to seek the public’s help in generating ideas to reform state government operations. 10A
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See Nur Technik, Page 40A
New sports bar, entertainment venue opens in Burnsville The Edge replaces old Renegades by John Gessner DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Mr. Steak. Jose’s. Toohey’s. Southside Music Cafe. Renegades. That’s at least a partial list of the businesses that have in-
habited the bar and restaurant building at 3809 W. Highway 13 in Burnsville. “We don’t know a lot of the history,” said Steve Higgins, whose The Edge Bar and Grill is the latest occupant. The Lakeville resident plans to write his own history with an establishment that stands the test of time.
He signed a 20-year lease on the building and opened The Edge on Aug. 8. “We’ll be here for a while,” said Higgins, who’s pleased with the terms he negotiated with the building’s new owner, Jeff Xie. “This was a deal I couldn’t pass up.” The long-vacant building’s previous occupant was
Renegades, which developed a reputation as a biker bar. Higgins said he wants to shed that image while keeping The Edge “biker-friendly.” “We’ve been through this before,” said Higgins, 35, an accountant-turned-bar owner. “We’ve been through trying to change something to our identity, our footprint.”
He got into the business in 2005 when a friend convinced him to become part-owner of Doherty’s Tavern in Prior Lake. “We jumped on it, turned it around and then I sold out,” said Higgins, also a former bartender. “It allowed me to get into The Basement, which allowed me to get in here.”
In 2008 Higgins and partner Steve McKenna opened The Basement Bar and Grill in the Prior Lake eatery space previously occupied by Hollywood Bar and Grill. Higgins is now sole owner of The Basement and The Edge. Extensive remodeling helped turn around a place See The Edge, Page 40A