Upsize Minnesota March April 2021 by Upsize Minnesota

SURVIVING & THRIVING Timely business shifts breathe life into uncertain times

Frank Chase

Owner of Andy’s Garage and Andy’s Diner

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CONTENTS March • April 2021 • Vol. 20 No. 1 • www.upsizemag.com

PAGE 14

Cover story

The Covid-19 global pandemic has devastated many companies. Some quickthinking entrepreneurs, however, found ways to shift their businesses and,, in doing so,, found not just survival but success beyond anticipation. BY ANDREW TELLIJOHN Cover photograph by Tom Dunn

PAGE 4

From the editor:

Bb BUSINESS BUILDERS

PAGE 22

Editor Andrew Tellijohn updates readers on the last year in the life of Upsize

PAGE 6

Irina Fursman discusses the evolution of HueLife and her plans for the company now that she’s achieved her doctorate degree

PAGE 4

Staff list: Who’s who at Upsize magazine, and how to reach us.

BRANDING Five steps toward effectively communicating your brand

CATCHING UP:

by Dean Forbes, Studio Minnow

PAGE 28 PAGE 8

BACK PAGE

It’s never been more important to be aware of employee mental health

Family, friends and business associates remember Upsize Publisher and Co-founder Wes Bergstrom

Upsize Minnesota (USPS 024-029) is published bi-monthly by Broad Axe Media, 2908 W 71 1/2 St., Richfield, MN 55423.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN and additional mailing offices.

by Tyler Arvig, R3 Continuum

PAGE 10

MANAGEMENT Advanced planning gives your firm its best chance to survive disasters by Tom Siders, L. Harris Partners

PAGE 12

LAW

Non-compete agreements can be smart business, but only if utilized correctly by Dawn Van Tassel, Van Tassel Law Firm

Employee behavioral health is suffering. We can help you change that. Today, almost half of full-time workers are experiencing behavioral health issues. It’s an important and difficult challenge for employers to address.

Introducing Wellness Outreach the confidential and proactive way to enhance your employees’ emotional wellbeing and resiliency in these demanding times.

Provide the proactive support your people deserve. Visit R3c.com/employee-wellness-outreach to learn more.

R3c.com

Upsize 2.0

FOUNDING PUBLISHER Wes Bergstrom

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Andrew Tellijohn atellijohn@upsizemag.com

FOUNDING EDITOR Beth Ewen bewen@upsizemag.com

DESIGN DIRECTOR Jonathan Hankin jhankin@upsizemag.com

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Dan O’Connell dano@upsizemag.com

PHOTOGRAPHER

Tom Dunn tom@tomdunnphoto.com

HOW TO REACH US To subscribe visit www.upsizemag.com/subscribe With story ideas email Andrew Tellijohn, atellijohn@upsizemag.com To advertise email Andrew Tellijohn, atellijohn@upsizemag.com To order reprints email Jonathan Hankin, jhankin@upsizemag.com To order extra or back issues email Jonathan Hankin, jhankin@upsizemag.com To suggest Web resource links, links@upsizemag.com

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UPSIZE MARCH • APRIL 2021

hen Upsize co-founder Beth Ewen wanted to take a step back from editorial duties a few years back, she reached out to me and a couple others to measure our interest in taking over. I’ve always loved the magazine, so I immediately replied back in the affirmative. That earned me an interview with Wes Bergstrom, another co-founder and the majority partner at the time. We met at Broadway Pizza in Richfield. The meeting was not what I expected. Of the 90 or so minutes we spent together, we talked about journalism for maybe 30 minutes. I think he was willing to take Beth’s word for my skill set in that area. We spent the remainder of the time talking about music, which I enjoy but don’t study enough to discuss in-depth manner. And we talked about sports, about which I am a passionate fan and can discuss ad nauseam. He wondered about my thoughts on fixing the Gopher basketball team, who the Vikings should look at drafting and whether I thought the Twins had a chance to break through that season. Clearly, he wanted to know whether our business meetings would have to be all about business. We reached an agreement shortly thereafter. And we talked as much these past couple years about fixing his Gophers cagers as we did about fixing any challenges facing the magazine. I enjoyed working with him the past few years and I’m sad to report to those who have not heard, he passed away last March. His unexpected death and the COVID-19 pandemic put us on hiatus. While these are certainly not the circumstances under which I had hoped to take on this role, I am happy to report that the hiatus is over. I, along with two business partners, have acquired the magazine. And we’re ready to re-start. I’ll be taking on the roles of editor and publisher. Co-owner Jonathan Hankin should be familiar. He’s staying on from the previous ownership team as design director. Co-owner Dan O’Connell joins the magazine as chief financial officer with a background in accounting and finance.

You won’t see a ton of obvious changes, at least at first. The feedback I’ve gotten so far is that people generally like the look of the magazine and its content. We know we have some work to do on our website and our multimedia presence, which we will be rolling out in the weeks and months ahead. And we plan to be a bit more visible, both in terms of getting out to some small business events (as public health scenarios improve) and in terms of reaching out to you to see whether you might fit as a partner in some way going forward. If you’re interested, please reach out to me, if I don’t reach out to you first. Finally, to answer the question I have most often gotten since the business deal closed (even my mom asked this first), Beth will soon be reclaiming this spot in the magazine. She’s taking a few months off to get caught up on some other projects. And she has opted not to continue in an equity role. But she plans to return soon in a columnist/copy editor/adviser role to help make sure Upsize is what we all want it to be. It’s been a challenging year for Upsize, as it has for many of you. But, also like so many of you — some of whom we’re honored to profile in this issue’s cover story — we’re finding our way through, figuring out how we need to “pivot” and making plans for what we’re going to look like now and in the future. I’m looking forward to hearing from you with ideas. Andrew Tellijohn Editor and Publisher Upsize Minnesota atellijohn@upsizemag.com www.upsizemag.com

We are open-minded problem solvers!

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branding

BUSINESS BUILDERS

Five ways to find your brand’s “X-factor” by Dean Forbes

TIPS 1. During a time of change, it’s more important than ever to assess your value proposition and the messages you put into the world. 2. Take the time to research your competition in order to figure out how your company stands apart from the crowd. 3. Involve multiple stakeholders from all levels of the organization to get a wellrounded view of whether your messaging and branding match your mission. 4. Look forward. Ensure that you consider not just where you are as an organization but also where you want to be and how your branding efforts can help get you there. 5. It can be more than a missed opportunity if, at the end of the branding process, the world can’t see your “X-factor.” It can mean bad things for your business.

UPSIZE MARCH • APRIL 2021

When was the last time you looked hard at — really zoomed in on — your company’s brand? If it was before the pandemic hit, you’re due for a change. It’s no surprise that the seismic shift in the way we live, work, consume information, shop and make decisions is also impacting the way consumers perceive and engage with brands. I’m talking about the real transformation that is invited in once you take a step back and look at your entire brand, from graphics to mission and values to the stories you tell, to determine what it is that makes your business different — and more compelling — than your competition. We combine humanity and design to help organizations find and define their unique voice. So, how do you uncover your small business’s point of differentiation — your brand’s “X-factor?” Here are five tips to get started. Ask tough questions. In a time of change like this one, it’s more important than ever to assess your value proposition and the messages you’re putting out into the world. Start by taking yourself out of your brand and look at it with fresh eyes. Ask the big questions about how you compare with your competitors: What is your ‘why’? Is your brand communicating who you are and what you want to become? Most important, does your current branding (graphics, logo and language/messaging) clearly communicate your vision to your target audiences? Is it immediately obvious what you stand for and what sets you apart from your competition?

Do the research. Look at your competitive universe. For a recent project with Brooklyn Park-based Maranatha Christian Academy, we started with a competitive audit, researching 28 private schools in the metro area. We found that nearly everybody was talking about what they offered in virtually the same language, with nearly identical design elements. They all talked about academic rigor, college prep and, in many cases, faith or character formation. They all have a fancy crest. The research gave us the impetus to forge ahead by determining what everybody else was saying, and exactly what it was about Maranatha that would allow it to stand out from the crowd. Involve multiple stakeholders. It’s critical to bring as many people at all levels to the table — regardless of their opinions and points of view. For Maranatha, we embarked upon in-depth listening sessions with the people who have a stake in the school’s success: Administrators, teachers, parents, students and others. We found that the brand didn’t match the school’s vision. Those two crucial elements weren’t aligned. With Maranatha, we honed in on how Head of School Brian J. Sullivan has been moving the school away from the “mission monotony” of its competitors and toward a focus on innovation. Remember that the best of branding is simple, memorable and timeless. Good branding can amplify your company’s vision and purpose, and declares them, in a very tangible way that unifies all of your stakeholders.

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Push yourself. Thinking outside the box can pay off in a huge way. It might not come as a surprise, but academia can be a fairly conservative place. And even though Maranatha is less risk-averse than most organizations, we pushed them to think longer-term. They took a chance making brave decisions on how to roll out the new brand at an event with about half of the school’s parents present. We didn’t simply unveil a new logo (which we split into two parts to emphasize how to pronounce the school’s name, a common point of confusion), we also showed the new brand in action — to illustrate what we could do in the future. In addition to the logo, color palette, copy and traditional uses like business cards and website, we showed how the new, fresh, contemporary branding could be employed down the road – on a new gym floor, graphics on glass windows and doors, new athletic uniforms, even on a yet-toexist bus. “The room erupted in spontaneous applause,” Sullivan says. “They just loved it.” Through the branding process, we were able to capture the confidence the top visionary has in the “product” — the school — and communicate that to the rest of the invested people through the right tone and flavor without apologizing for what it was. We were able to gain support and enthusiasm for the new brand by showcasing all the ways it could come to life and serve as a visual representation of the school’s values and vision for the future — something everyone could rally around. That critical alignment of mission and brand is continuing to pay off for Maranatha now, even as many of its competitors are struggling during the pandemic. “The new branding and mission statement provided the

momentum and focus to engage with current students and prospects about how our innovation focus differentiates us. It gets people to say, ‘tell me more.’ And then, once we engage with them, we can demonstrate how we’re authentically delivering on our mission and our brand,” Sullivan says. Is your brand connecting with people on an emotional level like that? Look forward. The power that comes from complete congruence between a new brand and your mission can spark significant momentum and can propel your organization forward for many years. Don’t only look at the “what is,” also look at the “what could be.” When you embark on a branding initiative, make sure to keep one eye on where your organization is headed. “We’ve seen a 30% increase in enrollment because we’re now living our brand, and potential students and their families recognize that,” Sullivan says. “It aligns with who we are. It’s set us on the path for longterm success. We’re not looking back.” If the world can’t understand your point of differentiation or X-factor, then at best it’s a missed opportunity. At worst it can mean terrible things for your business. But with the right brand — one that’s aligned with your purpose and vision — the future looks incredibly bright.

“ Good branding can amplify your company’s vision and purpose, and declares them, in a very tangible way that unifies all of your stakeholders.” Dean Forbes Studio Minnow

Dean Forbes is partner and CEO at Studio Minnow: 651.252.2344; hello@studiominnow.com; www.studiominnow.com.

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MARCH • APRIL 2021 UPSIZE

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human resources

BUSINESS BUILDERS

Navigating the second pandemic by Tyler Arvig

TIPS 1. McKinsey & Co. research indicates that employees cite behavioral health as a primary concern, yet believe employers are not supporting it well. 2. Watching several key behavioral indicators can help identify employees struggling with mental health issues. Partnering with a professional also might make sense. 3. Supporting the mental health of employees is a bottom-line issue, as employees who navigate stress, anxiety and depression, etc., more effectively are going to be more engaged and productive. 4. Wellness programs of yesterday will likely not translate to current work realities. Adapt. Overt communication and encouragement are crucial. 5. Make sure employees know about your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services, that management is providing support and that your policies are having the desired effect on employees’ lives.

UPSIZE MARCH • APRIL 2021

As recently conveyed in a conversation with my boss, I’ve hit a proverbial wall with COVID-19. The accumulative stressors we all feel are starting to take a toll — even now, at a time when we are on the cusp of largescale vaccination. My guess is this may resonate with you and the people who work for you. And it will stay this way for the foreseeable future. While many workplaces have made policy changes in response to the pandemic, only one in six employees feel supported by their employers. Furthermore, most employees cite behavioral health as a primary concern, yet indicate that their employers are not supporting it well, according to a McKinsey & Company report. In fairness to employers, this is not surprising: In the past 12 months, everything from business models to staffing, operations, layoffs and hiring have been made more complex. Becoming well-versed in behavioral health has been a competing priority — but one that must now become a main focus. Supporting the health of your employees is an essential part of your business operation. By now, you have likely seen the impacts of employees struggling with stress, decreased productivity, increased absenteeism and higher rates of turnover. After all, as a recent report from Oracle notes, most employees report struggling mentally during this time. Welcome to the next pandemic in the workplace. It will extend well beyond when the COVID-19 virus is under control, and it is already affecting the workforce. So, what is to be done? Current employer-sponsored solutions don’t meet the needs of today’s workplace. Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) are valuable but woefully underutilized, yet five out of six employees report needing more mental health support. HR or policy changes may be useful, but go largely unnoticed. And worksite health initiatives, if present, have likely been paused. Employees with access to private health insur-

ance may be disinclined to engage in traditional mental health services due to financial constraints, lack of time, or concerns related to in-person office services due to possible viral exposure. Supporting your workforce now, in the midst of a mental health pandemic, requires three main components: Identify, support and evaluate. Identify Determining who is struggling is the critical first step. As leaders and managers, this may be a new skill set, made more challenging as remote/hybrid working means fewer interactions with your people. While it may seem daunting at first, it doesn’t have to be, and you can also consider partnering with a behavioral health professional to help proactively reach out to your team, if resources allow. While these are just some of the indicators of someone who may need support, here are some ways to identify an employee who may be struggling: 1. Obvious changes in mood/behavior (crying, withdrawing from conversations, visible anxiousness) 2. Verbalization of feeling stressed or overwhelmed 3. Changes in productivity or attendance 4. Decreased engagement with others 5. Verbalization of hopelessness or helplessness Support The most important aspect of assisting those struggling with mental health issues is making sure they feel supported. Employees who spend hours each day working need to feel their employer cares about them. Those who feel supported will likely reciprocate with harder work, greater devotion and more pride in the organization. This leads to a better work environment, healthier people, and ultimately, also helps your bottom line. Employees who navigate

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stress, anxiety, depression, etc., better are going to be more engaged and productive at work. An employee who is struggling personally will also struggle at work. Overall, it looks like this: 1. Lead from the top: Leadership that shows they care about their people set the tone for the organization. Make meaningful and visible efforts to show that employee mental health is a priority. 2. Train/encourage managers to follow suit: Managers should check in with their employees periodically about more than day-to-day business. Simple questions like, “Is there anything more I can do to support you?” often go a long way toward showing care as a fellow human being. 3. Reevaluate existing solutions: Do not assume the solutions of yesterday are relevant today. Providing the 1-800 number in the employee handbook for your EAP may have worked before, but today is likely to be overlooked. How can you promote it now? Wellness programs of yesterday will likely not translate to current work realities. How can they be adapted? No matter what, overt communication and encouragement are crucial. 4. Consider creative solutions: Think outside the box. Consider proactive outreach to check in, instead of waiting for someone to ask for help. Re-envision what the typical workday looks like — with things like personal time or breaks woven in throughout. Listen to what your team is saying, and address their needs.

Evaluate Evaluation is an often-forgotten element of employee support. It is easy to throw out ideas or solutions, but lack of follow up means we often cannot evaluate if what we are doing meets our teams’ needs. Considerations include: • Do policy changes have a quantifiable impact on your employees’ lives? • Do our employees know about — and how to use — our EAP services? • Is management support happening? If so, is it useful? Evaluation does not necessarily mean a need to dive into hard metrics or complex data. And from an employer standpoint, you may want to keep your data collection limited, so as to not impede on employee’s private health concerns. Yet, tracking efficacy and utilization is key to answering the basic and important question at hand: “Am I supporting my employees’ health in a way that works?” A worthy investment Optimized and healthy employees are productive employees. Many of these suggestions are low- or no-cost to you, or to your employee, yet make a big difference. Every employer can afford to do something. Plus, when taking into account attrition, absenteeism and the cost of re-hiring, it becomes clear that any dollars spent in prevention are well worth the investment. There actually is an easy answer to the question of how to support your employees during this mental health pandemic. Here it is: Recognize the need and do something to meet that need. From there, build out what works for you, for your people, for your culture.

“ Leadership that shows they care about their people set the tone for the organization. Make meaningful and visible efforts to show employees mental health is a priority.” Tyler Arvig R3 Continuum

Tyler Arvig is associate medical director at R3 Continuum: 952.927.0184; tyler.arvig@r3c.com; www.r3c.com.

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MARCH • APRIL 2021 UPSIZE

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management

BUSINESS BUILDERS

Contingency planning for disasters can make or break a company by Tom Siders

TIPS 1. Business continuity planning is the process a company undergoes to create a prevention and recovery system from potential threats. 2. Even if your company doesn’t fall victim to an attack of any sort, your suppliers might. Plan alternatives for your critical supplier dependencies. 3. Create a plan to mitigate risks that threaten the health and safety of people, operations, customers, company assets or the environment by reducing the risk to an acceptable level. 4. Create a written plan and communicate it to employees, including information about their roles and responsibilities and a discussion of the business impact analysis. 5. The federal government and the internet have many resources to help businesses create contingency plans. Consulting firms are available for those who lack the time.

UPSIZE MARCH • APRIL 2021

We routinely read news stories about tornados, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, fires, computer viruses, ransomware blackmail and the list goes on. These events should provide sufficient motivation for business owners to create business continuity plans. Yet, many do nothing. If you are old enough, ponder the disruption caused by the 9/11 terrorist attack. That event alone completely changed the way we live and the way we do business. Now comes the COVID-19 pandemic. Once again, our lives and the ways we do business are completely altered. Countless businesses have failed as a result. What will happen to us next? Consider the impact of an attack on our power grid, a “European-style” extended labor strike in the U.S., or a biotechnology accident that contaminates the water supply. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is the necessity to have a plan for crisis situations. Definition Business continuity planning is the process a company undergoes to create a prevention and recovery system from potential threats such as natural disasters, cyber-attacks, terrorism and any other crisis of a similar nature. The plan is designed to protect personnel and assets and make sure they can function quickly when disaster strikes. A well-developed plan, and subsequent implementation reduces panic and may ultimately be the difference between business survival and business failure. The primary objectives of a business continuity planning process include: • Ensuring the continuity of business operations during a

crisis • Ensuring employee safety during a crisis • Ensuring continuity of key IT systems during a crisis • Minimizing customer impact from business disruption • Minimizing reputation damage from an incident Components Business Impact Analysis. A business impact analysis (BIA) supports the entire business continuity process. It is a process used to identify, quantify and qualify the impact of a loss, interruption or disruption. A BIA identifies mission-critical activities and the time frame within which they must be recovered. Explore all the risks that your business is exposed to and the possible major disruptions that could occur. And don’t forget about your suppliers. Could you still operate if your top vendors closed due to a disaster? Consider the actions needed for your practice to remain operational. Plan alternatives for your critical supplier dependencies. Recovery strategies: After the BIA, the business should mitigate risks that threaten the health and safety of people, operations, customers, company assets or the environment by reducing the risk to an acceptable level. Strategies should be developed, and may include security and fire protection systems, vendor readiness and qualification of secondary suppliers, IT backup strategies and direct response sites, splitting critical functions and resources between multiple sites, mutual aid agreements with other businesses, work-at-home strategies, manual and alternate procedures if computer systems are down, and cross-training of

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Business Impact Analysis • Develop questionnaire • Conduct workshop to instruct business function and process managers how to complete the BIA • Receive completed BIA questionnaire forms • Review BIA questionnaires • Conduct follow-up interviews to validate information and fill any information gaps

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Recovery Strategies

Plan development

• Identify and document resource requirements based on BIAs • Conduct gap analysis to determine gaps between recovery requirements and current capabilities • Explore recovery strategy options • Select recovery strategies with management approval • Implement strategies

personnel among others. Written plan communicated to employees: Record everything in the BIA process and develop a written plan for disasters and emergencies. At a minimum, the plan should include key roles and responsibilities, BIA results, risk mitigation plans, off-site data and storage requirements, business recovery and continuity strategies, plan activation and universal response, communication and notification plan, and training, drills and exercises. Training and Testing. Conduct training for employees with key roles and assignments in the business continuity, disaster recovery and incident response processes. Testing is the generic term used to describe the critical process of exercising strategies and plans, rehearsing with coworkers and testing systems (technology infrastructure and administrative) to demonstrate business continuity. Resources In this case, your federal government can help. Its website has excellent information for those who wish to build a business continuity plan. https://www.ready.gov/businesscontinuity-plan The internet is a vast library of material on business continuity planning, from step-by-step approaches

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Testing & Exercises

• Develop plan framework • Organize recovery teams • Develop relocation plans • Write business continuity and IT disaster recovery procedures • Document manual workarounds • Assemble plan; validate; gain management approval

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• Develop testing, exercise and maintenance requirements • Conduct training for business continuity team • Conduct orientation exercises • Conduct testing and document test results • Update BCP to incorporate lessons learned from testing and exercises

to sample plan templates. The only obstacle for you, as a business owner, is making time to prepare a plan for the unexpected. If you are short on time, there are many consulting firms you can engage to assist you with the process. One Final Thought While you are putting together a continuity plan for the business, don’t forget to consider its most important asset – you. Successful business owners are usually optimistic people and often are averse to dwelling on the more unpleasant aspects of business. Contemplating your own demise certainly qualifies as an unpleasant aspect. Floods, fires and pandemics are awful events, but the loss of you could be the most disruptive and devastating occurrence for your business. Part of your process should include a plan for continuing the business without your participation. Hope is not a strategy.

“ While you are putting together a continuity plan for the business, don’t forget to consider its most important asset — you.” Tom Siders L. Harris Partners

Tom Siders is a partner with L. Harris Partners: 952.944.3303; tom.siders@lharrispartners.com; www.lharrispartners.com.

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MARCH • APRIL 2021 UPSIZE

BEST OF

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law

BUSINESS BUILDERS

Crafting non-compete agreements that are fair, beneficial and enforceable by Dawn Van Tassel

TIPS 1. Non-compete agreements must be reasonable in scope, protect a legitimate business interest and be supported by consideration. 2. Nationwide and global restrictions are almost universally held invalid. 3. Courts will consistently enforce restrictive covenants that seek to protect a business’s customer goodwill and its confidential information. 4. Attempts by businesses to overreach when writing non-compete agreements typically are met with disfavor. 5. In Minnesota, employment that is expressly conditioned upon signing a restrictive covenant is sufficient consideration, though businesses must be extremely careful on how this is done.

UPSIZE MARCH • APRIL 2021

Employers want to ensure

“Are these things even enforceable?” As a lawyer who counsels businesses and employers on a daily basis, this is probably the most frequent question I am asked about restrictive covenants. Not to sound like a lawyer, but the answer is: “It depends.” In Minnesota, courts will enforce a non-compete agreement if it meets three basic criteria: (1) It must be reasonable in scope; (2) It must protect a legitimate business interest; and (3) It must be supported by consideration – a legal term that means something of value was given in exchange.

The entire state of Minnesota might be a reasonable scope for a salesperson who covered a state-wide territory, but not for one who only worked the seven-county metro area. Nationwide and global restrictions are almost universally held invalid. But some positions do not lend themselves to geographic restrictions. Courts routinely find using a customer-based restriction to be reasonable. If the theory is that the employer has an interest in customer goodwill, then keeping a former employee from contacting them for a period of time helps protect that interest. It doesn’t matter if the customer is located in Duluth or Dublin or Dubai, so long as the company has an interest in that customer relationship. Temporal restrictions also must be narrowly drawn. In the employment context, courts routinely uphold restrictions of up to a year. Depending on the other circumstances of the employment and how narrowly drawn the geographic restriction is, a court will sometimes enforce a twoyear covenant.

Reasonable scope What is reasonable? Courts use a number of factors in this determination, and each case is different. However, narrowly tailored geographic and temporal restrictions are often enforced. In general, defining a geographic restriction to the actual area the employee was working, or where the clients s/he served are located, will usually be upheld as a reasonable geographic restriction. A restriction of 25 miles might be considered reasonable for a chiropractor to open a competing clinic, but not for a hairdresser to open a competing salon.

What constitutes a legitimate business interest? Courts will consistently enforce restrictive covenants that seek to protect a business’s customer goodwill and its confidential information. Confidential information need not be so confidential as to be considered a trade secret — which has its own statutory protections regardless of the existence of a non-compete agreement. Customer lists, pricing information, research and development and other items that the company truly treats as confidential can usually be protected. Industry-specific circumstances

that their customer goodwill and valuable confidential information don’t walk out the door when an employee resigns. One method of protecting — or attempting to protect — a business’s interests is use of non-compete agreements or other similar types of agreements, which are collectively known in the legal field as restrictive covenants.

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might also factor into an agreement’s enforceability. Entry-level employees, those without access to research and development information, and those who aren’t tasked with cultivating client relationships will be less likely to be bound. A court is not going to put a line cook out of work for a year by saying she cannot walk across the street and work for another restaurant. Attempts by businesses to overreach in this regard are met with disfavor. Merely trying to prevent your employees from defecting to your competition is also not a protectable interest. Considering consideration The final (but often overlooked) element to enforcing a restrictive covenant is consideration. Something of value must be given in exchange for the employee’s agreement to be bound. In Minnesota, employment that is expressly conditioned upon signing a restrictive covenant is sufficient consideration. However, businesses must be extremely careful on how this is done. If an employee accepts employment, begins working, then is presented with a noncompete agreement, that is not sufficient consideration under the law. It’s best to consult with your trusted human resources or legal adviser if you have questions on how to accomplish this the correct way. But what if your key employees never had a non-compete agreement, and now you wish to put one in place? All is not lost. You can offer a financial or other work-related incentive (raises, promotions, stock options, additional fringe benefits) as consideration for an agreement.

for higher-level positions if they are bound by a previous employer’s restrictive covenant? You should. Onboarding a new employee, only to be slapped with a cease-and-desist letter a month later, is a costly and painful disruption to your business. If the former employer sues, the company can be on the hook for damages and attorney fees if it is shown that it knowingly hired someone in violation of a restrictive covenant. Selling your business? The rules change In the context of a sale of a business, courts are far more likely to enforce broader restrictions on competition. From a business perspective, it makes sense. If you pay me $1 million for my business, but I can walk across the street, open a competing shop, and eat your lunch, where is the value? Longer — often much longer — temporal restrictions will be considered enforceable. Five- and 10-year restrictions, depending upon the industry, are not uncommon. Courts will also be more generous with geographic restrictions, especially in the case of brick-and-mortar businesses. Just because it’s legal … Sometimes the Venn diagram between what is legally acceptable and what makes good business sense overlaps and sometimes it doesn’t. Requiring a reasonable non-compete from your key employees can be an excellent business decision; overreaching or aggressive enforcement can affect employee morale and the culture of your business. Tread lightly.

“ Requiring a reasonable non-compete from your key employees can be an excellent business decision; overreaching or aggressive enforcement can affect employee morale and the culture of your business. Tread lightly.” Dawn Van Tassel Van Tassel Law Firm

How non-competes can affect your hiring practices Does your company ask candidates Dawn Van Tassel is founder of Van Tassel Law Firm: 612.751.7933; dawn@dawnvantassel.com; www.dawnvantassel.com.

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MARCH • APRIL 2021 UPSIZE

SURVIVE & THRIVE Shifting on the fly gives business owners a chance to pull through difficult times

early 2020, things were looking good at Andy’s Garage, an American food diner at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. Following a strong 2019, the company was off to another good start. “We were going for our best year ever,” says owner Frank Chase. Then it disappeared. Big time. The COVID-19 global pandemic hit and everything shut down. Literally. Gov. Tim Walz, in mid-March, ordered bars, restaurants, health clubs, theaters and other public gathering places to temporarily close to fight the spread of the virus. Restaurants were among the hardest hit and, in Chase’s case, he lost one of his most regular sources of customers when a large health care organization in the same building ordered its employees to start working from home. Chase had to shut down not just Andy’s Garage, but also Andy’s Diner, a similar venue he had just opened in Uptown. But Chase refused to give up. When able, he re-opened, but with a twist. He’d sold only American food before COVID hit. During the downtime, he added some Mexican fare, specializing in small handheld items like tacos, burritos and tamales that were compatible with takeout or a very quick sit-down meal.

Andy’s Garage has typically sold American food, specializing in popular cheeseburgers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, owner Frank Chase tweaked menus to include handheld Mexican food items more conducive to takeout or quick sitdown meals. This allowed him to keep employees and add sales during the closings.

BY ANDREW TELLIJOHN photographs by Tom Dunn

UPSIZE MARCH • APRIL 2021

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COVER STORY “When you are thinking about starting a business you have to think in terms of ‘do I have enough money to do this.’ That’s just basic business planning strategy. You need to think beyond start-up costs.” — Diane Paterson,

regional director of the Small Business Development Center in the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas

he change hasn’t made him whole, but as of early March 2021 sales were at about 60% of his 2019 sales. Not great, but enough to give him optimism that he’d be able to wait out the remainder of the pandemic. The Mexican food items now account for around 30% to 40% of his daily sales. “We’re seeing that people want that category of food right now,” Chase says, adding that the shift on the fly has allowed him to keep his employees working. “I count my blessings every day. … We truly enjoy cooking and seeing our customers happy.”

From wood to plastic overnight

Chase was just one of countless small business owners crushed by the sudden onset of COVID-19. Many did not make it through. But some who did survive found creative ways to change up their businesses on the fly. Woodchuck USA, for example, is a 9-year-old manufacturing company that typically designs and makes wooden gifts, journals and flasks for the corporate gift market. That market largely disappeared when the virus arrived and Woodchuck had furloughed half of its 50 workers. Chairman and founder Benjamin VandenWymelenberg says the survival of his business was in doubt. Then the company’s fortunes changed again, literally overnight, when a friend got a call from a contact at Allina Health wondering if Woodchuck could start making plastic face shields. “Sunday night he came over to the manufacturing shop,” VandenWymelenberg says. “We cut up a mock up and taped it together. He sent it to his contact at Allina and they said ‘Yep, we’ll take 5,000.’” Monday, he hired everybody back. “We said ‘we’re going to be making face shields, let’s go,’” he says. 16

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Within a couple days, Woodchuck had 1 million orders. In addition to his own people, he hired 700 temporary workers. They ramped up production until they were making 750,000 face shields a day, while operating three shifts with 250 workers on each from three different locations. “We became the largest ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ face shield manufacturer,” he says. “We had multimillion dollar companies reaching out to us saying ‘Are you the guys making 750,000 face shields a day?’” It turned Woodchuck’s year around. VandenWymelenberg declined to discuss the financial implications, other than to say Woodchuck has since been able to move into a larger facility that it can grow into in the future. He instead focused on how the change allowed him to keep workers employed and contribute to keeping front-line workers safe. He also credited his team for stepping up. For example, buyers had to switch overnight from buying wood to sourcing plastic and elastic. “We had purchased every yard of elastic we could find in the United States,” he says. “We bought enough elastic to stretch from the East Coast to the West Coast twice.”

Finding a way to say yes

Interpretation and translation service company INGCO International also turned in a banner year in 2020 after adding technology training to its service offerings. That’s not to say it was an easy year, says Ingrid Christensen, president. It took a lot of 12-to-14-hour days and six- or seven-day weeks to get there, but throughout the year she doubled her staff count and her sales. How? “We became technologists,” she says. INGCO historically provides translations, interpreting and specialty services, such as subtitling and voiceovers. Translations and specialty services stayed strong throughout the year, even increasing in demand with the need to publish COVID-

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COVER STORY

“I count my blessings every day. … We truly enjoy cooking and seeing our customers happy.” — Frank Chase,

owner of Andy’s Garage and Andy’s Diner

related materials in multiple languages. Interpreting, most of which is done in person, shifted quickly. And, as it turned out, when the pandemic hit, many of her existing clients didn’t know anything about conducting meetings on Zoom or any of the other technologies that became vital to keep businesses running. So, INGCO began teaching its existing clients for free, a decision not everyone agreed with but Christensen defended. “We have to make sure we have business coming in the door and if that means we need to teach our clients how to do their work, then that’s what that means,” she says,

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adding that a lot of the technology work ensured some vital services were able to continue. One of her clients, for example, provides mental health counseling for kids. “They had no idea how to begin providing services for their families and for their patients,” Christensen says. “Not only would we lose that book of business, but much greater than that, kids that desperately need this service wouldn’t have received it.” For another client, INGCO had to learn how to broadcast an event in four languages simultaneously. Word spread. Referrals came in. Sales spiked in comparison with 2019. She increased her staff from four to

MARCH • APRIL 2021 UPSIZE

COVER STORY Local organizations offer financial, practical advice to small businesses hit by Covid-19 by Andrew Tellijohn

ince the Covid-19 pandemic hit the U.S. about a year ago, several organizations have stepped up trying to help business owners navigate the resources and programs available to help them survive. Nearly 2,000 businesses have taken advantage of oneon-one sessions offered by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, which also updates its Covid-19 Business Toolkit daily with new resources and information. Its Grow Minnesota! Program connects business owners with economic data and insights on the recovery and access to Minnesota-based suppliers. In one case, the organization was able to assist a local business in overcoming an international travel ban to get a project manager to Canada to work on a large project. “Since the outset … the Minnesota Chamber has worked tirelessly for our member organizations,” says Doug Loon, president. The Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Meda) has a Community Development Fund Institution that has provided capital to Black, Indigenous and people of color-owned businesses to aid in their survival. It has partnered with Cummins on a grant and forgivable loan program and has its Opportunity Finance Network/Grow with Google program has funds available for Black-owned businesses, as well. “During these economically tumultuous times, Meda is the one-stop shop for Paycheck Protection Program loans, economic injury disaster funding, securing lines of credit” and access to consultants, loan application assistance and other services, says Alfredo Martel, CEO. SCORE Twin Cities has a team of 130 experienced team members providing mentoring services. It offers an online, interactable Client Resource Guide and hosts nearly 200 workshops locally, each covering a variety of start-up and ongoing business topics. The workshops are supported by more than 45 partners

INGCO International has long done translations and interpreting for clients in several industries. In 2021, the company, by chance, added tech consulting to its service list. Here, the company is assisting an organizaiton in broadcasting a meeting in several different languages.

10, including her son, Oscar Christensen, who regularly has the answers when tech-related questions arise. And, so far in 2021, the trend appears to be holding, as early Q1 was up nearly 50% over the same portion of 2020. “Putting those things into place has allowed us to jump in and hold this space as subject matter experts,” she says. “The language piece, our core business, that’s the bare minimum now. We’re expected to be great at language services. We can’t not be. But it’s the other things we bring to the table that we are excellent at that make us different from the rest of the people in this industry.” And many of these formerly in-person meetings are likely to remain virtual even as COVID clears, so technology training likely will stay a staple. “Every day we learn more and every day there is a new technology. I really don’t think this is going to disappear. If anything, it’s going to grow more.”

Prepare early, pivot quickly

Diane Paterson, regional director for the Small Business Development Center in the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas, says not all businesses lend themselves to such dramatic changes. Many of those that were nimble enough to react quickly, however, are in the best shape now. She works with a music school that, when in-person lessons became an issue, switched to online training that not only kept her business afloat but “grew enrollment dramatically,” due to the added convenience

continues opposite 18

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COVER STORY for parents of not having to drive children to appointments. That was a switch of necessity in March, but one that will actually help the company expand long term, she adds. “She flexed quickly and it worked out well,” Paterson says. Paterson also says businesses should begin preparing for down times during good times. It’s best practice, she says, to keep enough cash available to cover at least 90 days of expenses, preferably 180. “If you are barely cash-flowing, you are not going to be prepared when the economy gets hit by outward forces,” she says. “I think you start planning for something like this before you launch your business. So, when you are thinking about starting a business you have to think in terms of ‘do I have enough money to do this?’ That’s just basic business planning strategy. You need to think beyond start-up costs. You need to have enough working capital to keep the business going no matter what happens.” John Thwing, market president at 21st Century Bank, agrees that businesses need to plan ahead. Save some reserves for downturns. Analyze your cash flow. And don’t expect that a banker can help you out on an incredibly quick turnaround. “What you don’t want is to go to your bank to solve a problem tomorrow,” he says. “You want to go to your bank to solve a problem that you see that is 30 to 60 days out. If you can’t make payroll tomorrow, it’s pretty hard for me to solve that. … You’ve got to give advisers and funding sources some time to address your needs.”

Seek help, but stand up for yourself

While few foresaw just how bad the COVID-19 pandemic would play out in the U.S., business experts say there are ways companies can put themselves in the best situations to survive massive downturns, whether they be related to pandemics, terrorism as happened on Sept. 11, 2001 or other difficult times. The beginning of a pandemic would not be the ideal time to try and start a banking or accounting or legal relationship. Thwing says the second quarter of last year was ridiculously busy as business owners – and lenders – tried to navigate the myriad of business relief scenarios. “We were up to our eyeballs in PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) just playing defense trying to help people survive that first onslaught,” he says. It’s also not a time to wait for your bankers or other advisers to call on you. Owners need to look out for their own well-being in situations like this. “You’ve got a co-pilot, but you’re still the pilot,” he says. “You’ve got several co-pilots, including your lender, your

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bringing a variety of areas of expertise to the business community, says Harry Miller, co-chair. WomenVenture exists to level the playing field for women entrepreneurs who face obstacles in the world of business. This past year, the organization has provided resources on its Covid Update Hub online and offers 35-minute Zoom consultations with volunteers through its Virtual Business Advice Service. “This past year has been hard on businesses — particularly women-owned businesses — and our job is to support business during the pandemic,” says Kathy Pyle, senior business consultant. In preparation for the coming economic recovery, Enterprise Minnesota is offering manufacturing business assessments, currently at no cost, says Bob Kill, president and CEO. Assessments cover seven areas and they are unique to each business. “We work with your organization to understand your value chain and processes,” Kill says. “At the conclusion, you will be presented with a report that makes recommendations on what’s working and what’s not, with next step actions to take.”

Enterprise Minnesota is offering manufacturing business assessments covering seven areas of business aimed at helping your organization understand your value chain and processes. At the end, you’ll receive an assessment with recommendations on what’s working and what’s not. To learn more: President & CEO Bob Kill www.enterpriseminnesota.org 612.373.2900

The Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Meda) offers a variety of programs, from business development and access to capital to corporate and governmental market support, for business owners who are Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC). Its Community Development Fund and other programs and partnerships offer financial and other forms of relief. To learn more: Alfredo Martel, CEO www.meda.net/services 612.332.6332 & info@meda.net

MARCH • APRIL 2021 UPSIZE

COVER STORY Minnesota Chamber of Commerce staff offers one-onone assistance to companies looking for guidance on compliance, safety, reopening and available funding sources. Its Business Toolkit (https://www.mnchamber. com/blog/covid-19-business-toolkit) is an online resource that is updated daily with resources, including a database of more than 700 funding sources. To learn more: Doug Loon, president www.mnchamber.com/blog/local-covid-19-resourcedatabase dloon@mnchamber.com

SCORE Twin Cities has an interactive Client Resource Guide (https://twincities.score.org/resource/ score-twin-cities-client-resourceguide-0) accessible to business owners on its website that can be used to develop plans or improve development efforts. It includes access to local workshops and guides for various needs. To learn more: Harry Miller, co-chair www.Twincitiesscore.org 952.938.4570 or twincities@scorevolunteer.org

Women Venture’s business consultants have been working to help small businesses apply for COVID relief funding and are advising on Paycheck Protection Program applications. The organization also offers 35-minute Zoom consultations with volunteers and has a COVID Update Hub on its website (https://www.womenventure.org/covid-19update-hub.html) with resources and opportunities. To learn more: Kathy Pyle, senior business consultant www.womenventure.org 612.224.9540 & info@womenenture.org

accountant and your other advisers. But you’re still the one in the driver’s seat and you still have to do the flight plan. What I found is people who try to keep up and understand and ask questions and engage and, to some degree, push their agenda, they’re figuring stuff out more than people who are passive and wait for the banker to come to them. This is not a time to be passive.” And stay alert, adds Thwing, who is known as “the SBA guy” for his focus on lending through the U.S. Small Business Administration. In early March 2021, the SBA came out with a new application for people who file Schedule C forms on their taxes. “You’ve got to be light on your feet,” Thwing says. “With everything going on out there, you have to stay on top of what is available.” Beyond that, focus on your balance sheet. “The balance sheet is a pretty simple tool, but a lot of owners are afraid of it,” he says, pointing at cash, debt, equity and leverage. “Understanding the basics of the balance sheet can be really helpful.”

Communicate, operate, debrief

Don’t forget operations and communications, says Jon Austin, senior partner at J. Austin & Associates. A lot of companies were caught unprepared, he says, by the impact of the pandemic and they had to improvise, not always successfully. “They were caught flat-footed,” he says. One restaurant near where he lives closed initially, then re-opened, only to have to close again on two occasions

CONTACT: JON AUSTIN, senior partner at J. Austin & Associates: 612.839.5172; jon@jaustingroup.com; www.jaustingroup.com. FRANK CHASE, owner of Andy’s Garage: 612.886.2602; www.andys-mpls.com. INGRID CHRISTENSEN, president of INGCO International: 612.605.8006; ingridc@ingcointernational.com; www.ingcointernational.com. DIANE PATERSON, regional director of the Small Business Development Center in the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas: 651.962.4503; diane.paterson@stthomas.edu; www.stthomas.edu. JOHN THWING, market president at 21st Century Bank: 612.505.9751; sbaguy@21stcb.com; www.21stcb.com. BENJAMIN VANDENWYMELENBERG, founder of Woodchuck USA: 833.828.4980; sales@woodchuckusa.com; www.woodchuckusa.com.

UPSIZE MARCH • APRIL 2021

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COVER STORY

Adding takeout-friendly Mexican food items like tacos to the menu at Andy’s Garage and Andy’s Diner kept employees working and bumped sales. — Frank Chase,

owner of Andy’s Garage and Andy’s Diner

due to outbreaks. “It took three times to get it right,” Austin says. He suspects COVID will change emergency response and disaster planning going forward. There have always been, in recent years, sections in those plans on cyber breaches and workplace violence. Now they’ll include what to do if you can’t occupy your work space or what to do if you lose 90% of your revenues. “For some that will be ‘we’re going to be out of business,’” Austin says. “For anything short of that, having a plan and having spent some time thinking through our range of options and what we can put in place ahead of time so we have the ability to implement quickly, I think

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that’s an advantage.” On communications, he says he often gets calls at all hours from people who have something happen but don’t have a plan. That also warrants thought ahead of time, he adds. Finally, do a debrief. Half of the organizations he works with don’t, but they should. “Some of it is they don’t want to spend the money,” he says. “Some of the people are traumatized by the experience and they don’t want to think about it anymore than they have to. But I think it’s a valuable lesson.”

MARCH • APRIL 2021 UPSIZE

catching up by Andrew Tellijohn

New training methodology, virtual skillset expanding reach at HueLife

n the five years since Upsize Minnesota visited with Irina and Richard Fursman much has changed. COVID-19 wiped out a significant amount of the pro bono work the facilitation training company had been doing internationally, though that will soon be re-emerging virtually – perhaps a stronger and more efficient way of providing that business than doing so in-person anyway. “I don’t think we’ll go back to in-person as much as we used to,” says Irina Fursman, co-founder and CEO. “This will allow us to engage the international community even more effectively than before.” The slowdown of 2020 also allowed Fursman to finish her doctorate. As such, she’s developing her own methodology and preparing to launch a new leadership development program based on her research. It’ll be an extension of what HueLife has been doing. HueLife’s clients come from the public, private and civic sectors. Clients include the Osseo Area School System, the University of Minnesota, the International Finance Corp. and the city of Bloomington, all organizations that often work with similar organizations where there is less of a hierarchy and more of a consortium of leadership that must figure out how to work together to solve challenges, she says. Fursman says what fascinated her was how some people and organiza22

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and methods are still important and we will continue to develop workshops to help people deliver these skills,” Fursman says. “What I thought was missing and where I see the biggest need now is just the mindset, the internal piece with individuals themselves being the tools. So, when you think of a leader who is trying to convene multiple stakeholders, it’s great to know how, but my biggest insight is the way they view themselves and others in that process.” Over the past few years, HueLife has been building internal capacity, as well, training leaders to be able to convene in ways that help people identify actions and strategies around the issues that they are trying to solve. Going forward, HueLife also is working with several other organizations in city Richard and Irina Fursman appeared in and county government, academia and Upsize in 2016. the nonprofit sector to create the Twin Cities Metro Area Innovation League. tions have a good sense for figuring out The purpose is to develop cross-cultural how to work together in those situations, collaboration for just public service but training in that area is still lacking. delivery. The initial focus is on the future “We still don’t know how to prepare a of policing. new generation of leaders to be that way,” “This group has been focusing on what she says. does it mean to transform policing withPreviously, 90% of the company’s out necessarily going radical, one way or training program consisted of facilitation another,” Fursman says. “What does the skills, training a specific methodology future of policing look like?” across a spectrum of positions. That work As the participants collaborate, she has largely been based around the work of says, early results indicate it’s less about the Institute of Cultural Affairs in Chicago police and more about trust between and they will still be important going populations that have been historically forward. not included in designing how policing “This research provided skills and tools happens. www.upsizemag.com

Top: Hue Life evolving with new virtual meeting skills and COO Stephanie Ahles taking on larger roles

“That’s a project in development that is happening right now,” she says. Irina and Richard Fursman started the company in 2008. They met via Match. com and, when she arrived in the U.S. from Ukraine in 2002, she didn’t know English. They started the company after working through their own power imbalance in the early days of their relationship. “The power I had was enormous,” Richard told Upsize in 2016. “I had the citizenship, the language, the economics. I had a lot of power, whereas the best way to make any relationship work is shared power and shared accountability.” They aimed to use their own experiences to help other companies work

HueLife LLC Description: Professional development training firm aiming to inspire organizational engagement in clients Top Executive: Irina Fursman, co-founder and CEO Headquarters: Eagan Employees: 10 full-time, 12 contractors Website: www.hue.life

through power and communication differences and to help them understand what kinds of motivation and leadership methods work for different people. Now, as Irina Fursman takes her doctorate and institutes her own research into the company’s curriculum, Richard is retiring from active management to research and write a book on historical perspectives of the collapse of the Soviet Union and perceptions of that event in the U.S. And Irina is trying to continue growing the company, often putting HueLife’s theories into practice herself. She advises companies to communicate clearly with employees what you are trying to do, but even more importantly why you are doing them. “Working with young people, they really want to understand the why and be connected to the purpose,” she says. “Be clear and intentional about building your team around that shared purpose.” She also says it’s important to create a system where anyone in the organization can take on an initiative and lead it. “That means establishing within your small team processes or norms in which leadership can be enacted by anyone on the team,” she says. “They will be the ones buying into whatever they come up with and growing your business with ideas the owner might not even have.”

“ Working with young people, they really want to understand the why and be connected to the purpose. Be clear and intentional about building your team around that shared purpose.” — Irina Fursman,

co-founder and CEO of HueLife LLC

Contact: Irina Fursman: 651.338.2533; info@hue.life; www.hue.life

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MARCH • APRIL 2021 UPSIZE

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With over 30 years in the industry, John Thwing, SVP Head of Lending, locally known as the “The SBA Guy” is a recognized Twin Cities lender that entrepreneurs know and trust.

Specializing In

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Wes Bergstrom surrounded by his wife, Georgene, and daughters Jessy, Tambre and Megan.

Remembering Upsize Minnesota co-founder Wes Bergstrom

hen Wes Bergstrom was in college in the 1960s, he turned in a paper late. The professor had given him an incomplete, but wrote him a letter saying he could go get his grade changed. He didn’t do it right away, but did take care of eventually. “He saved it for like 20 years and he brought it in and got his grade changed when he decided to go back to school,” Megan says, adding that when she was in high school, they took a psychology class together at the University of Minnesota. “He was an amazing student.” Megan says her father was devoted to his family, his music — especially Bob Dylan — and his work, which for www.upsizemag.com

the last 30 years of his life involved publishing “how-to” magazines aimed at providing usable information that would help small businesses grow. Wes Bergstrom died unexpectedly last March 2020, leaving behind his wife Georgene, three daughters, nine grandchildren and a great-grandson. Committed to work and healthy living, Georgene and Megan described Wes as sometimes stubborn and driven, definitely a workaholic. “He was a perfectionist, very much so,” says Megan, recalling her teenage years when she would wake up around lunchtime to the sounds of Bob Dylan and the sight of Wes hunched over his work at a table in the living room. “It would be every weekend, during

the week,” she says. “I’d hear it before I even got down the stairs. He was always poring over things.” Yet he was always present as a parent and he was, Georgene adds, committed to a healthy lifestyle — almost too committed, both joked. He ran around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis every day, played touch football and pickup basketball regularly into his later years and gave up drinking, smoking and consuming sugar and caffeine nearly 40 years ago. “When he set his mind to something that was it,” Georgene says. “He never had a slip.” “He was a little hard to live with at that time,” Megan joked. Wes was also a voracious reader, sometimes having 20 books open at a time. And they were all print edition so he could highlight favorite passages. “He sat on the couch in his room and he had his table and his bookshelves and he had bookmarks in all of them,” MARCH • APRIL 2021 UPSIZE

BACK PAGE Megan says. “He could explain every single one and what stage he was at. He had a lot of interests. He was a philosophy major.” And he never stopped learning, which fit with his love of magazines. He worked in advertising sales at Corporate Report before ascending into the role of publisher, which he held for three years. He left there to help start Minnesota Ventures, his first foray into the “how-to” niche. In 2002, he, Beth Ewen and Jonathan Hankin co-founded Upsize, where Wes served as president and publisher. Family man with a sense of humor While he had a serious side, friends and family say Wes also had a “droll” sense of humor. Bob Stavig, who worked as an ad salesman at Corporate Report first and then became sales manager when Wes was promoted to publisher, says Wes’s humor created a fun atmosphere that helped people work in roles that could be stressful. Wes’s “super organized” methods for tracking ad sales stuck with Stavig throughout his career, as did Wes’s professional and fair approach to the job. “His humor was just out of this world,” says Stavig, who says he was crushed to learn that Wes had died. “He was a tremendous human being and a big influence on my life.” Jay Novak, who ran editorial at Corporate Report until he was promoted to associate publisher reporting to Wes, recalled one of their first meetings. In their early days, the magazine had a strict separation between editorial and advertising, so beyond a handshake they had barely spoken until an all-staff meeting. Novak introduced himself and said he’d been with the magazine six months. “We celebrated at our house a week ago,” Wes joked. Novak says they became friends 28

UPSIZE MARCH • APRIL 2021

“It’s not easy to replace a friend that had depth, family history, compassion and shared interests.” — Rick Brimacomb, founder of Brimacomb Capital and Club Entrepreneur

says. “He thought ‘how-to’ added the most value.” Wes and Georgene were friends of Brimacomb’s parents and his companies co-sponsored some business networking events with Upsize. Wes Bergstrom He described Wes as a great builder of relationships who “might be the bigquickly and kept in touch long after gest fan of Bob Dylan who ever lived.” Wes left to start Minnesota Ventures. He also loved brainstorming solutions “He was a friend in addition to beto problems, both those confronting ing someone I reported to at work,” local businesses and those woes often Novak says. “He was a good person confronting the local sports scene, to work for. He believed in treating especially his beloved Golden Gophers people decently and making clear what basketball team. he wanted when he was in a reporting He had tickets close to the floor. “He situation. He was always very reasoncould watch the facial expressions, hear able and easy to get along with.” the cuss words and hear the coach barkNovak says when Wes and Brett ing at the players,” Brimacomb says. “It Johnson started Minnesota Ventures, brought him into the action, just like they basically took ownership of the getting to know the business leaders “how-to” niche in the Twin Cities and and executives he interacted with.” never let it go. It started out, Georgene While he was driven by work, Brimasays, as a way for the new product comb adds that Wes’s family meant the to stand out in a competitive media world to him. “He treasured his girls, market. including Georgene, and his grandchil“He thought that was an open niche dren. that wasn’t being filled,” she says, “He was a good man,” Brimacomb But Rick Brimacomb, founder of Brimacomb Capital, Brimacomb & As- says. “It’s not easy to replace a friend that had depth, family history, compassociates and Club Entrepreneur, says sion and shared interests. I miss him.” it was something of a calling for Wes, as well. “Wes liked being a resource,” he www.upsizemag.com

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