2005

Ken Melrose

Ken Melrose

Ken Melrose became CEO of the Toro Company in 1983 amid doubts that it could survive. He refashioned its product portfolio, changed its performance culture, and helped achieved a 25-fold

Ron Fagen

Ron Fagen incorporated his Granite Falls company Fagen, Inc., in 1988, and has grown it to a projected $500 million in revenues by building grain elevators and processing plants, paper
Robert Kierlin

Robert Kierlin

State Senator Bob Kierlin co-founded Fastenal, Inc., in a tiny Winona storefront in 1967. Today it employs 7,000 people and operates 1,600 stores, 12 distribution centers, and a 3,500-vehicle fleet
Dale Bachman

Dale Bachman

Dale Bachman faced a rare challenge when, in 1992, he became a fourth-generation president of a 107-year-old family-owned corporation. Having already transformed the company by adding a wholesale landscape-material business,

James R. Campbell

In an era of deregulation, James R. Campbell became CEO of Minnesota’s largest bank and developed it into a leading commercial lender and a strong provider of retail banking services.