In late 2017, Lee Wallace became Peace Coffee’s owner, after enlisting the help of an outside financer and buying it from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. In Wallace’s

Jeremy Segal’s business has exploded since he transitioned his company from wholesale to e-commerce in 2015. Revenues doubled from $10 million in 2014 to $20 million in 2017, and this

After 20 years as CEO of the St. Paul Riverfront Corp., which drove the revitalization of the capital city’s central business district, Patrick Seeb is helping make over another downtown.

Matty O’Reilly has never met an empty space in a new complex that has appealed to him. Instead, the fiercely independent restaurateur chooses to pick up struggling locations and rehab

Connector, brand builder, and champion of innovators, Erin Newkirk sold her social correspondence app, Red Stamp, to Taylor Corp. in 2013. She’s an advisory board member to three local companies

Tony Miller is a classic serial entrepreneur. His new company, Bind Benefits, offers “on-demand health insurance.” The concept calls for enrollees to be able to add benefits beyond core coverage

When Shaye Mandle took over the leadership of the local biomedical trade association in 2014, it was called LifeScience Alley and viewed mainly as the political voice of the state’s

Founder of 16-year-old Minneapolis digital agency Clockwork, Nancy Lyons has built a national reputation as an expert on technology, entrepreneurship, and workplace culture. Compelled to make a difference beyond the

Just about everyone in the local startup community knows Melissa Kjolsing Lynch, who previously led the MN Cup entrepreneurial competition. She served as the founding manager of the Lunar Startups

Spawned by the University of Minnesota’s Learning Technologies Media Lab in 2012, Flipgrid (formerly known as Vidku) aimed to modernize the classroom with an app that lets students and teachers

In a period of divided politics, St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis is pursuing a path to unity. The former Republican state senator, running a predominantly white community of 68,000, invites

Ann Kim and her husband and business partner, Conrad Leifur, have pioneered a series of Twin Cities restaurants of brilliant originality. First was Pizzeria Lola in South Minneapolis’ Armatage neighborhood,

Twin Cities native Gavin Kaysen made a name for himself as a rising star chef in the New York City kitchens of chef Daniel Boulud before making the utterly Minnesotan

John Johannson was a college hockey standout for the University of Wisconsin before getting into the commercial real estate business. Today he’s known and respected as one of the best,

Hyde Development isn’t a big name on the level of Opus or Ryan in development circles, but it was part of one of the largest recent redevelopment projects in the

Blake Hastings led the local office of CBRE Group Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate services firm, for nearly six years; Los Angeles-based CBRE is a global operation with

A lawyer, Luz Maria Frias joined the YWCA Minneapolis as CEO two years ago. She’s a veteran racial-equity advocate, and expanding opportunities for people of color is among her top

Ever since founding her private equity firm LFE Capital in 1999, Leslie Frecon has established a strong identity as an investor in and advocate for female-owned and -led businesses. Her

Beth Ford made history in July when the Land O’Lakes board promoted her to CEO, becoming the first woman to lead the agricultural cooperative, which reached $13.7 billion in sales

Since Gray Plant Mooty has been around since 1866, it’s tempting to assume it’s one of Minnesota’s more tradition-bound law firms for employee demographics. But that would be wrong, thanks