2024: As a founder of GovDelivery and Structural, Scott Burns has lived the life of a risk-taker. Since building and selling those companies, Burns is applying his startup knowledge to a job as a venture fund general partner. “My history as an entrepreneur helps me see where a business and its leader have potential,” he says. After joining Mairs & Power in August, he’s focused on finding promising high-growth companies in the Upper Midwest for early-stage investments. Based in downtown St. Paul, he’s eager to expand St. Paul’s role as a key hub in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
2014: The Oct. 1 rollout for Healthcare.gov, the Affordable Care Act's online insurance marketplace, went less than smoothly. But it did shine in one regard, thanks in large part to GovDelivery, whose website sent the biggest number of online referrals to the ACA site. The St. Paul-based It company, which Burns founded 14 years ago, facilitates government e-newsletters and emergency communications at the local, state, and federal level. It's also been a cornerstone of downtown St. Paul's small but growing IT sector. As more and more people interact with government digitally, Burns and GovDelivery will be making many of those connections.