A former Republican member of the Minnesota House, Mary Liz Holberg was enlisted by DFL Gov. Tim Walz to chair a blue-ribbon committee on Metropolitan Council governance. The Met Council…
The TCB 100 - 2021
It’s been a year, huh? When we set out in late 2019 to identify the TCB100, we saw a 2020 defined by an election and a booming economy. And for 10 weeks, that’s what we got. Then Covid hit, then George Floyd, then an election week that revealed how polarized we all are.
So when our editorial team met in a driveway just before Labor Day, the question was how to identify 100 people who will shape 2021 when 2020 threw us nothing but curveballs.
So this TCB100 is a little different. The people we’re suggesting you keep an eye on are the usual array of movers and shakers, emerging and vets, but with extra emphasis on those who will blaze our trail out of a pandemic and into a business universe increasingly defined by its commitment to equity in deeds rather than verbiage.
Here’s to a year of healing and prosperity for us all. —Adam Platt
By Tess Allen, Kait Ecker, Liz Fedor, Burl Gilyard, Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, Allison Kaplan, Sarah Lutman, Stephanie March, Dan Niepow, Adam Platt, Gene Rebeck, and Rajiv Tandon
This year brought with it the two-year anniversary of Hollingsworth’s Minneapolis architectural, urban design, and community development firm, Design By Melo. It survived the pandemic with economic stimulus monies spent…
When it came time for health insurance startup Bind Benefits Inc. to begin offering a fully insured health plan, the company looked to health care veteran Jodi Hubler. The company,…
2021, Alumni: Sahan means “pioneer” in Somali. The St. Paul-based news nonprofit led by Mukhtar Ibrahim has been drawing national notice for its coverage of immigrant and refugee communities. In…
A career of innovation has led Eric Jackson to pursue several ventures, the latest of which focuses on added nutritional value and nutrient density in organic grains. Before establishing Fridley-based…
Scott Jagodzinski is used to having his hand in several ventures at once. The co-founder and chairman of Minneapolis-based studio fitness chain Alchemy 365, Jagodzinski has also served for nearly…
Immerse yourself in any metro-area-based public policy challenge and there’s likely to be an Ellison. Keith Ellison drew the national spotlight as a congressman but returned home to become the…
Coon Rapids-based HOM Furniture started in 1973 as a wholesale and retail gift import business. Today HOM is a big regional player as a full-service furniture retailer with 17 stores…
2021, Builder: When the pandemic unfolded in Minnesota, the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation was one of the first grantmakers out of the gate to announce special funding for affected…
Gina Kastel is leading the integration of Faegre Baker Daniels and Drinker Biddle & Reath. The merger, which took effect in February, produced a law firm with 1,300 attorneys. Kastel…
Rita Katona sells immunity, energy, and detoxing in the form of 2-ounce plant-based, probiotic juice shots, but she views her platform in broader terms: “making a positive impact on our…
John Kelly is on a mission to fix the health benefit experience. His Minneapolis-based insurance tech startup Nexben simplifies the marketplace by connecting the entire industry—national insurance carriers, independent agents,…
2021, Alumni: Raising a middle finger to fear has become one of the James Beard Award-winning chef’s signatures, along with genre-bending cuisine. So as other restaurants fell all around her,…
Rahul Koranne approaches his work at the Minnesota Hospital Association with a mix of business acumen and sound medical knowledge. The MBA and M.D. took the reins of the organization…
Few industries have suffered because of the pandemic like airlines. Yet when longtime Delta (and Northwest) vet Bill Lentsch received his marching orders for his new role from CEO Ed…
Zoë Levin calls herself the “TP Queen”—and her sales affirm her rule. Bim Bam Boo, which makes tree-free/toxin-free toilet paper from bamboo, rose to power in 2020 as a multimillion-dollar…
When Alissa Light took over Family Tree Clinic 10 years ago, the 49-year-old clinic was something of a secret in a basement near the Macalester College campus in St. Paul.…
Katherine Crawford Luber arrived as the new president and director of the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) from San Antonio in January—just in time for winter and, a couple months…