Alfredo Martel’s resume includes corporate gigs at Famous Dave’s and Caribou Coffee. He was tapped a year ago to lead the nonprofit Minneapolis-based MEDA with a pledge to bring a…
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
Five years into her tenure as the St. Paul YWCA’s CEO, Harvard-educated Gaye Adams Massey has emerged as a forceful voice for racial equity and social justice, with a focus…
Until the George Floyd civil uprising, most Minnesotans knew WCCO-TV’s Mike Max as the Gaylord, Minnesota, native who had all the best hunting spots in Minnesota and the Dakotas and…
2021, Rooted: Since she took over Graywolf in 1994, Fiona McCrae has turned the press based in Minneapolis’s North Loop into a worldwide cultural powerhouse, its books and authors snagging…
Named executive director of the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild in 2017, Lauren Bennett McGinty has emerged as the leading voice of the state’s microbrewery scene. Her name has popped up…
Warren McLean has deep experience working with minority entrepreneurs and economically challenged neighborhoods. He led the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA) for nearly 10 years, and before that he worked…
Mike McMahan is the businessperson’s health care pro. A 25-year veteran of the health care industry, he started out on the front lines as an exercise physiologist before taking top…
Ty Menzies knew he was taking on a tough job when he stepped into the top spot of Chanhassen-based Lift Brands a few months into the coronavirus pandemic. But his…
Minneapolis-based Bright Health has raised more than $1.5 billion in financing, a staggering statistic for a Minnesota company. The company’s health plan is now available in 13 states. G. Mike…
First elected to the Minnesota House in 2010, Rep. Rena Moran has long been active in fighting for racial justice. She chairs the People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus…
Not many people know Ecolab’s business as well as Tim Mulhere. Over 20 years with the company, he has held leadership roles in all its business lines. The institutional group…
Julie Nelson, the veteran local anchor with a calming and earnest presence, stepped into the breach during the protests after George Floyd’s killing, among the first local journalists to call…
2021, Rooted: The Hennepin Theatre Trust venues are an anchor of downtown Minneapolis, brightening hundreds of nights each year and helping to keep downtown vibrant. Attendance-based venues were knocked on…
Growing up in Fargo, Rosie Nestingen was accustomed to being the only Black person in the room. As the first Black Miss North Dakota, she spent a year traveling the…
Anthony Niedwiecki, a former law school dean in San Francisco, took the helm at Mitchell Hamline just weeks after George Floyd’s killing. One of a few openly gay law school…
A nationally lauded music curator, Kate Nordstrum was a provocative hire by the Great Northern winter festival last December. She sees opportunity to turn the annual event into a national…
2021, Change Agent: The Covid-19 crisis brought with it another crisis: increased food insecurity. Under Allison O’Toole’s leadership, Brooklyn Park-based hunger relief organization Second Harvest Heartland delivered more than 75…
What started as a passion project in 2013 during Abdul Omari’s doctorate work grew into what is now a thriving business. AMO Enterprise provides an educational platform for companies to…