If there is a God, Mike Osterholm would get to spend 2021 on sabbatical on a tropical island without bugs or viruses. Instead, he will spend it like he spent…
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
2025: Shares of Duluth-based utility Allete have traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 1950, but a deal announced earlier this year would end that. Under Bethany Owen’s leadership,…
Denise Pieratos and three fellow members of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa found motivation in Anishinaabe teachings that emphasized food as sacred medicine. To tackle the alarming prevalence of…
Ebola, HIV, SARS, Nipah virus, Lassa fever, Covid-19—what do they have in common? They’re deadly, of course, and economy-wrecking, of course—and all emerged in regions of increasing deforestation. What would…
After working as a consultant and executive coach in the Twin Cities for two decades, Verna Price looks to 2021 to change corporate cultures around race. Price, one of the…
2021: For decades, Jack Reuler has showcased actors of color and tackled social issues. But the trauma of 2020 has rejuvenated Reuler, whose Minneapolis home is 10 blocks from where…
2021, Change agent: The Pohlad Family Foundation made headlines in June, after the killing of George Floyd, with a $25 million commitment to racial justice. The person who will oversee…
Kent Roers was working in corporate America but getting tired of it. He says he was laid off three times in three years during the Great Recession. Founded with his…
2021, Alumni: Quick to recognize 3M’s ability to play a key role in combating Covid-19, Michael Roman directed his team to double global production of N95 masks, while expanding production…
After graduating from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1994, Steve Ryan joined Briggs & Morgan law firm. On January 1, Briggs merged into Taft, and Ryan serves as…
2021, Change Agent: Sondra Samuels and other leaders started NAZ in 2008 to address racial and educational inequity in opportunities. The organization focuses on supporting children in north Minneapolis so…
Allete isn’t Duluth’s only publicly traded company. Ikonics is small, with annual sales around $18 million, but it produces some fascinating technology. Its imaging equipment, materials, and processes are used…
After George Floyd was killed in May, Bell Bank expedited the creation of a position specifically meant to reach out to members of marginalized communities who regularly can’t access capital,…
2021, Builder: As the pandemic has changed how customers shop, Jeremy Segal’s St. Paul-based e-commerce retailer has been reaping the benefits with record sales, up 50 percent from 2019. To…
Allison Sharkey has led the nonprofit Lake Street Council for seven years but has lived along the corridor for more than 15 years. “It’s really my community and my home.”…
It’s been a busy year for Destinee Shelby, a young Black entrepreneur who has no shortage of energy. Her own Baked Brand is an umbrella for a range of products…
Casey Shultz knew she’d have a lot to learn when she took over as executive director of Minneapolis startup accelerator Beta in January, but like so many others, she couldn’t…
Longtime Twin Cities restaurant vet Patti Soskin had a choice in mid-March: hunker down and close her two west-suburban quick-serve restaurants or lean into the headwind. People who know her…