Jami Olson spent two decades as a bartender and restaurant manager before becoming a restaurateur. “You gotta be willing to get dirty,” she says. “And you have to do what…
The TCB 100 - 2025
The TCB 100 is the list of all lists, the essential guide to people in and around Minnesota business likely to make news and drive change in the year ahead. We include not just corporate types, but also leaders in government and philanthropy who intersect with business. We’ve dynamited silos to bridge specialties and industries to introduce you to a group of individuals who may not all be household names, but whom we expect to emerge in that direction in the year ahead. So read on and share in the success of a few old friends and get to know a big bunch of new ones.
Written by Liz Fedor, Allison Kaplan, Kelly Kegans, Sarah Lutman, Stephanie March, Steve Marsh, Tina Nguyen, Dan Niepow, Adam Platt, Gene Rebeck, Hannah Ward
Johnny Opara emigrated from Nigeria to the U.S. when he was 3 months old. His family moved across the South before landing in the Twin Cities. Opara’s dad later suffered…
What is company culture? For Tanja Oquendo, whom Minneapolis-based Fairview appointed chief people officer in August, it’s “how we do business.” It’s a simple idea, but “it entails everything, particularly…
In 2023, Kwame Osafo-Addo founded TruLegal, a Minneapolis law firm dedicated to “legal empowerment” by serving entrepreneurs of color and addressing their unique needs. So far, Osafo-Addo has worked with…
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,…
The GroundBreak Coalition was formed in 2022 to bring urgency, leadership, and new thinking to eliminating Minnesota’s long-standing racial disparities in wealth creation. The coalition is coordinating the efforts of…
Andre Persaud came to Cub Foods a year ago after a career mostly in Canada, working for some of the world’s most respected retailers. Cub’s parent, food distribution giant UNFI,…
A year ago, Twin Cities native Aron Pilhofer came home after 30-plus years at news venues including the Guardian and New York Times. With the Star Tribune rebranded as a…
“A startup helping startups” is how Julie Pritchard-Hedtke and other company leaders describe Minneapolis-based Avio Medtech Consulting. Launched in 2020 by serial entrepreneur Morgan Evans, the company provides a range…
Never underestimate a financial controller turned furniture maker. Brianne Rasmussen quit her job in 2016 to follow her passion. Timber & Tulip has steadily built a following for its “organic…
2025: A shift to “value-based care”—a model where providers are paid not simply for services provided, but for actual patient outcomes—has long been bandied about in the health care industry.…
Reed Richerson is on a mission to show that solar power isn’t just for wealthy homeowners. Under his guidance, Minneapolis-based US Solar is ramping up programs for low- and moderate-income…
“It’s important to have anchor institutions that people can count on,” says Malik Rucker, a fifth-generation North Minneapolis resident. That’s what the V3 Center, a North Minneapolis health and wellness…
Interior designer Victoria Sass says she’s in business to “sell feelings, not furniture.” Sass says her work is like that of an artist who tells a story on canvas but…
It wasn’t until board game creator-turned-executive Julien Sharp moved to Minneapolis to run U.S. operations of Paris-based Asmodee Group that she realized that most Minnesotans don’t even know the company…
Mustafa Sheikh isn’t necessarily reinventing the wheel with rideshare startup Hich, but he aims to balance the interests of capital with the interests of labor, a component he says is…
Public spaces, like sidewalks, parks, and trails, are supposed to be a city’s most equitable areas, says John Slack. Slack incorporates that lens of equity into his design work, so…
Southdale Center’s $400 million makeover should be a positive for its next-door neighbor Galleria. But it’s become something of a David vs. Goliath narrative, with Southdale owner Simon Property Group…