Beyond the Skyline

UCare recently announced that Joy Marsh would serve as its first associate vice president of equity and inclusion.

Marsh is filling a new role at UCare, one that meets employee feedback regarding increasing accountability and leadership in the health plan company’s diversity, equity and inclusion work. Her responsibilities and goals reflect this, including those to advance health and racial equity among the nonprofit’s members and the community it serves.

Marsh said she will also lead the nonprofit’s new Equity and Inclusion Department. Her work with internal and external stakeholders will be data-driven and focused on reducing disparities in how communities access health care.

“We’re looking to understand what some of those barriers might be to individuals accessing services and then addressing the root cause,” Marsh told reporter Kelly Busche in this episode.

Marsh joined UCare from the city of Minneapolis, where she served as director of the Division of Race and Equity and developed the city’s first strategic and racial equity plan. She’s also worked at UnitedHealth Group in roles that included business analysis, project management and product owner responsibilities. Marsh has a Bachelor of Science degree in social science and Master of Education in special education and teaching from the University of Minnesota.

As a business and a builder, Ironmark Building Co. has strong ties to Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood.

The company, which specializes in urban infill work and other project types, is based at 1710 W. Lake St. in the heart of an Uptown neighborhood that has seen its share of turmoil in recent months.

Violent crime and civil unrest have prompted some Uptown businesses to pull up their stakes in the neighborhood. Likewise, citing concerns about public safety and regulatory requirements in Minneapolis, some contractors are looking elsewhere for work.

For its part, however, Ironmark has no plans to relocate.

“Lake Street still has a lot of work to do to get back to where it was,” says Brent Kluver, Ironmark partner and vice president of project development. “And we’re looking at some options to help with that effort, too. So this is our home and we don’t plan on really going anywhere for quite some time.”

In the following interview, Kluver talks with Reporter Brian Johnson about running a construction business in Uptown amid the unrest. He also takes a deep dive into the pandemic’s impact on his business, the outlook for the Twin Cities construction market and more.

As the new CEO of New Market Bank, Anita Drentlaw is carrying on a family tradition that started with her great-grandfather more than 100 years ago.

Drentlaw, the bank’s president since 2014, took on the additional title of CEO in August. Under her watch as president, the bank reached $170 million in deposits for the first time.

Drentlaw took over the CEO duties from her father, Bob Vogel, who continues as chair of the board. In all, four generations of the family have held leadership positions at the bank, which serves the south metro and has offices in Lakeville, Prior Lake and Elko New Market.

Prior to becoming president, Drentlaw held a number of other positions at New Market Bank, including executive vice president and chief financial officer. Her resume also includes a stint as public accountant with McGladrey & Pullen, now RSM.

A graduate of the University of St. Thomas and the University of Colorado’s Graduate School of Banking, Drentlaw is active with the Independent Community Bankers of Minnesota and a number of charitable organizations.

In the following interview with reporter Brian Johnson, Drentlaw talks about the history of New Market Bank, how the bank has fared during the pandemic, and the challenge of developing a talent pipeline in the finance business.

Last week, the Expanding Black Business Credit (EBBC) announced the launch of its Black Vision Fund, with a goal of reducing the nation’s racial wealth gap.

The Black Vision Fund will direct long-term funds to seven Black-led and focused Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), including Minneapolis-based Metropolitan Economic Development Association. The fund’s other CDFI partners include Community First Fund, City First Bank, Hope Credit Union, Texas Mezzanine Fund and National Community Investment Fund.

These institutions will then make loans to Black-owned businesses, which are then able to invest in new jobs and revenue opportunities. Ultimately, this will bring more wealth to their families and communities.

Inez Long is president and CEO of the Florida-based Black Business Investment Fund, one of the fund’s CDFI partners, as well as a board member of the EBBC. She discussed the Black Vision Fund and its goal of raising a minimum of $100 million for community reinvestment with reporter Kelly Busche.

“We believe that if you can grow the gross national product through these businesses’ work,” says Long, “then of course, everyone benefits within our country.”

As the founder of the newly formed Minnesota Tribal Contractors Council, James Jones is an outspoken advocate for Native American contractors and tribally owned businesses in the construction trades.

The nonprofit council, based in northern Minnesota, held its inaugural meeting in May. It offers networking opportunities, mentorship, job and safety training, transportation services, financial education, legislative advocacy, employment resources and other services.

Jones has a background in archaeological services. A member of the Lake Leech Band of Ojibwe, Jones is the former cultural resources director of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council and current owner of Dirt Divers CRM, a provider of cultural resource management services.

In the following interview, Jones speaks with Reporter Brian Johnson about his own background and why he founded the Minnesota Tribal Contractors Council. He discusses the $2.9 billion Enbridge Line 3 replacement project and what it means for Native workers.

Jennifer Green’s construction career has taken her across a good chunk of the country.

In her 20 years of experience working on the financial side of the industry, the new CFO of Knutson Construction has held high-level jobs in Illinois, Kentucky and Texas. The journey began in Arkansas, where she was raised and educated.

Green added Minnesota to that list when she started with Knutson in March. Based out of Knutson’s Minneapolis office, Green will work with the company’s teams from Minneapolis, Rochester, Mankato, and Iowa.

Green launched her construction finance career in 1999 at Pepper Construction in Barrington, Illinois, where she was responsible for information strategy and technology services.

Later, she held CFO positions with Jordan Foster Construction, of El Paso, Texas, and Amteck Construction in Lexington, Kentucky. She earned an accounting degree at Arkansas State University and an MBA at Northern Illinois University.

In the following interview, Green speaks with Reporter Brian Johnson about her new duties at Knutson, the emergence of technology, and her construction career path, among other topics.

There’s no doubt that cryptocurrencies have risen in mainstream popularity over the past year. Still, it’s a market that is largely unregulated, which caused the Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler to recently call the market the “Wild West.”

Vivian Fang is an expert in cryptocurrency and blockchain, along with corporate finance and financial accounting. She is an associate professor and the Honeywell Professor in Accounting at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

In this interview with reporter Kelly Busche, Fang discusses the basics of digital currencies, the growing role they play in our economy and why Gensler equated the digital market to the Wild West.

Click here to watch the interview, or below to access via audio podcast.

Just a year after the end of World War II, George Adolfson and Gordon Peterson were onto something big when they founded a small construction business in the basement of Adolfson’s Richfield home.

The business, which became known as Adolfson & Peterson Construction, has grown dramatically from those modest beginnings. Now with 600 employees and offices in 11 states, Adolfson & Peterson is a top 100 national contractor.

Adolfson & Peterson provides preconstruction, construction and contracting services. The company is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year with events ranging from employee recognition activities to community service projects.

The celebration comes at a busy time for Adolfson & Peterson, which is working through a backlog of projects. The company is active in segments that include commercial, education, health care, hospitality, industrial, multifamily, recreation and senior living.

In the following interview, Adolfson & Peterson CEO Jeff Hansen speaks with reporter Brian Johnson about the company’s beginnings and growth trajectory. He also discusses challenges and opportunities for the industry as a whole as it emerges from the pandemic.

From housing inspector to senior developer, Will Anderson brings a diverse mix of public and private sector experience to his new role as director of development at Minneapolis-based Sherman Associates.

Sherman Associates, a developer of more than 8,000 multifamily units and 600,000 square feet of commercial space, tapped Anderson this month to oversee the company’s development teams. In that role, Anderson leads relationships with cities and finance agencies and drives real estate developments in existing and new markets.

Anderson has been with Sherman Associates since 2012, most recently as senior developer. He has overseen projects that include Rayette Lofts, a complex historic renovation in downtown St. Paul, and the West Side Flats developments in St. Paul.

Among the current projects under his watch is Beltline Station, a mixed-use development that will bring more than 400 housing units, commercial uses and more to the doorstep of a future Southwest Light Rail Transit whistle-stop in St. Louis Park.

A graduate of the University of Minnesota with degrees in Urban Studies and Management, Anderson started his career as an intern with the city of St. Paul. He also worked for the city of Minneapolis housing inspector before moving on to Sherman Associates.

In the following interview, Anderson speaks with reporter Brian Johnson about his career journey and his new role with Sherman. He also provides an update on Beltline Station and gives his take on current business conditions in the multifamily sector, among other topics.

When it comes to competing for business talent, Minnesota companies are well served to get out of their comfort zone and cast a wide net that extends well beyond their circle of family and business contacts.

So says Lisa Brezonik, CEO of Salo, a Minneapolis-based company that helps businesses recruit and retain talent in finance, accounting, human resources and other fields.

“If we want to invite more diversity in our workplace, then as we have openings and opportunities to invite new people to come work with us, we have to go to different sources,” says Brezonik. “We have to ask different people; we have to call people that we never knew.”

Brezonik’s experience in recruiting and human resources is deep and wide.

After eight years as owner of her own organizational and consulting firm, Brezonik joined Salo in 2015. She started as chief talent officer and quickly climbed the ladder to chief operating officer and CEO.

Brezonik’s resume also includes HR leadership positions with RBC Dain Rauscher, Integ, and Room and Board. She has served on boards for Bridgewater Bank, consumer software firm Kipsu, Hennepin Health Foundation, the Jeremiah Program and more.

In the following interview with reporter Brian Johnson, Brezonik talks about the importance of having a diverse workforce, flexible work environments in the post-pandemic age and more.