Hall of Famers

Jill Blashack, the founder and CEO of Tastefully Simple, a retailer of gourmet foods that grew from $1 million in revenue in 1998 to $110 million at the time of her induction in 2006. In addition to its 320 employees, the company engages 20,000 consultants to sell products at home-tasting companies.

Ralph Burnet, who developed Coldwell Banker Burnet into Minnesota’s number-one residential realty company with more than 3,000 sales associates. He founded Burnet Realty, a predecessor company, in 1973 with a personal investment of $18,000.

James Campbell, a former CEO of Minnesota’s largest bank, which he developed into a leading commercial lender. During his tenure, assets of Minnesota banks within the Norwest/Wells Fargo system grew from $5.9 billion in 48 separately chartered institutions to $52 billion within one institution.

Curt Carlson, widely proclaimed “ultra-entrepreneur” and founder of the Carlson Companies, which include Radisson Hotels & Resorts, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Country Inns & Suites, and T.G.I. Friday’s.

Kenneth Dahlberg, heroic and heavily decorated World War II pilot who developed the first all-in-the-ear hearing aid and founded Dahlberg, Inc., which expanded to $100 million in revenue before selling to Bausch & Lomb in 1994.

Mark Davis, who transformed the humble St. Paul Creamery into Davisco Foods International, the largest supplier of cheese to Kraft and the world’s largest producer of whey protein isolates. Davisco produces a million pounds of cheese per day and generates more than $700 million in annual revenues. Another Davis company, Cambria, produces more than $100 million in quartz countertops per year.

Dorothy Dolphin, founder of Dolphin Staffing, a temporary services firm dispensing 20,000 W-2 forms a year. She later became owner of 14 fast-food restaurants and a six-branch bank with more than $200 million in assets.

Ronald Fagen, Granite Falls– based builder of flour mills, meatpacking plants, power plants, corn- and soybean-processing facilities, and more than half of the nation’s ethanol production plants. At the time Fagen was inducted in 2005, his Fagen, Inc., had grown to $500 million in annual revenues and employed 1,400.

Tom Gegax, cofounder of Tires Plus, which improved the experience of tire buying with professional assistance and waiting-room amenities. When the company was sold in 2000, it had become a 1,600-employee, nine-state, 150-store chain with $200 million in annual sales.

Edgar Hetteen, the “grandfather of snowmobiling” and founder of the companies that became Polaris and Arctic Cat, and all-season vehicle-maker ASV.

Ebba Hoffman, who in 1955 was a newly widowed homemaker with two small children, an eighth-grade education, and a debt-hobbled company. At the time of her death in 2000, she had expanded it into a 2,000-employee, $300 million office-products powerhouse.

Stanley Hubbard, known for transforming supposedly “unworkable” ideas into successful enterprises, the biggest of which has been United States Satellite Broadcasting, which launched its first satellite in 1983, when few homes had satellite dishes. Equally innovative was CONUS Communications, which allowed local U.S. stations to gather news reports throughout the world.

Irwin Jacobs, who built Genmar into the world’s largest manufacturer of recreational watercraft, with $1.1 billion in sales and 5,000 employees, but is best known as an investor in underperforming public companies who awakened management groups to their obligation to deliver value to shareholders.

Robert Kierlin, Minnesota state senator and cofounder of Fastenal, Inc., in a tiny Winona storefront in 1967. He built it into a 7,000-employee company operating 1,600 stores, 12 distribution centers, and a 3,500-vehicle fleet of trucks.

Harvey Mackay, author of six business books, including Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. He turned a tiny company into the Mackay Envelope Corporation, a 500-employee, $100 million business, and exercised community leadership that helped keep the Twins in Minnesota.

Whitney MacMillan, who in 18 years as CEO of Cargill, the world’s largest privately held company, led it to a threefold increase in employees and a fivefold increase in earnings.

Richard “Pinky” McNamara, who made a 36-year career of buying and resurrecting bankrupt or foreclosed-upon businesses, and who became the CEO of Activar, a 600-employee, $100 million holding company. At one point, he owned and directed 25 companies at the same time.