Hall of Famers

››› Curt Carlson, widely proclaimed "ultra-entrepreneur" and founder of the Carlson Companies, including 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 $100 million (annual revenue) Dahlberg, Inc., which he sold to Bausch & Lomb in 1994. The following year, Dahlberg went on to become a venture capitalist.

››› Dorothy Dolphin, who founded Dolphin Staffing, a temporary-services firm dispensing 20,000 W-2 forms a year. Dolphin also became owner of 13 fast-food restaurants and a six-branch bank with more than $200 million in assets.

››› Ronald Fagen, Granite Falls–based builder of flour mills, meat-packing plants, power plants, corn- and soybean-processing facilities, and—at the time of his 2005 induction—more than half of the nation’s ethanol-production plants. His Fagen, Inc., had grown to $500 million in revenues that year, and employed nearly 1,400 construction workers in 37 states.

››› 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, 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 1999, she had expanded Smead into a 2,000-employee, $300 million office-products powerhouse.

››› Irwin Jacobs, who built Genmar into the world’s largest manufacturer of recreational watercraft with sales of more than $1 billion and 7,000 employees, but who is best known as an investor in underperforming public companies who awakened managements to their obligation to deliver value to shareholders.