Hall of Famers

››› 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 and helped build the Metrodome.

››› 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, for a 35-year career of buying and resurrecting bankrupt or foreclosed-upon businesses. He became the CEO of Activar, a 600-employee, $100 million holding company, and at one point, owned and directed 25 companies at the same time.

››› Ken Melrose, who became CEO of the Toro Company in 1983 amid doubts that it could survive, refashioned its product portfolio, and helped achieve a 25-fold increase in its stock price in the next 22 years.

››› John Mooty, partner for more than 50 years at the law firm now known as Gray Plant Mooty and 24-year chairman of International Dairy Queen, which he and partners rescued and refocused in 1970, after performing a similar turnaround at National Car Rental. Mooty later became a developer of real estate in Arizona.

››› Mahendra Nath, who arrived in the United States with $800 and a newly earned mechanical engineering degree and became an employer of 3,300 people at 130 fast-food restaurants, two hotels, and numerous commercial and residential properties.

››› Marilyn Carlson Nelson, a longtime businesswoman and community activist who became CEO of the $7 billion Carlson Companies in 1998 and promptly implemented plans to expand. As vice chair in 1994, she arranged a merger of Carlson Travel and Wagonlit Travel, expanding the company’s reach to 140 countries.

››› Ron Offutt, farmer of more than 200,000 acres of potatoes and other vegetables, owner of a 21,000-cow dairy, operator of three potato-processing plants, and CEO of RDO Equipment, with a nine-state array of dealerships selling $535 million annually in John Deere Equipment, Volvo, and Mack trucks, and new and used construction equipment.