Nath Companies and its CEO, Mahendra Nath, have proven their entrepreneurial prowess over the past 25 years, building a real estate and hospitality business that perfected the art of acquiring and improving underperforming assets.
Nath won Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1999, and his Bloomington-based company is recognized as one of the top-20 quick-service restaurant franchisees in the country. As Nath grew his business, he imbued it with the tenets of giving people the freedom they need to succeed and sharing resources with others.
“One of our philosophies is that when you help others, God helps you,” Nath says. “We were not born just to benefit from this country and the world’s resources. You multiply resources by creating jobs, helping others, and being part of the overall community.”
Nath has put that philosophy into action, both through community involvement and his company. For example, Nath Companies created a program in India to train disabled individuals in computer skills so that they can work in data entry and computer processing. Individually, Nath serves on many boards, including those for Normandale Community College, Northwestern Health Sciences University, and Children’s Heart-Link, which works to prevent and treat heart disease in children living in developing countries.
It’s Nath’s willingness to share his insight, talent, time, and resources with the community and the world that prompted Dr. Gundu Rao, a professor of pathology at the University of Minnesota, to nominate Nath for the International Corporate Award. Rao views him as an important role model for other Indians in Minnesota on how to achieve the American Dream and give back to their adopted country.
“It’s good to see a person who came just like most of us, with little but their education, who have earned everything they have on their own through hard work,” Rao says. “His background, his culture, his zeal to improve the American and the Indian condition has always impressed me.”
