2006 Minnesota Business Hall of Fame

Of all his contributions to the company, Annexstad says he has cared most about his creation of Federated’s first business plan and his development of its national direct sales force. Unlike most commercial-insurance companies, which sell through independent brokers, Federated relies on direct-sales employees. “We deliver value in a consistent and timely way across the country, which is something that many insurers, and I suspect many businesses in general, have difficulty with,” he says. “We have almost every zip code in America covered by a Federated salesperson.”

Annexstad also drove the development of Federated’s affinity-group marketing strategy. Nearly 400 state, regional, and national affinity groups that serve Federated’s targeted industries exclusively recommend Federated to their members. “It’s been a nice strategy,” he says. “And it’s built on relationships and friendships.”

Annexstad says he benefited immeasurably from the mentoring he received as a boy from various business owners in St. Peter. Today, he supports the Big Brothers Big Sisters youth mentoring organization through the Federated Challenge fund drive, which in 2005 raised more than $1 million for Minnesota’s children. In addition, he and his family—his wife, Cathy, and children Tom and Patti—created the Annexstad Family Foundation, which funds college scholarships for children who have been mentored through Big Brothers Big Sisters.

He tells a favorite story about an 18-year-old scholarship recipient, who spoke in front of an audience of 250 at the Federated Challenge golf outing last August. Annexstad recalls: “She said, ‘I want to thank everybody for all that you are doing. Ten years from now, I’m going to be somebody—just like you.’ Isn’t that neat? ‘I’m going to be somebody.’ That’s my passion—helping those kids.”