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Dean Hilgers is a life long Waconia resident.  He started off working part time at the local Ford dealership while in school and then became a sales associate and within a very short period of time, one of Ford’s youngest dealership owners.  He ran Waconia Ford for 25 years and grew it to over 150…

Tom Workman is a long time political guy who served on Chanhassen City Council, at the state legislature and for the past several years as a Carver County Commissioner.  (District 2 includes Chan 1a, 1b, 2a and 3 plus Victoria ward 1.)  Tom is a fun guy to talk to because he doesn’t hedge about…

Carla Struble is a formidable presence on local charitable boards. She bring a wealth of business experience ranging from personally working for large corporations to a starting an electrical company with her husband, to running a 1200 acre large scale hog operation. In this interview, she shares some of the insights she has gained from…

In case you’ve been living outside the area, Chanhassen has just exploded in the past several years. New restaurants, a new brewery, a funky barber shop and lots of new homes have created a major shift in what was at one time, “the first town on your way out of town.” Mayor Elise Ryan is…

My guest is Keith Payne of Sunbelt Business Advisors talks about buying an existing business and what that takes as well as what to be thinking about if you have a business and are thinking about an exit strategy.  Keith brings his years of business experience to help people make wise decisions about this type…

Recently elected to represent Waconia’s Ward 2 city council, Carl Pierson dishes on some new things on the horizon for the City of Waconia and then we talk about connecting civics in a classroom setting with “Boots on the ground” involvement in local government. We discuss how things have changed for local governance in a…

Bob Moeller has been a major driving force behind the biking/ walking trails that connect several cities in Carver County. What started out as a response to the frustration from getting run off the road by irritated and/or distracted drivers has become a serious group of citizens committed to making Carver County a place where…

With the 212 expansion looking like a near term reality, the western part of Carver County will soon experience a rush of new people moving out. Long time resident, educator and civic volunteer and now Mayor Carol Lagergren is guiding NYA (The “Mini-Twin Cities”) into this new era. Her passion for small town living and…

Guess what Carver County city will have the largest population according to the 2040 Comprehensive Plans? I know it is hard to imagine that when you drive through the current downtown which has become Carver County’s unofficial Friday and Saturday night Hot Spot over the past few years.   Victoria has been mostly a bedroom community…

In Feb of 2021 the US had a record cold spell that caused massive power outages across the country forcing rolling blackouts.  No state was as profoundly affected as Texas.  As we watched on TV and talked to friends (I used to live there and have many friends there still) we were horrified at the…