SCORE Minnesota

Top Minnesota Small Businesses

April 21, 2010

The Small Business Administration (SBA) honored two Minnesota small business owners this year. Byron Bjorklund, owner of Custom Catering by Short Stop was named Small Business Person of the Year. Jack Scharrett, CEO and President of VICTRI Veterans’ Initiative Center & Research Institute, was named Minnesota Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year for the state of Minnesota and the SBA’s Upper Midwest Region, which encompasses six states.

The SBA Small Business Person of the year is based on growth in sales, increase in number of employees, financial strength, level of innovation, and contributions to the community.

St Cloud based Bjorklund developed his business strength by joining trade associations, and cultivating exclusive relationships which he says are key to a successful catering business. He says what sets Custom Catering by Short Stop apart from the competition is his customer service, creativity, and food presentation.

Bjorklund is quick to smile and charismatic, qualities he likely developed after falling in love with the restaurant business at age 11, when he began working in his family’s restaurant. Even before he graduated from college, he was preparing for a career in the food business. In 1984, while finishing college and with some help from his dad, he opened his first restaurant, and his second just three years later.

He eventually transformed the business to include full-service catering and he’s now the exclusive caterer for several central Minnesota businesses including a golf course, tavern, and events center. He provides daily catering for major employers in the St. Cloud area, and is the second largest caterer for the St. Cloud Civic Center.

Bjorklund’s service to the community includes offering his restaurant as a training site for students with special needs. One such student was named Darrell who had Down syndrome, and he worked at the restaurant for several years. When Darrell died, Bjorklund catered the funeral for free. Later when his daughter Megan was born with Down syndrome, Bjorklund said, “It was at that moment that I realized that Darrell had not only shown me how to be a better worker and corporate citizen, but he also had helped prepare me to be a better father to Megan.”

Today, Bjorklund donates his catering services to the annual Buddy Walk for the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota, feeding 5,000 people. He also recruits additional donors so that the meal is free to participants.

For more information on Byron Bjorklund contact:
Custom Catering by Short Stop
3701 3rd Street North, St. Cloud, MN 56303-4029
320-251-0716

In another award to a Minnesota business person, the SBA recognized Jack Scharrett, CEO and President of Veterans’ Initiative Center & Research Institute (VICTRI), with the Minnesota Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year award for the state of Minnesota and the SBA’s Upper Midwest Region, which encompasses six states. Recipients of this award are individuals who have fulfilled a commitment to advancing small business opportunities for veterans.

Minneapolis based business consultant, Jack Scharrett, created VICTRI specifically for veterans and their families. This is the first-ever small business service center and incubator of its kind in the Twin Cities. VICTRI currently advises 57 veteran-owned small businesses and is the lead advocate for those businesses with Minnesota state lawmakers and congressional representatives, as well as with state and federal agencies.

It seems VICTRI was a natural extension of Scharrett’s business acumen after serving in the Iraq war in 2005-2006 as an Army Reservist. While in Kirkuk, Iraq, he helped establish the Kirkuk Business Center which provided jobs for local Iraqis, established a micro-finance office which helped small businesses get started, and which became the model on which 14 other Iraqi business centers are based.

Scharrett also helped start 7 Iraqi-owned small businesses including the largest agricultural co-operative in the country with over 750 member farmer families and affecting over 2.5 million hectares in the region south of Kirkuk. This co-operative is still in operation, positively affecting 6 million Iraqis.

Prior to deploying to Iraq, Scharrett was a successful entrepreneur, small business owner and consultant.

For more information on Jack Scharrett contact:

VICTRI – Veterans’ Initiative Center & Research Institute
5509 Minnehaha Avenue South, Building 11
Minneapolis, MN 55417
612-353-5600
jack@victri.org

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Filed under: Entrepreneurship,Management,SBA,Small Business News

Tags: Custom Catering by Short Stop, Minnesota businesses, Minnesota small business, Minnesota Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year, SBA's Upper Midwest Region, small business administration, small business owners, Small Business Person of the Year, small business service center, small business service center and incubator, Veterans' Initiative Center & Research Institute, VICTRI