Lakeville High School Career Jamboree (2013)

Lakeville High School Career Jamboree (2013) – Lakeville Community Event

Casie Radford and Kris Bockelman at the 2013 Lakeville High School Career Jamboree

The 2013 Lakeville High School Career Jamboree was a very exciting and well attended event! Three (3) team members from APPRO and CERRON were able to attend the event held on on Monday, November 4, 2013:

  • Casie Radford, APPRO’s architect
  • Kris Bockelman, CERRON’s Commercial Administration Assistant
  • Andrea Kaderlik, Marketing Coordinator for both APPRO and CERRON

Representing both APPRO and CERRON, these team members spoke to many of the 850 Lakeville High School (North and South) juniors who were invited to this event between 2:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. While meeting with the students, we had the opportunity to discuss careers in each of our respective fields of design and architecture, commercial real estate and administration, and sales and marketing.

The students asked many thoughtful questions and hopefully learned about opportunities in the commercial real estate, design, architecture and construction services fields. Many students were surprised to find out the amount of years required to obtain an architectural degree and subsequent license upon visiting with Casie. Students were also curious to find out what a typical day in commercial real estate administration or of a marketer may look like, should they choose to pursue a career in these areas of interest.

Our two sister companies, APPRO and CERRON, were joined by approximately 70 other area businesses including: agriculture, food and natural resources, arts, communication and information systems, business management and administration, engineering, manufacturing and technology, health sciences technology and human services. It was a full house indeed!

The entire team at APPRO Development and CERRON Commercial Properties, is thrilled to be a part of the Lakeville community and to volunteer our time for events like this. We were very encouraged and highly optimistic about the future of our community as a result of conversations with the students with whom we met this week!

Feel free to read more articles about our commitment to and involvement in our local community in the “Community” section of our Blog Page. You may also see the handout we shared with students: 2013 – career jamboree handout-full page. We are grateful to Lakeville (North and South) High School and the Lakeville Area Chamber of Commerce for the opportunity to be a part of this fun day! Thank you!

 

 

Lakeville Manufacturers Appreciation Reception 2013

This Year’s Lakeville Manufacturers Appreciation Reception Was the Best!

Mayor Little & Adam K at Manufacturers Reception 2013 - photo by APPRO Development Mayor Matt Little and Adam Kienberger, Economic Development Specialist announce awards from the prize drawing

The APPRO and CERRON team had the opportunity to attend the annual Lakeville Manufacturers Appreciation Reception this year, and found it to be the best in many years (if not ever)! We sincerely appreciated the opportunity to connect with many of our local neighbors; some we have known for years, and some we met for the first time. Every time we attend the event, we learn something new and that is what makes it so much fun! The businesses in Lakeville are doing some amazing things.

This event is hosted by the City of Lakeville, and was sponsored by MN Energy Resources, Xcel Energy, Frontier and Dakota Electric. This invitation only event was held at the Holiday Inn in Lakeville, MN, just off of I-35 and Kenrick Avenue, on Tuesday, October 22, 2013. In attendance were City of Lakeville staff, City Council Members, Economic Development Commission members, and a diverse representation of the manfacturers & businesses in the Lakeville community. The event is held to celebrate Manufacturers Appreciation Week (October 20-26, 2013). According to the City of Lakeville’s website, “Lakeville has over 3,100 manufacturing jobs amongst 150 businesses. Thank you to all of our manufacturers for being a part of Lakeville’s business community!”

Just shy of 40 companies attended this event and engaged in some great networking and recognition of the manufacturers in our community. If you were considering attending and just didn’t have the opportunity, we urge you to try to make it out to next year’s event. Great reason, great food, great people – you can’t go wrong!

We are grateful to continue our 26th year as a part of this great Lakeville community! If you are Manufacturer in Minnesota and would like to discuss a possible project, give our team a call. We are happy to answer any questions you may have!

 

Fourth of July in Lakeville, MN

4th of july in Lakeville MN picture of flag-fireworksFourth of July in Lakeville, MN

Fourth of July week is here! At APPRO and CERRON, we are lucky to work in the great community of Lakeville, MN. Lakeville’s Panorama of Progress (“Pan-O-Prog”) is celebrating its 47th year this year July 4th through the 14th. There is a lot going on this year so don’t miss out on any of the fun activities. The enjoyable week starts off with a spectacular free fireworks display the night of the 4th. Included in the fun night is live music by the band CASTAWAYS, temporary tattoos, clowns, and concessions. Don’t miss out on any of the festive events!

Other great events include:

  • A fishing tournament, Saturday, July 6th at 6:00 a.m. at Casperson Park
  • Baby Crawl-a-thon, Tuesday, July 9th at 10:00 a.m. at the Heritage Center
  • Miss Lakeville Scholarship Pageant, Wednesday, July 10th 6:00 p.m. at Lakeville South High School
  • Beer brats and bingo, Thursday, July 11th 5:00 p.m. Lakeville arts center
  • Fun Fair Friday, July 11th-13th from 12:00 noon – 10:00 p.m. Lakeville area arts center parking lot
  • Classic car cruise, Friday, July 12th 6:30 pm downtown
  • Grand parade, Saturday, July 13th 5:30 pm downtown
  • Babe’s tent dance, 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!

(Additional information on festivities can be found at Pan-O-Prog.)

APPRO and CERRON will be closed Thursday, July 4th and Friday, July 5th in observance of the Fourth of July holiday.

APPRO Development, Inc. has been providing property solutions to our local Lakeville community for more than 25 years! Contact us if you need help finding the perfect property solution in MN or ND.

New Improvements Coming to Miracle League Field in Lakeville, Minnesota

Miracle Field Lakeville MNNew improvements coming to Miracle League Field in Lakeville, Minnesota. APPRO Development, Inc., has been thrilled to be involved in the construction of the Miracle Field in Lakeville, MN. It makes us even happier to see what a success the project and programs have been !

We are happy to say that the field will serve 10 teams and over 110 players this year !!

We are presently adding some ramp and access improvements to make it easier for players and spectators to get to the field. The new bleachers being installed will accommodate the cheering friends and families of the players!

Thanks to the subcontractors donating their time and dollars, the Lakeville Baseball Association, Brian Roseen and the Miracle Field Network for allowing us to help in a small way !

I only have to recall the first “exhibition game” played on one of the regular fields at King Park – to understand the relevance of this field . I was standing near the backstop watching one of the players bat and run the bases, and as he rounded third base – headed for home, it was impossible to miss the smile on his face and the joy he felt at that moment he scored his run. He ran up to the woman standing next to me and asked – “Mom – did I do good and will Dad be proud of me?” She said “oh yes Honey – you did great and Dad will be thrilled!”. The hair on my arms stood straight up. EVERY SINGLE CHILD deserves to feel the joy of moments like that. As a bonus – she told her Son they had to leave early, so they could go pick up Dad at the airport – turns out he was returning from his tour in Iraq !

It never ceases to amaze me that whenever you commit to a volunteer effort like this – the rewards of the involvement far exceed the energy put into it. The Lakeville Community embraced this project form day 1, and continues to support it. Over 500 volunteers help in facilitating this worthwhile program each year .

Please consider stopping by the Miracle Field at King Park, on Dodd Road – and cheer on the players, they are the most gracious and happy kids that ever played the game!

APPRO Development has been blessed to be one of the many groups/people helping Miracle Field and all they do to accomplish their mission of making the game of baseball accessible to all children. If you would also like to get involved, you may visit their website at Miracle League MN for more information.

Airlake Industrial Park – A Blast from the Past!

Airlake Industrial Park in Dakota County, Minnesota, is a part of who we are – for APPRO Development, it is part of our history, it is where we work, where we build, and where we have served many of our clients for more than a quarter of a century! While we were recently going through our archived photos and redesigning our website, we came across a copy of a presentation that was given at the 2004 Manufacturers’ Appreciation Event, hosted by the City of Lakeville, MN. We thought others might enjoy seeing their buildings in this blast from the past!

 

At APPRO Development, Inc. and CERRON Commercial Properties, LLC, we are proud of our history and our contributions to the fellow business owners in the Airlake Industrial Park of Lakeville, MN. As our company’s mission statement proclaims, “we have a passion for understanding what is important to your business, with an expert staff that is driven to provide comprehensive property solutions, to exceed your goals and expectations!” If you have a commercial property question, feel free to Contact Us anytime, we are always available to chat with you.
Enjoy the flashback!

Lakeville Commercial Building General Contractor and Real Estate Broker Releases New Website

APPRO-CERRON-screenshotLakeville commercial building general contractor and real estate broker, are pleased to announce the launch of our new website, which can be found by going to either APPRODEVELOPMENT.com or CERRON.com. We had put together a list of some goals we wanted to achieve with the new website and were thrilled to not only meet those goals, but exceeded them as well.

You will note that the navigation is much easier at our new commercial construction and commercial real estate website. We have integrated both companies in one easy to find website. In order to find just the right example of a completed commercial building project, or to locate a new commercial property for sale in the south metro area of MN, we have added some additional, more detailed search functions as well. We have also implemented some contact forms to make it easier and more convenient to contact a member of our team to assist you with your goals.

Our web developer, Brandon Rowell, is an excellent photographer and did a nice job making our commercial property solutions team look great!

We hope that you will take a moment to look around our new website. Feel free to drop us a line to let us know what you think, or if there is anything you would suggest to make our site even better. We would sincerely appreciate the suggestions.

Whether online, over the phone, or in person, at APPRO Development & CERRON Properties, we are here to exceed your goals and expectations – let us find out what is important to your business!

Redesigning MN: If We Engage People in Shaping Programs, We’ll All Be Better Off

Redesigning MN

By Jack Matasosky

For more than a year, I have been a part of a group of Lakeville leaders – business owners, clergy, nonprofit leaders, elected officials and others – working with 360 Communities to think differently about how our community meets its most public needs. Above all, we’re focused on finding new ways to deliver early childhood education so that our community’s programs and services are reaching more children and getting better outcomes.

We’re redesigning the early childhood education ecosystem in Lakeville to make it work better within the dollars available, even as the demand for service continues to grow, and that’s no easy feat.

But our community is rising to the challenge of thinking differently about our early childhood programs. It’s an exciting adventure to be a part of.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a meeting that brought together representatives from a broad cross-section of Lakeville early childhood programs collectively identify how we could reach more people with our existing programs. The meeting, convened by 360 Communities in partnership with InCommons, an initiative of the Bush Foundation, was the beginning of a six-month process to get our community focused on improving early childhood education and focusing on outcomes. Film crews for Redesigning MN were on-hand to capture our community-driven conversation as a local-level example of the conversations that need to take place to redesign our public services.

Our community-driven effort has continued to move forward in the weeks since this event. We’re thinking about how to make sure every child in need has access to the early childhood education programs that can help them thrive in school, and how to ensure that every Lakeville parent knows about these opportunities offered by our existing network of community supports. And we’re thinking about how we can improve the programs offered to ensure that every Lakeville child enters Kindergarten on track for success.

As a long-time resident of Lakeville, it’s invigorating to see our community coming together – people from the business and faith communities, educators, parents, and other residents – to create better opportunities for our youngest residents. I know that we’re all committed to creating a better future for Lakeville, and thoughtful conversations like the event convened by 360 Communities and InCommons are equipping us to find that shared vision and craft a collective approach to redesigning our early childhood education programs.

At the end of the day, change needs to be driven by the families that need help. We can’t fit people into programs. We need to engage them in these opportunities – and we’ll all be better off for it.

That’s what we’re trying to do in Lakeville, and I’m proud to be a part of it.

Lakeville Manufacturers Appreciation Event – 2012

Lakeville Manufacturers Reception APPRO CERRON Wine Giveaway
Personalized Wine Bottles for APPRO & CERRON Drawing

I had the privilege of attending this year’s Lakeville Manufacturers Appreciation Reception, on October 24, 2012, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The event was sponsored by the City of Lakeville and Dakota Electric Association, Frontier Communications, Minnesota Energy Resources, and Xcel Energy. The event was held at the Lakeville Holiday Inn and Suites. The reception was well attended, including Lakeville Mayor Mark Bellows, who gave an optimistic address to attendees and was also joined by City of Lakeville staff and council members.

I was delighted to represent APPRO Development, Inc., general contractor, design-build company and CERRON Commercial Properties, LLC, commercial real estate broker, both located in Lakeville, MN, along side many other Lakeville businesses. I learned a lot about some amazing manufacturers in our local business community.

As a thank you, and to help celebrate APPRO’s 25th anniversary this year, we conducted a drawing for two personalized bottles of wine. We are proud to announce the following winners:

Craig Nelson a Project Manager with BTD Manufacturing was the winner of a bottle of wine (as Craig has a generous spirit, he may be sharing his bottle with fellow friends – thank you for helping to spread the cheer!)

BTD-APPRO Wine Giveaway 2012

The other winner was Andrew Shaffer, who along with his wife Shelly, are the owners of Bass Flexible Packaging, Inc. I understand they were pretty excited to receive the wine and have planned a date night to celebrate!

APPRO Bass wine giveaway, 2012

Congratulations to the winners – thank you for helping us celebrate 25 years! It is our privilege to serve and be a part of our local manufacturing community!