Tierra Encantada Spanish Immersion School Remodel Project A school remodel project is under way for a new location for the Tierra Encantada Spanish Immersion Schools. This new school will be a third location, with this location in the Windom neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This former church will be turned into a Daycare / Preschool facility with approximately 15,328 SF at …
Commercial Renovation & Expansion at Darby O’Ragen’s Commercial Renovation & Expansion of a lunch deli into a full service bar and restaurant (formerly Darby O’Ragen’s, now Darby’s) in Minneapolis by APPRO Development, Inc. The project is located on the first floor of an historic 6-story wood and brick building. The restaurant features and outdoor seating deck and is …
New Addition Project for Steve’s Tire and Auto at 5355 34th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN Steve’s Tire and Auto has unveiled a new addition project at their 34th Avenue South location in Minneapolis, MN. APPRO Development is pleased to have completed work on another design-build commercial construction project with this owner. Our team worked closely with the owner to create a 4,470 …
AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR BUILDING COMPLETED FOR STEVE’S TIRE AND AUTO IN MINNEAPOLIS, MN Automotive Repair Building completed for Steve’s Tire and Auto that features 6 mechanic’s bays, 2 oil change bays, office and retail areas. The site was redeveloped by demolishing an existing gas station to make way for the new structure. Design and construction of the building centered around, …
MBEA Award Finalists – APPRO and CERRON attend 18th Annual Ethics Award Lunch:
On Wednesday, May 18, 2017, members of the APPRO and CERRON team attended the 18th annual Minnesota Business Ethics Award lunch. It was quite a journey there – 30 years in the making, really. It is indeed an honor to have made a top three list of finalists!
Read more to learn:
18th Annual Minnesota Business Ethics Award:
On May 18, 2017, the Minnesota Business Ethics Association (MBEA) hosted its 18th annual awards luncheon at the Nicollet Island Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The MBEA was founded in 1999 by the Society of Financial Service Professionals – Twin Cities Chapter, and the Center for Ethical Business Cultures (CEBC) at the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business. Since its inception, the MBEA has recognized 52 Minnesota-based businesses with this prestigious award. The Financial Executives International (FEI) – Twin Cities Chapter joined these organizations as sponsor of this event. You may learn more about the MBEA and this year’s finalists and winners at www.mnethicsaward.org.
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How APPRO and CERRON became a finalist…
The team at APPRO and CERRON was notified that they had been nominated (by a past client) for this year’s award. At that point, as a nominee, you may choose to submit an application. Going through the application process is both time consuming, as well as rewarding. Our team invested a lot of time to answer the questions and to provide examples, as well as samples pertaining to how we conduct business, how we treat our employees, vendors, subcontractors & clients, the systems we have in place, and more. As we completed our application, we would tell our story based on the following criteria: 1. What you say you stand for; 2. How you do what you say you stand for; and, 3. How well you’ve done.
Our team had multiple meetings and conversations as we dug into our history and policies. Our conversations included administrative and project managers, as well as recently retired Office Manager, Kathy Morse, and owners Jack Matasosky, Jim Connelly, and Bruce Rydeen (pictured above). It was a team effort, and we are better for having gone through the process!
Upon completing our application and submitting to the MBEA judging committee, we learned that we had been named a finalist. Out of 90+ nominees, and approx. 30 entrants, our team made the final three for the small business category. An additional eight finalists would round out the rest of the small, mid, and large sized businesses for the 2017 MBEA award. All finalists are encouraged to attend the lunch, and we were able to include part of our overall group on this day to meet other finalists and award recipients.
Representatives and owners from both APPRO and CERRON, joined by spouses and special guests, attended the MBEA luncheon. It was a great event to meet past award recipients (including current and past clients), and to listen to the keynote speaker, before learning who the final award winners were in each category. Our team especially enjoyed listening to Neel Kashkari, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and John G. Taft, former chief executive officer of RBC Wealth Management – U.S. and all that they had to share on the topic of ethical business practices.
You may learn more about the finalists and winners by visiting the MBEA website at http://mnethicsaward.org/. 
How your team can get involved in the MBEA:
The next opportunity for nominations is now open for the 2018 Minnesota Business Ethics Awards. You may submit your nomination for a company you believe practices high business ethics in their business and in their local community. You may go to the MBEA website to place a nomination and learn more about this opportunity.
Two of the 52 MN based companies who have received the award in the past couple of years, includes:
Lakeview Bank and Murphy Automotive (You may click on each link to see the current and past projects we have worked on for each company – links to their companies may be found on each page, too!)
The owners of these companies and their teams happen to be good friends and clients and we are grateful to be able to learn from their examples!
Feel free to send us a note by using the form below or clicking on the Contact Us button, if you would like to learn more about this award, our company, and what we stand for.
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Best wishes!
I recently attended a forum on restoring job growth in the Minneapolis St Paul region that was sponsored by The Itasca Project which is an employer led civic alliance focused on building a thriving economy and improved quality of life for the Minneapolis- St. Paul metro region. Some of this work can be found at www.metromsp.org where you can search all available commercial properties that are for sale or for lease. It is a joint public-private
partnership with DEED and MNCAR. MSP has long had a history of stable growth, not boom or bust like some other cities. “Steady success over recent decades renders the region less prepared to deal with data suggesting a pattern of decline. MSP’s growth rates over recent years for productivity, incomes and employment have all trailed national averages.” Venture capital firms and new business start up rankings have also declined. However, for homegrown Fortune 500 businesses, Minnesota ranks at the top.
According to the executive summary, the time is NOW to bring together multiple regional efforts utilizing 6 critical leverage points:
1) Cluster concentration of industries, functions and occupations
2) Develop and deploy human capital for economic growth
3) Develop an infrastructure of innovation and entrepreneurship
4) Increase spatial efficiency
5) Create effective public and civic culture and institutions
6) Develop and deploy information resources
The four main industry clusters include food, health, design and the arts as identified by 4FRONT, a non-profit organization established to identify, attract, nurture and recognize world-class inventors, entrepreneurs and artists.
All businesses start out small in some shape or form. Now is the time to position your business for the 21st century. Taking advantage of a buyer’s real estate market is one way to help your business grow as we see improvement in our economy. Contact us at 952-469-9444, www.cerron.com or email me at rozp@cerron.com to learn more.
