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y e s t e r d a y , t o d a y , t o m o r r o w
MADE INMADE INSOUTHWESTSOUTHWEST
PUBLISHED BY SWNEWSMEDIA.COM AND DISTRIBUTED IN THE CHANHASSEN VILLAGER, CHASKA HERALD AND EDEN PRAIRIE NEWS NEWSPAPERS
IndexBusinesses featured:
Jonaco ...............................................2Foreverence .....................................3Federal Package Network Inc. .....5Fred’s Bread ....................................6PooBagger ......................................6Waconia Brewing Company ......7United Sugars .................................8
A special section
highlighting some of
the “producers” in the
southwest suburbs.
2 | April 2015 Made in Southwest
BY MARK W. OLSON
Wh e n y o u complete a n a s -signment, w h a t ’ s your accu-
racy?Are you routinely accurate
to .0004 or less of an inch?That measurement (a frac-
tion of a human hair width) is the type of precision that the 142 employees at Jonaco Machine tackle on a regular basis, notes Jonaco President Bill Russell.
Perhaps that’s not surpris-ing for a Chaska company with a caliper (a measurement tool) as its logo.
“Our customers expect quality parts every time with the criticality of the applica-tions, and we endeavor to build in that quality with ex-
perienced machinists, quality personnel and manufacturing systems,” Russell stated.
“For almost 40 years, Jo-naco Machine has offered state-of-the-art machining facilities for precision turning, milling, drilling, tapping and de-burring,” Russell said.
“We have earned a reputa-tion from our customers for our ability to manufacture close-tolerance parts out of a variety of materials used in the aerospace, medical and high-technology industries,” Russell stated.
To name a few examples, Jonaco makes parts used in aircraft speed and de-icing sensors; aircraft video sur-veillance systems; DNA test-ing systems; pressure sensor systems used in refineries and off-shore drilling; and parts for aircraft cargo systems.
Rough die-casts or blocks of metal (aluminum, nick-
el, titanium, molybdenum, the list goes on) enter the 47,000-square-foot company at Highway 41 and Lyman Boulevard. Then finely crafted parts go out.
These components are as small as a sixteenth of an inch. One recent morning, 66-pound
Critical parts for crucial usesJonaco makes parts for aircraft sensors, and much more
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Jonaco Machine employees at work in Chaska. The company makes a wide variety of parts for industries such as aerospace and medicine.
Just the FactsBusiness: Jonaco Machine
Address: 3990 Peavey Road, Chaska
Founded: 1971
Employees: 142
Business/product: Precision-machined components for aerospace, medical products and high-tech industries.
Fun facts: Jonaco continues to be a major supplier to its fi rst customers from 1971.
Website: www.jonaco.com
pieces of metal went into a machine that used 100 differ-ent tools to create an 18-pound medical machine component.
The parts are created using a variety of machines, whose operators Russell describes as craftsmen who require me-chanical aptitude, as well as computer programming and math skills.
The largest apparatuses look like some sort of tool vending machine, in which the computer chooses from a wide selection of tools, such as drill bits, to create the finished product. “Our machining centers have the capability of holding over 300 different tools, providing the ability to produce a variety of complex products without utilizing different equipment or manu-ally changing tooling,” Russell said. “We just invested over $1.5 million in new equipment to help us maintain capacity and capability to grow with our existing and new custom-ers.”
After the machining, there are several follow-up steps,
ranging from polishing to test-ing to shipping. The orders are marked on software, so they can be tracked by employees and clients from the time they are ordered, until they are shipped.
“At any given time, we may have over 2,500 active parts and our people, and systems enable us to deliver 75 percent of our products within 10 days after receiving an order from our customer,” Russell said. Many items are sent next-day delivery. The company works four shifts, 24/7 to ensure this happens.
Jonaco Machi nes has strong roots in Chaska, as one of the early companies in the Jonathan Industrial Park. It takes its name from the “New Town” of Jonathan, which was going strong when Jonaco was founded in 1971. The company is now owned by the Demmer Corp., a fam-ily owned business, based in Lansing, Mich.
Jonaco has a large num-ber of long-term employees, recently holding a retirement
party for a 42-year employee. There are 32 employees with over 20 years at Jonaco. “Not only do these employees pro-vide an excellent capabil-ity level for Jonaco, but they also play a significant role in mentoring newer employees,”
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Made in Southwest April 2015 | 3
Just the FactsBusiness: Foreverence
Address: 9963 Valley View Road, Eden Prairie
Years in location: 1
Employees: 6
Interesting facts: The fi rst urn sold by the company was shaped like an “Energy Dome,” a model of the distinctive red hat worn by the band Devo, and sold to the family of the late Bob Casale, one of the band’s founders. They received this message: “Your eff orts fi lled a pressing need and provided an appropriate, custom-made resting place for Bob’s ashes. I can’t thank you enough for bringing a little positive into these dark days for us.”
Website: foreverence.com
BY KARLA WENNERSTROM
“An individual life deserves an individ-ual remem-brance,” said Grant Daw-
son of St. Paul, director of com-munication for Foreverence.
And that’s what the first-of-its-kind business offers, a 3D-printed urn personally designed for your loved one.
Founder Pete Saari of Maple Grove is an entrepreneur with experience in 3D printing. He had been learning about the funeral industry and thought families would appreciate being able to create something more meaning-ful and personalized than the urns that were available.
There weren’t a lot of options for personalizing the urns, be-yond changing the name plate, color or shape slightly.
“This provides a totally new level of individualization,” Daw-son said, as he displayed an urn in the shape of a baby blue ‘57 Chevy.
Dawson said the business push-es the limits of what 3D printers can do. The printed products are ceramic and some have painted details. He said they can be per-sonalized to the point of recreat-ing a dent on that favorite car’s fender.
A display case in the Forever-ence office highlights a variety of items that have been designed, in-cluding urns in the shape of ballet slippers and an African elephant.
One of the urns in the display case represents the first item sold by Foreverence.
Saari said that he had been working on prototypes for the business, when he learned that Bob Casale, one of the founding members of Devo, had died.
Saari thought of the Devo “En-ergy Dome” red hat and thought, “what a perfect representation of that person’s art and that person’s life,” he said.
He reached out to the band’s management team, offered his condolences, said he was a fan and asked if it would be possible for him to make the family aware of their customized urns.
Saari heard back within min-utes.
“This was the first joyful mo-ment in a very dark period of time for them,” he said he was told. For-everence made two of the Energy Dome urns, designed to the exact dimensions of the band’s hats, and his remains were split between family members.
THE DESIGN PROCESS
The usual buyers of a Forever-ence product will find the com-pany through funeral planners or contact the company directly
via the website.They will meet with someone
from Foreverence to discuss their ideas of what they might want.
Sometimes people have some-thing specific in mind, like an African elephant. Sometimes it’s a more vague concept, like “the 1960’s.” They have been asked to design urns in the shape of a pickle and a garden gnome.
Foreverence artists present the family with design ideas. For example, for the 1960’s theme, they discussed items including an electric guitar and Jimi Hendrix-style bandana and a VW bus with “flower power” designs.
When a final design is chosen and approved, it proceeds to 3D printing.
In the room where the 3D print-ing takes place, Dawson and Saari displayed a Space Shuttle-shaped urn that was designed for a NASA systems engineer, who had a key part in designing the shuttle.
At 94, he is planning for his end-of-life decisions and decided on the design.
“Typically seven to 10 days from when they approve the file, they have their design in hand,” Dawson said. The cost is $2,495.
“We help families design and create the perfect memorial,”
Saari said. “That level of perfec-tion is not available in the market. Everybody is having to settle for something that’s close enough or good enough and not something that’s truly perfect.”
Dawson said people are not necessarily choosing cremation because it is “cheaper,” they are often choosing it for a variety of other reasons, including that it’s more practical, environmentally friendly, a tradition in the fam-ily or that they want to scatter a portion of their ashes in a specific place. The business also offers pet cremation urns under the brand, Foreverence Pets.
“The mistake that the funeral service is making is that they be-lieve people who have chosen cre-mation are doing so because it’s the cheaper option,” Saari said.
“It was very important to me
from the very beginning to make sure everybody understood we are not an advocacy organization,” Saari said. “We are just there for people when they have chosen cre-mation and chosen they wanted a personal keepsake.”
Saari said designing an urn elevates the conversation from choosing an item from a catalog to what was truly important or meaningful in the person’s life.
“There’s a sensitivity that is critical to everything we do,” Dawson said. “That’s the reason reverence is in our name.”
Saari said that although in this business it would seem that they would be surrounded with grief and sadness, “our product seems to transcend all of that.
“Most of our experiences have been literally joyful,” he said. “They can’t believe there’s some-thing so personal and so perfect for their family member. When they get it and receive it there’s this outpouring of joy.”
Eden Prairie’s Foreverence offers custom-made, 3D-printed urns
Foreverence founder Pete Saari and director of communication Grant Dawson by the display case.
Pete Saari of Foreverence with an urn shaped like the Space Shuttle.
PHOTOS BY KARLA WENNERSTROM
A 3D-printed item fresh off the printer.
An individual remembrance
The fi rst urn sold by Foreverence was a Devo “Energy Dome” for the late Bob Casale, one of the founding members of the band.
A 3D-printed urn designed to look like a guitar.
4 | April 2015 Made in Southwest
BY UNSIE ZUEGE
Linda Bloudek’s business proves that an enter-p r i si n g m i n d can always find a solution to a
problem.An avid quilter, Bloudek
is the owner and founder of Ta-Da Triangles.
Her quilting product is a time saver for quilters who find themselves cutting dozens of fabric triangle pieces for their quilting proj-ects. Bloudek worked for many years at The Sampler quilting shop in downtown Chanhassen. It was there, talking quilting, projects and problems with custom-ers, that she came up with an idea to make cutting out tri-angles easier, more efficient and definitely faster.
“I’ve been a quilter since 1995,” Bloudek explained. “When my kids were little, I started sewing them Zubaz pants, and then I started sew-ing other clothes for them. But after a certain age, they didn’t want me making their clothes.”
Instead, Bloudek’s neigh-bor showed her how to quilt, and she’s been doing so ever since. Her Chanhassen home is f i l led with her quilts.
Those she doesn’t keep, she gives away to family and friends, and occasionally will pull out an old quilt proj-ect, and re-do it.
Eventually, Bloudek went to work at The Sampler quilt shop in downtown Chanhas-sen sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with cus-tomers.
“I started at The Sampler in 1998 and was there for for 11 years,” Bloudek said. “It was there, talking to customers and seeing what people were talking about that I thought about putting a grid on interfacing to make
cutting triangles easier and faster.
It wasn’t long before she bought some wide-format printers, used for photog-raphy and maps, to print triangle grids on fusible in-terfacing, and her business
Ta-da Triangles Making quilters’ lives easier and more efficient
PHOTOS BY UNSIE ZUEGE
Linda Bloudek fusible interfacing grids are sized for fi t “fat quarters” of fabric.
Ta-Da Triangles come in a variety of sizes for different quilting projects, even “prairie points.”
Just the FactsBusiness: Ta-Da Triangles, by Ta-Da Quilt Products
Address: P.O. Box 357, Chanhassen, MN 55317
Years in location: Since 2005
Employees: 1
Interesting facts: The name of the company comes from the day Linda Bloudek surprised her cat-loving family by announcing, “Ta-da! We have another cat!”
Website: www.tadatriangles.com
was created.“My busi ness is ver y
small,” Bloudek concedes, “tiny even. I work out of a small bedroom in my base-ment, a former corner of-fice.”
There are competitors, Bloudek said, but most print grids on lightweight paper, not fusible interfacing. The interfacing makes the tri-angles not only easier to cut out, but the fusible interfac-ing provides a light backing and body to the triangles, and prevents the fabric, cut on the bias, from stretching.
“I print grids,” Bloud-ek said, “for half-square triangles, quarter-square triangles, prairie points, continuous line bias binding and some patterns. “
Bloudek demonstrates on the big cutting table in her workroom. She showed how a quilter can lay the fusible interfacing, adhesive side down on the wrong side of the fabric. The quilter lightly presses the interfacing down with a hot iron. When the interfacing has fused to the fabric and cooled, the quilter simply takes a straight edge and rotary cutter, and cuts along the solid lines of the grid; the quilter sews along the dotted lines. In a matter of minutes, there’s a dozen or more triangles ready to use.
Her fusible interfacing grid is sized to fit “fat quar-ters” Fat quarters are quar-ter-yard cuts of fabric cut wide, measuring 18 inches by 21 inches.
“A lot of people make grids on paper,” Bloudek said, “but the problem is that when you sew on the paper grid, when you rip it off, it loosens your stitches.”
Bloudek attends quilting and sewing trade shows, and sells her product to quilting
shops throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Aus-tralia and Mexico. She also has a couple of distributors who sell directly to quilt shops.
“I was more busy when I started,” Bloudek said. “The quilting generation is dy-ing away. The big boom for quilting was in the 1970s. I think crafts go in and out of style. My first year, 2005, we opened a website, and got a hit within a week. Then that spring, we went to the quilt market — a trade show for quilting products — and got my product out, and in the
fall attended the big one in Houston, Texas. So that’s how it got out there in the beginning.”
Bloudek said she could probably sell a lot more if she attended more trade shows and marketed more aggres-sively.
But these days, the kids she used to sew clothing for, are grown up, and they’ve made her a grandmother.
“So I don’t have the time I used to,” Bloudek said. “I like to keep my schedule flexible so we can watch the grand-kids when the kids call.”
Linda Bloudek’s deceptively simple idea helps quilters save time.
FOOTGOLFIS HERE!
The Chaska Par 30, located on Hazeltine Boulevard,is a small and challenging course designed byRobert Trent Jones. Come check us out this summerand experience the fun of FootGolf!
FootGolf, the cross between soccer and golf, uses asoccer ball and 21-inch-diameter holes cut into the
rough of the golf course. FootGolf follows the layoutof the course and holes are indicated with orange tee
markers and orange flags.Please visit
www.ChaskaPar30.com.Soccer balls are
available for rent.Turf shoes and
spikeless shoes only.
1207 Hazeltine Blvd., Chaska
952-448-7454www.chaskapar30.com
Made in Southwest April 2015 | 5
BY RICHARD CRAWFORD
The s out hwe st suburbs are well stocked with a wide array of lip balm and other beauty products
thanks to the work of Federal Package Network Inc., which produces about 100 million lip balm containers annually.
Federal Package Network, located in Chaska since 1985, moves to a larger loca-tion at 8100 Powers Blvd. in Chanhassen this year to ac-commodate business growth, according to Steve Dakolios, president of Federal Package.
Dakolias credits the com-pany’s commitment to qual-ity and delivery as keys to the company’s growth.
“The cosmetic industry continues to expand glob-ally and is predicted to reach more than $ 62 billion by 2016,” he said in a company release. “Moving to a larger facility will allow us to offer additional capabilities to our customers and satisfy market demand.”
Walk in to most major retail stores that provide lip balm and there will be con-tainers produced by Federal Package, although the prod-uct will feature the brand names of some of the biggest
names in the industry. On some of the containers, in small print, you may find the company name if the con-tainer has a Federal Package patent.
There are about 20 dif-ferent containers made on site – and the company has 17 patents on its products, Dakolios explained.
Federal Package products are primarily distributed in the United States, but some also are distributed inter-nationally to Europe, Asia, South America and coun-tries including Australia and New Zealand.
The company has more than 85 customers, with about 30 of those represent-ing about 90 percent of the company’s production vol-ume.
In addition to producing lip balm containers – rang-ing from the #500 Classic container to Duet, a dual-ended container with sepa-rate turn screws near each end – Federal Package also has the capability of produc-ing the balm.
The company has more than 50 employees with 25 different production lines.
Employees staff assembly lines producing lip balms that can fill different con-tainer shapes as well as featuring a multitude of lip
balm flavors.
POPULAR FLAVORS
Popular f lavors include mint, spearmint and win-tergreen as well as cherry and vanilla. Technicians mix the lip balm, which includes mineral oil, waxes and f lavoring, to precise specifications.
The company also has the ability to create more spe-cialized flavors of balm, such as a “hot wings” specialty lip balm.
The high-tech production lines can produce more than 200 containers a minute, Dakolias said. The level of automation can compete fa-vorably with manufacturers in Asia and elsewhere.
Federal Package’s on-site laboratory and production facilities are registered with the FDA, ensuring quality production, according to the company’s website. An FDA audit occurs every two years, he said.
Dakolias said another point of pride for Federal Package is the company’s safety record, which is sup-ported by a safety-incentive program for employees.
OTHER PRODUCTS
While lip balm accounts for the vast majority of the company’s business, Federal
Package produces a substan-tial amount of sun screen – containers and product – and also has smaller niche products, including muscle rubs and eye blacks used at sporting events.
OUR LIPS ARE SEALED
Federal Package a lip balm leader
Federal Package Network employees produce a lip balm product that is distributed in a circular container.
More than 20 different containers are produced at Federal Package. The company also has the capability to fi ll containers with product ranging from lip balm to muscle rubs.
PHOTOS BY RICHARD CRAWFORD
The high-tech equipment helps Federal Package compete favorably with other manufacturers in Asia and elsewhere.
Just the FactsBusiness: Federal Package Network Inc.
Address: 8100 Powers Blvd., Chanhassen
Years in location: Moved from Chaska this year
Employees: 52 and growing
Interesting facts: Company produces more than 25 fl avors of lip balm, including specialty fl avors such as “hot wings.”
Website: www.FederalPackage.com
Made in Southwest6 | April 2015
Just the FactsBusiness: PooBagger
Address: 13790 Candice Lane, Eden Prairie
Years in location: 1.5
Employees: 1
Did you know? Eden Prairie’s Tom Zurn has delivered PooBaggers to every state except Hawaii. He is hoping to get major distribution to get his product into every yard in America, he said.
Website: poobagger.com
BY DANIEL HUSS
Fred’s Bread sits o n t h e n o r t h end of Washing-ton Avenue, the road that runs t h r o u g h t h e
heart of Eden Prairie’s in-dustrial district. At Fred’s, they manufacture delicious-ness.
“Bakery is a loose term,” said Fred Mische, who along with wife Mandy Chowen, runs the business. “We’re more of a bread shop with rustic pastries.
“We don’t sell cakes, do-nuts, or crullers or what-ever you call them,” he adds. “And we’re definitely not like the Cake Boss.”
As its namesake suggests, Fred’s Bread is really about bread.
“As a former science in-structor, I obviously have a biology and chemistry background,” said Mische. “The biology side helps me understand yeast and fer-mentation; chemistry, the structure.”
The baker’s road to the baking business involved
college, teaching, the Peace Corps, teaching again and then a career change.
“I attended the National Baking Center and studied under two French bakers,” he said. “I tested recipes on my co-workers.”
The majority of Fred’s Bread business is wholesale, 80 percent or so; the rest of the business walks right through the front door.
Wholesale customers in-clude Hamden Park Co-op in St. Paul, East-Side Food Co-op in Northeast Minne-
Manufacturing deliciousness one slice of bread at a time
PHOTOS BY DANIEL HUSS
Fred Mische is the Fred behind Fred’s Bread. Here, he displays the fruits of his labor, hand-shaped breads baked in a steam-injected stone hearth oven.
Just the FactsBusiness: Fred’s Bread
Address: 6872 Washington Ave. S., Eden Prairie
Years in location: 2
Employees: Fewer than 10
Products: Breads, rustic pastries and desserts
Interesting facts: Fred’s bread has nothing on his wife’s sea salt sprinkled chocolate chunk cookies.
Website: fredsbread.com
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The PooBagger scoops pet waste directly into the attached bag.
apolis, Good Earth Food Co-op in St. Cloud, Jules Bistro in St. Cloud, Linden Hills Food Co-op in Minneapo-lis, Sikora’s Polish Market in Northeast Minneapolis, as well seasonal outlets in Waconia (At The Farm) and Edina (Farmer’s Market).
“ T h e y k n o w , ” s a i d Mische, of his retail regu-lars who call to have loaves of bread set aside, “and they pretty much know when it comes out of the oven.
“A lot of our retail busi-ness is local workers who come for lunch breads,” he adds.
They choose between Rye, Wheaty Wheat, Flax and Oatmeal or Hodge Podge.
“It’s a toss up as to what’s most popular,” adds Mische, “it’s either the Flax and Oat or Hodge Podge.”
Hodge Podge is truly a hodge podge, as the ingre-dient list includes raisins, walnuts, craisins, pecans, poppy seeds and sesame seeds.
They’re also coming for cookies, the sea salt choco-late chunk cookie in par-ticular.
“We have one customer
who makes the trek for just one cookie,” said Mische, “maybe two if she wants to share with her husband.”
PERFECTION
Mische hasn’t baked the perfect loaf of bread yet, but he’s getting close.
“It’s evolving,” he said, with a laugh, “but I’m still chasing nuances. That’s the OCD in me.”
If he’s making a Yugosla-vian style, he wants it to look and taste like it’s come right out of the village.
W hen asked about ap -pearances, he said he wants the crusty top to split just so.
“I know what I want it to look like,” he adds.
His wife takes the same approach to her cookies.
“Her chocolate chunk cookies have taken 10 years to develop,” he said.
Neither takes the easy way, and neither would con-sider a shortcut.
“Juggli ng what needs to get done is crazy,” said Mische. “I’m seldom here less than 12 hours. Today it’s going to be 16, maybe 17.”
Yeah, it’s a lot of work making deliciousness.
BY KARLA WENNERSTROM
Tom Zurn’s Ti-betan terrier, Wilson, came with a responsi-bility, cleaning up the poo.
The Eden Prairie resi-dent says he was looking for a “poolution solution” when he came up with the PooBagger.
PooBaggers a re made in Eden Prairie and sold “pretty much everywhere,” according to Zurn.
Zurn’s product scoops the “poo” directly into an attached bag. You can use any type of plastic bag. Then you unsnap the bag into the trash. You don’t have to touch the bags, or bend over, according to a news release from the business.
Zurn calls it “a better way to do a common task.”
He works in medical de-vice manu facturing and says he’s “always looking for a better way to do things.”
Zurn said he’s even will-ing to work with budding
inventors on their projects.He drew up a design with
teeth to get into grass, an edge for scooping and a “big enough” bag, the re-lease said. PooBagger was designed with a handle ex-tension that can be used to avoid bending over to pick up the pet waste. He made models out of cardboard and clay, and worked with some-one to build a CAD drawing.
Employees of Stratasys/RedEye in Eden Prairie helped him with the draw-ing and 3-D prototypes.
He had a mold made at Modern Molding in Delano, where they still do the injec-tion molding of the device. The items are assembled in Eden Prairie.
“Once people get it in their hands, it just makes sense,” Zurn said. “People have been really receptive.”
Zurn says he has shipped PooBaggers to Florida and Texas.
“It’s pretty ‘poopular,’” he said.
“I’ve delivered to every state but Hawaii,” he said.
According to the release, the pet industry is a $60-bil-lion-per-year business, with 38 percent of homes having at least one dog. People spend more on their pets than they do on their kids, Zurn said.
“Business is picking up,” he laughs, giving us
Yard looking like a poo poo platter?It’s in the bag with Eden Prairie man’s invention
the “scoop.”You can find PooBaggers
nearby at Bed Bath & Be-yond, hardware and pet sup-ply stores, and specifically at Pet Stuff in Minnetonka, Fido’s Pantry in Excelsi-or and Ace Hardware in Mound.
T he c ost i s $ 2 9. 9 5 without the extension, $39.95 with. Zurn will even deliver them to Eden P rai rie and Minnetonka addresses, he said.
CHASKA • EDEN PRAIRIE • WACONIAMOUND • MINNETONKA
Bruce W. Hultgren DDS, MSMichael H. Hoxie DDS, MSTiffany T. Waki DDS, MSMichael S. Lee DDS, MSMichelle Bergsrud DDS, MS
(952)448-3945www.hhorthodontics.com
(952) 466-39371464 White Oak Drive
Chaska MN 55318www.southwesteyecare.net
Eyecare for all ages…
Dr. Amy Freed • Dr. Chris FreedDr. Chad Dockter • Dr. Patty Jilek
Dr. Robert Swanson • Dr. Scott GlaserDr. Heidi Skonseng
Made in Southwest April 2015 | 7
BY ERIC KRAUSHAR
In Waconia, they work hard, they raise their children right, and at the end of the day they raise a glass together at Waconia Brewing
Company, so says their motto.In October 2014, owners
Peter, Dee, Bob and Kaye DeLange opened the doors to the first brewery in Waconia city limits since 1890. As Brewmaster Tom Schufman puts it, “We make approach-able beer for everybody to enjoy.”
Situated in downtown, just blocks from Lake Waconia, Waconia Brewing Company is home to four flagship beers — 255 Amber Ale, WacTown Wheat, Carver Co. Kolsch, and the most popular beer, ac-cording to taproom assistant manager Drew DeLange, the 90K IPA.
Schufman describes the 90K IPA as a “good balanced IPA with a good malt, but is really hoppy. It’s aromatic with a hop flavor. It runs the gamut.”
“Huge loyalty from the community. We see a lot of people coming back. We’re getting a great response. We get a little bit of everyone from all walks of life,” Drew DeLange said.
Bob DeLange, chief oper-ating officer, who doubles as grain carrier and production assistant on other days, was one of the founders of the operation. Once a critic of homemade brews from his three brothers, moving to Waconia after a job transfer with Cargill, the decision was made to open up a taproom.
“We’ve been visiting Waco-
Approachable beer for all to enjoyWaconia Brewing Company opened its doors in 2014
Brewmaster Tom Schufman, who grew up in Eden Prairie, stirs the mash in the production room at Waconia Brewing Company. One of two beer taprooms in Carver County (the other is Enki Brewing in Victoria), Waconia Brewing Company opened its doors in October 2014.
PHOTOS BY ERIC KRAUSHAR
Growler of goodness.
Chaska City HallOne City Hall PlazaChaska, MN 55318
952-448-9200http://www.chaskamn.com/
HELPINGBUSINESSES
THRIVEOne of the strategic goals of the City of Chaskais simply to ensure the development of thrivingbusinesses---from small family-owned businesses tocorporate campuses---that invest in the communityand provide jobs for the region. This goal is evident inthe streamline development and public approvalprocess. By consistently utilizing a variety of localincentives tohelpwrite-downdevelopmentcosts,whilealso working with County and State agencies to seekadditional funding to locate businesses to Chaska.Contact us and learn how the City can help yourbusiness thrive.
nia since 1995. Pete and Dee relocated here and instead of making it difficult, we just moved to Waconia. We love the community. It’s similar sized to what we lived in back in Iowa. ... Pete and I got thinking, why not start a brewery in Waconia? We did some research and called my brother, Kevin, who had been in the business for 10 years at the time, and we made the de-cision in January of last year to go for it,” Bob DeLange said.
Luckily for consumers, the talented Schufman, who start-ed at Summit Brewing and later was assistant and lead brewmaster at Fulton Brew-ing, has collaborated to make much superior beer to what started it all, the homemade kits as a Christmas present.
“I was the one bad mouth-ing their beers,” said Bob. “My brothers all get identical brew kits and we have a broth-ers’ weekend and they all bring their home brews and let’s just say it wasn’t good. It was pretty tough to drink. It’s been a long journey, but luckily the beer is much bet-ter now.”
Schufman started with beers for all drinkers, but has
expanded to offer up to eight taps at one time. In March, other beers offered included a brown ale, a single hop IPA, a Belgian 342, and a Mo’Winta Milk.
A limited 250-bomber se-ries, “Quad,” was the com-pany’s first bottle production. Next up is a gin-aged venture.
“I live in St. Boni and I thought this would be a killer spot to be a head brewer. I talk-ed with Bob and Pete about the vision and we all fired on the same cylinders about what we wanted to accomplish. I’ve come in with some of my ideas and they have theirs, and it’s been going really well so far,”
said Schufman, who has been home brewing for 12 years.
Drew DeLange called Wa-conia Brewing Company a “family-friendly taproom.” Root beer is a huge hit with youth. There’s something for everyone to enjoy, includ-ing board games and free popcorn.
“You see people come into the taproom and enjoy the beer we work hard to make. That’s a gratifying satisfac-tion that I get the most out of,” Schufman said.
Mill House GallerySara Lee Hanlon’s Art Studio
202 N Walnut St, Chaska • 952-556-8726
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Original art featuring Sara Hanlonand others, gifts for all occasions,home décor accents, hand-madecards and crafted items by Saraand custom framing services.
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Just the FactsBusiness: Waconia Brewing Company
Address: 255 Main St W., Waconia, MN 55387
Years in location: Seven months
Employees: 11
Interesting facts: Owners Bob and Pete DeLange have a brother, Kevin, who owns Dry Dock Brewing in Aurora, Colo. Brewmaster Tom Schufman previously worked for Summit and Fulton, two of the most popular beers in the state of Minnesota.
Website: waconiabrewing.com
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8 | April 2015 Made in Southwest
BY MOLLEE FRANCISCO
For more than a century, sugar h a s b e e n t h e name of the game at 1060 Stoughton Ave. in Chaska.
The sugar factory — now owned by United Sugars Corp. — has been churning out the sweet stuff on the eastern edge of downtown since 1906.
In its earlier days, the sugar factory (which started as Carver County Sugar Co. and was subsequently known as the Minnesota Sugar Co., the American Beet Co. and American Crystal Sugar) was fully functional, processing piles and piles of sugar beets into table sugar — so much so that Chaska was known for a time as “Sugar City.”
Plant manager Dan Law-rence said that at its height,
the sugar factory ran three shifts and employed about 400 people. That was back during World War II, when the fac-tory could process some 1,750 tons of beets a day.
Since sugar beet process-ing ended in the early 1970s, operations in Chaska have been a bit more low-key. To-day, there are 15 full-time employees on the local pay-roll and instead of process-ing sugar beets into table sugar, they primarily store and distribute bulk refined sugar and make liquid sugar. Lawrence said that about 65 percent of their output is liquid sugar.
That liquid sugar finds its way into everything from soda and yogurt to ice cream and canned fruits and vegetables.
“The sugar that comes out of Minnesota is in a lot of stuff,” said Lawrence.
United Sugars’ customers are well-known food giants including Pepsi, Kraft, Nestle, Schwan’s, ConAgra, Gatorade and Ocean Spray.
So how does one make liq-uid sugar? The recipe is about as basic as it gets — two parts sugar, one part water.
“It sounds simple, but there’s quite a bit more to it,”
said Lawrence.Lawrence proudly an-
nounces that not only have they never had a product recall, they have gone more than 960 days without a lost-time injury. “We’re up for one of three Governor’s Safety Awards,” he said.
“We’re the No. 1 distribu-tor of industrial sugar in the nation,” said Lawrence.
And he doesn’t see the demand for sugar decreas-ing any time soon. “The U.S. market is very strong.”
How sweet it isUnited Sugars continues sugar legacyin Chaska
Just the FactsBusiness: United Sugars Corporation
Address: 1060 Stoughton Avenue, Chaska
Years in location: 109
Employees: 15 full-time (up to 28 during big campaigns)
Interesting fact: United Sugars in Chaska uses more than 1 million gallons of water each month.
Website: www.unitedsugars.com
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