Chamber awards businesses that give back

The Anoka Area Chamber of Commerce handed out its annual business awards last month to a collection of local entrepreneurs the membership is most proud of.

Two local businesses and one volunteer were honored by the chamber for their outstanding efforts.

The Retail Business of the Year was awarded to Goose Lake Farm and Winery of Nowthen. Service Business of the Year winner was Trott Brook Financial of Ramsey.

Executive Director Peter Turok said nearly 300 votes came in from the chamber membership this year and the annual awards have become a popular way to showcase local businesses and people who are providing a high level of service.

First, the businesses are nominated by other chamber members and a list of finalists are narrowed down by the board of directors.

Turok said the awards and voting process are becoming more popular every year. 

Retail Business of the Year Goose Lake Farm and Winery is in its fifth year. Owned by Leon and Cindy Ohman, the couple decided long ago they wanted to drink the fruit grown on their land rather than eat it.

Wine-making had long been a hobby, but five years ago the couple decided to start doing it as a business, said Leon Ohman.

“It was a hobby that go way out of hand,” said Ohman.

Now in their fourth year of tasting, the winery’s first bottles hit the shelves for sale in 2004. The farm opens each year in May when 28 varieties of fruit-based wine are sold. Certain varieties are popular, by October six had already sold out for the year.

Ninety-five percent of the fruit crops needed to make Goose Lakes wines are grown on the Nowthen farm. The fruit is grown on five of the 70-acres of the working farm, where the Ohmans do not use chemicals on their crops.

“It is smaller in acreage but it’s a high intensity agricultural operation,” said Ohman. At Goose Lake in addition to wine you will also find horses and chickens.

Ohman said he and Cindy support the community in a number of ways, giving donations of product for local fund-raisers and being Lions Club members.

“What’s good for us is good for the community,” he said.

Goose Lake Winery is fully licensed by the state and a member of the Minnesota Farm Winery Association.

Each year since opening Ohman said they have doubled their production and now offer wine making classes and supplies.

“We’re definitely starting to outgrow our facility,” he said.

Goose Lake wines are sold at a number of local liquor stores and Ohman said much of their advertising is done by word of mouth. The local business is also marketed online and each year in the wine booth at the Minnesota State Fair. The business joined the Anoka Area Chamber of Commerce the first year after opening.

Service Business of the Year winner is Trott Brook Financial – a financial advisement firm owned by Jim and Lisa Steffen. The business recently relocated to the Ramsey Town Center from the Steffens’ family home in Ramsey.

Jim Steffen said Trott Brook Financial became a chamber member the day after he opened the business.

The Steffens are well known for hosting the annual Trott Brook Benefit Bash, now in its fourth year.

This fund-raiser supports the Ann Talle Scholarship Fund, awarded to local students each year on behalf of the chamber.

Talle was killed in the explosion at Premier Community Properties in December of 2004. Talle was an active member of the chamber and an employee of Riverview Community Bank. The next year the Trott Brook Bash was born.

“Ann Talle was on the board at the same time I was and we wanted to do a benefit fund-raiser that was appropriate because of her ties to the community,” said Steffen.

Steffen has a long list of community commitments including the Ramsey Rotary, Youth First Community of Promise, and the city of Ramsey’s Economic Development Association.

John LeTourneau was named the recipient of the President’s Award for Outstanding Volunteerism. LeTourneau is a perennial helper in all aspects of the organization and specifically heads up the annual fund-raising gala.

He is the current board chairman – the second time elected to this post since joining the chamber in the 1980s while with his family’s business, LeTourneau Supervalue.

The grocery store closed in 2004 and now he is operating a consulting firm, Market Forward, in Ramsey. He is currently partnered with CO2 Partners, a Minneapolis-based consulting firm that provides development and leadership training for multi-million dollar companies.

“I think it boils down to a real strong need to be connected to a larger part of the community,” said LeTourneau. “My business model is that people should give back to the community.”

Turok said that LeTourneau is someone who always goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes time to help the chamber out, whether at functions like Riverfest or other fund-raisers.

LeTourneau gives his time to many other community organizations as well. He is currently the president of the Ramsey Rotary Club, a member of Ramsey’s Economic Development Association and is involved with education and mentoring of young people through the chamber.

Some people might find it exhausting to be a part of so many organizations and clubs. Not LeTourneau.

“I think I gain energy by association,” he said. “It’s fun for me to connect, whether its with business, education or government.”