On The Street Business News, March 11 – Alexandria Echo Press | News, Weather And Sports From Alexandria, Minnesota – Alexandria Echo Press

Edina Realty, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, recently announced that the following Realtors from the Alexandria office are being recognized for outstanding sales performance, market knowledge and customer service as members of Edina Realty’s Executive, Chairman’s, Master’s, President’s or Leadership Circles.

Stu Wood Executive’s Circle; Sue Palmquist Master’s Circle; Wendie VanKirk President’s Circle; Julie and Shawn Olson President’s Circle; Mandy Rudy Leadership Circle; Denise Gades Dougherty Leadership Circle; Lorie and Jim Irwin Leadership Circle; Nicole and Mitch Doering Leadership Circle; Christy Schmitz Leadership Circle; Gloria Iverson Leadership Circle; and Jill Barnby Leadership Circle.

Membership in Edina Realty’s Circles places them among the top Edina Realty agents as follows: Executive Circle – top 4%; Chairman’s Circle – top 9%; Master’s Circle – top 17%; President’s Circle – top 30%; and Leadership Circle – top 43%.

“Agents who earn membership in Edina Realty’s Executive, Chairman’s, Master’s, President’s or

Leadership Circles exemplify our core values of honesty, integrity, commitment, innovation and

community. They prioritize customer relationships, understand evolving market trends and nurture connections,” said Greg Mason, Edina Realty Home Services CEO.

A select group of child care programs are the newest local programs to earn their Parent Aware ratings.

Parent Aware’s mission is to help families find the quality care and education their children need to succeed in school and life. These child care programs all volunteered to go above and beyond basic health and safety requirements and use best practices to support child development. The experiences children have during their first years of life will shape the adults they become, making it especially important for all children to have access to quality care and early education.

Local businesses who received ratings in Douglas County include: Stephanie Anderson, Lynn Barten, Samantha Christensen, Quinn Connelly, Sue Earl, Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association Little Peeps Daycare, Little Learners Academy LLC, Lisa Moyle and Danielle Wilke.

“These early childhood educators have gone above and beyond to provide quality care for the children and families in their programs,” said Marianne Smith, professional development advisor for the Northwest Child Care Aware District.

Juergen Brunkhorst recently received the Wm. Kelley Memorial Award from the Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors.

The honor is given to a member who has contributed greatly to the community.

Brunkhorst has a long history of acting as a volunteer community leader, as he has ties into countless social groups. Beyond his volunteer work, he has been active within the Central Lakes Chapter of the Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors, serving in the capacity of vice president and president.

Brunkhorst worked in the field as a survey technician for three years at Widseth. During that time, he started the process of getting his LSIT and surveyor certification which involved three years of gathering transcripts from Germany and translating high school humanities class certificates. He received his surveying license in 2008.

“MSPS sincerely appreciates the personal investments of time and talent by our Award winners in our communities, profession and society,” noted MSPS Past President Preston Dowell.

Tamarack Technology, Inc., a leader in providing independent software solutions in the equipment finance and commercial lending industry, has hired Andrew Hedstrom of Alexandria as director of sales.

Hedstrom will lead the development of a dedicated sales team to support the company’s product and service offering as well as the recently launched Tamarack.ai.

SGN Imagery – Sue Nelson

“I’ve known Andy (Hedstrom) for more than three decades and I’ve always been impressed by his ability to understand complex situations and identify what is needed to help an organization reach their business objectives,” said Tamarack founder and CEO Daniel Nelson.

Hedstrom brings more than 25 years of account management experience to Tamarack. Over his career, Hedstrom has been instrumental in helping several organizations evolve their sales structure and develop independent sales teams in order to achieve growth goals, increase market presence and expand into new markets.

“Tamarack is at an inflection point and executing the right sales strategy is essential for the company to continue its forward trajectory,” said Hedstrom. “From my perspective, a sales process is based on fundamentals like customer empathy.”

Andrew Muer, PE, of Widseth in Alexandria has successfully passed the exams and met the education and experience requirements necessary to become a licensed professional engineer by the Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience, and Interior Design.

Muer graduated from the University of Minnesota, Duluth in 2015 with a degree in civil/structural engineering. He joined Widseth as a structural engineer in training that same year. Muer’s responsibilities include hydraulic and structural design of new bridges and maintenance of existing bridges throughout Minnesota. With his newly acquired professional engineering licensure, Muer can now manage and provide deliverables for such projects.

“Many long days and nights of preparation have led me to this point,” Muer said. “I am thrilled that I have passed the PE exam and look forward to the new responsibilities and opportunities of being a professional engineer. I would like to thank my family and colleagues for making this next step in my career possible.”

Widseth is a multi-discipline firm of more than 200 employees providing engineering, architecture, land surveying, and environmental services. Its offices are located in Alexandria, Bemidji, Brainerd, Crookston, East Grand Forks, Rochester, and Wyoming, Minnesota, and Grand Forks, North Dakota. More information is available at Widseth.com.

Alexandria Industries has named Greg Wittbecker as a member of its board of directors. Privately owned, Alexandria Industries relies on its five-member board of directors to help ensure the company and its employees, customers, and communities are set up for success.

Living his professional aspirations in international business and economics, Wittbecker’s career spans working in the metals industry – specifically, aluminum trading – to the agricultural commodities industry.

He has worked with Cargill, in his home state of Minnesota before moving to Baltimore to work with Wise Metals, and then, Texas for Koch Metals. Wittbecker wrapped up his 50-year career serving as the managing director of Alcoa in Beijing. Not yet ready to retire fully, he currently serves as a contract advisor for CRU Group, while also providing consulting services for commercial enterprises.

“Supply and demand are constantly recalibrating and leveling out the markets, and markets have a way of responding to prices and self-correcting over time,” Wittbecker said. “Having seen a range of trading cycles, I put perceptions into proper perspective and help businesses make sound decisions based on true market demands.”

“Our team met Greg through the Aluminum Extruders Council, where industry partners work together to advance and promote the aluminum extrusion industry,” said Steve Schabel, president, Alexandria Industries. “We are honored to have Greg serve as a member on our board. He has the experience, knowledge and insight, to help us successfully grow our business.”