Luncheon Speaker Bios

Chris Heim is currently CEO of both 2ndWave Software and Amcom Software. 2ndWave Software is an entity created by Chris Heim and Dan Mayleben to purchase and optimize small to medium sized software companies. 2ndWave Software purchased Amcom Software in March of 2007 and has done two subsequent acquisitions to further accelerate Amcom’s growth. Amcom has roughly tripled in size to approximately $35M in revenue over the last twelve months.

Chris was formerly CEO and President of HighJump Software. Under Mr. Heim's leadership, HighJump Software grew from $8M in sales in 1997 to a run rate of $80M in sales in 2006 and became the fastest growing company in their market space. In 2002, HighJump received the Tekne Award from the Minnesota High Technology Association as the Top Emerging Software Company. In 2003, Heim was selected as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2004, Heim and Mayleben engineered the sale of HighJump Software to 3M where it remained until recently spun off. Prior to becoming CEO of HighJump, Chris held a variety of roles at this company including Director of Business Development, Director of Operations and Product Development Engineer.

Heim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and a Masters of Business Administration degree in Marketing from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Larry Wilson is widely considered one of the foremost thinkers, speakers, and doers in the business world today. He founded two premier companies: Wilson Learning Corporation (1965) a $50 million training and research organization, and Pecos River Learning (1985), a change-management and leadership development organization. As one of the leading national speakers on leadership and performance, Larry will share his forty years of fulfilling his life and leadership purpose: “Helping others become as much as they can be."

Erik Saltvold spoke at the May 14, 2008 luncheon, and he is the owner of Erik's Bike Shop. 2008 is Erik's 30th Year in Business! That's right, he was only 13 when he started ERIK'S BIKE SHOP. His first bike, a hand-me-down from an older family member, sparked his interest in bikes. With entrepreneurial spirit, and the money he saved from his job (the only other job he's ever had) as a paperboy – Erik began his business. He bought 150 used bikes, fixed them up, and sold them.

Erik's original workshop was in his parent's backyard, inside one of the few remaining barns in the urban setting of Richfield, Minnesota. A homemade sign brought business to his doorstep. Throughout high school, Erik worked out of the barn, as part of a school work for credit program. In fact, half of the grading system was for on-the-job performance. Being a "one-man operation" Erik had to grade himself... so he
managed to earn a lot of A's! By his senior year (1982), the business (now stocking NEW bikes and accessories) began to take over storage space from his parents' basement... to the dining room... to the family room. So at 18, Erik moved his business out of his parents' barn and opened a store on 72nd & Chicago Avenue South in Richfield, Minnesota.

His business philosophy remains... professional, knowledgeable service in a friendly store environment.

Now in his 40's, Erik employs up to 140 people and has 13 store locations, 11 in Minnesota and 2 in Madison, Wisconsin. His selection of products and services focuses on bicycling, snowboards, skateboards, and all the gear that goes with them. Erik enjoys working at the shops and helping customers find that perfect bike or snowboard! In fact, he often meets a "Third Generation Shopper" of a customer from his original backyard barn store!

Tony Jacobson spoke at the September 6, 2007 luncheon. Tony Jacobson is the Founder and CEO of AllOver Media, a National Media Franchising Company. He is a pioneer in developing strategic alternative media products and concepts known as “non-traditional out-of-home media.”

Tony grew in Hibbing, MN and attended St. Cloud State University. At SCSU he and a friend created a start up company around a new media concept focused on placing ads in the restrooms of bars, nightclubs and restaurants called AJ Indoor advertising.

Starting with capital support from his hometown neighbors and friends as well as some former members of the Naegele Outdoor Billboard management team, AJ Indoor took off expanding to over 5,000 venues throughout 55 major cities across the country. In 2000, Tony and his business partner sold the company to NextMedia, a national multi media conglomerate.

In 2002, Tony took what he learned in building AJ Indoor started AllOver Media, a new and expanded concept specializing in indoor print, as well as digital indoor advertising. The company also combined indoor with outdoor media by placing ads on top of the gas pumps at thousands of gas stations, truck stops, and convenience stores nationwide.

The key strength of AOM is its expanding franchise network. It is this unique network that provides media buyers’ national scalability with the attention to detail from local operators on the execution side. With all the challenges being faced by conventional media today, Jacobson believes that All Over Media is the optimal solution for companies with strategic advertising needs.

Tony shared his exciting journey and lessons he learned in bootstrapping AJ indoor from a concept with little or no money, and developing it into a new national media company, then taking it to the next level through All Over Media.

Jill Blashack Strahan spoke at the May 16, 2007 luncheon held at the Kelly Inn.

Jill Blashack Strahan grew up on her family’s farm in rural Minnesota during the 1960s where she was inspired by her father’s work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit. After graduating from the Alexandria Technical College in 1979, Jill managed her father’s local restaurant and in 1989 opened her first entrepreneurial effort: a retail gift basket shop.

In 1994, Jill liquidated her retail business, but continued to sell gift baskets to corporate and direct mail clients. She then got an opportunity to promote these baskets in a holiday crafters’ home tour. On a whim, she set out samples of gourmet food items and experienced remarkable sales. When the same successful results occurred later, she realized the power of sampling – and the idea for Tastefully Simple was born.

In 1995, Tastefully Simple became the original taste-testing party company offering easy-to-prepare gourmet foods that cater to today’s hectic lifestyles. It wasn’t a simple start. Jill and her young family had no money to risk on such a venture. Determined, she managed to bootstrap the business with some personal savings, a silent partner’s investment, and a $20,000 small business administration loan.

Jill spent the fist year juggling the responsibilities of home, motherhood, and entrepreneur – managing business tasks by day and holding taste-testing parties by night. She operated out of a 1,200 sq. ft. shed with no running water, packing orders on a pool table.

Today, Tastefully Simple is a multiple award-winning $120 million company with over 300 employees and more than 22,000 independent consultants nationwide. Jill has won numerous awards for her achievements and unique philosophies of positivity and abundance.

Dr. Daniel Cohen spoke at the February 8, 2007 luncheon, held at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites.

In 1982, Dr. Cohen co-founded CNS, Inc., and served as its CEO until 2001 and then Chairman of the Board until it was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2006. CNS developed innovative technology to monitor brain function during high-risk surgeries and to diagnose sleep disorders. The company was best known for its consumer products, the Breathe Right nasal strip and FiberChoice chewable fiber supplement.

Dr. Cohen took Breathe Right from an idea with a limited budget and built it into a $566 million national success story that became a reality when Jerry Rice featured the product on Monday night football.

Dr. Cohen is one of Minnesota’s leading entrepreneurs and truly understands the anatomy of an entrepreneur and what makes them tick. He has often said that he is really an entrepreneur in a doctor’s body. He discussed his fascinating journey in building Breathe Right from a unique little strip into a national business success story and the challenge he had to overcome as an entrepreneur along the way.

Dr. Cohen co-founded BodySound Technologies, Inc., to study the healing effects of sound, music and vibration. He is the inventor of the BodySound system to be introduced in 2007, first as a home entertainment product. He is also the co-author of the book, “Claim Your Basic Rights, Create a Practical Partnership with Your Soul”, with Jennifer Palmquist published in 2006. The second book of this trilogy is due out spring 2007.

Robert Naegele Jr. spoke on September 21, 2006. Best known for establishing Rollerblade, Inc. and as Chairman of the Minnesota Wild, Mr. Naegele has an extensive history of entrepreneurial success.

After graduating from Dartmouth College with a BA in Sociology, Mr. Naegele spent 12 years in a publicly owned, family-operated outdoor advertising company. He later embarked in a redevelopment project in downtown Minneapolis called Laurel Village – a residential neighborhood consisting of 800 units of urban housing, convenience retail, and restaurants.

In 1985, Mr. Naegele and a partner purchase a small company called Ole’s Innovative Sports, which assembled and sold in-line roller skates to ice hockey players as a counter seasonal training product. The company was repositioned to become a sporting goods company and renamed Rollerblade, Inc. Mr. Naegele served as Chairman of Rollerblade, Inc. until 1995.

A long-time Minnesota hockey fan, Mr. Naegele is majority owner and chairman of Minnesota Sports and Entertainment (MSE), overseeing the strategy and success of the Minnesota Wild. He serves as a member of the NHL Board of Governors.

Mr. Naegele also serves a Chairman of Naegele Communications, Inc., and company that buys, sells, and operates businesses.

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