Meet Our Facilitators
Below are the bio’s of the facilitators of the Be Strategic workshops.
Jen Berstch
Since launching Moxy Coaching in 2007, Jen has worked with small-business owners throughout the nation to develop their business and personal skills. She encourages entrepreneurial growth by asking powerful, thought-provoking questions, requiring relentless accountability, and supporting entrepreneurs as they strengthen their branding messages and implement strategies and systems for growth.
Jen’s extensive experience in retail management, advertising, training, and economic development includes five years as a director of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce, and creating and implementing a training program for regional sales managers at 50 Below Sales & Marketing. She received the Duluth News Tribune’s 20 under 40 award in 2008 for her leadership in founding Fuse Duluth, a program focused on connecting young professionals with the business community.
Meg Thoreson
With 15 years experience in advertising and communication in Duluth, Meg understands what it takes to market and grow a small company. After purchasing a hardware store in Solon Springs, she and her husband successfully expanded their retail operation to include hardware, sporting goods, a liquor store and a coffee shop. In 2006, the pair received the Wisconsin Small Business Administration’s Emerging Small Business Award, and in 2010, the Northwest Wisconsin Workforce Investment Board’s Employer of the Year Award.
Meg also serves as a director of the United Hardware Distributing Company in Minneapolis and as board president of the Superior/Douglas County Development Association. She is a past recipient of the Women in Leadership Award, presented by the Northland’s News Center.
Kathy Keeley
From the very start of her career, Kathy has been one of the nation’s strongest advocates for small business. She founded the Women’s Economic Development Corporation in 1983, launching the first loan fund for microenterprise in the country. Today she is president of the Keeley Group, a business specializing in strategic planning, project design and executive development.
During a career focused on economic development, finance, and performance management, Kathy has worked with for-profit, nonprofit and government organizations in every state and over 20 countries. As a consultant, she co-designed the online credit scoring system for “Make Mine a Million $ Business,” an initiative helping entrepreneurs grow micro businesses into million-dollar firms.
Steve Surbaugh
As owner and manager of Cascade Vacation Rentals and Cascade Property Sales, Steve’s hands-on entrepreneurial experience includes starting, managing and merging real-estate brokerage firms and successful condominium developments on Lake Superior’s North Shore.
Entrepreneurism is in his family blood, and from a very early age Steve launched numerous small businesses — both sole proprietorships and partnerships. He knows the tools it takes to visualize and realize business growth by analyzing markets and developing reliable business plans that provide focus for the road ahead. For years now he’s been sharing his real-world experience to help other small-business owners with strategies and skill sets that help them grow both sales and profits.
