Heidi Ash is the owner and chocolatier at 185Chocolat in Duluth, MN. She was the 185th recipient of a heart transplant at the Mayo Clinic, and the name is a nod to her new lease on life.

Ash says, The transplant was a joyous event in my life. It allowed me to follow my dream, creating chocolates. Chocolates are my passion.

To honor organ recipients and their caregivers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, 185chocolat, LLC donates a portion of all proceeds to the Charity Transplant Fund. This charity goes directly to help individuals with non-medical costs such as housing and food.

Topics: personal business story/experience, entrepreneurship, using your business to give back to the community

Locations: Lake Superior College, Fond Du Lac Tribal and CC, WITC

As a successful entrepreneur coach, Jen Wiczek Bertsch has an unending drive to help people grow their business and get a life while doing it. Supporting hard charging entrepreneurs is a passion realized in her five years of work as a director in the second largest Chamber of Commerce in Minnesota. She saw first hand what set apart the successful go-getters and the ‘not so go-getters. Jen loves to ignite a fire under her clients and pinpoint, implement and share best practices to help them become an industry leader.

She received the Duluth News Tribunes 20 under 40 award in 2008 being recognized for leadership in her community by founding, Fuse Duluth, a program focused on connecting young professionals with the business community.

Constantly curious, she is currently engaged in advanced coach training at Coach U, pursuing an International Coaching Federation accreditation and is a REACH certified personal branding strategist.

Topics: Personal business story/experience, entrepreneurship, goal setting, management techniques, turning plans in to action, personal branding, networking, building a strong team.

Locations: all arrowhead colleges and universities

Alan Birman and his wife Rene are owner operators of Cloquet Ford Chrysler. Their dealership is based on old fashion values and exceptional customer service. It is their goal to make sure that customers have a great experience at the dealership and throughout the life of their vehicle. Their motto is Its all OK in Cloquet!

Topics: personal business story/experience, Goal setting, marketing, sales/customer service, how to secure funding/get a loan, running a family owned business, growth and expansion strategies, buying and existing business, management techniques

Locations: Lake Superior College, Fond Du Lac Tribal and CC, WITC

Rene Birman is co-owner of Cloquet Ford Chrysler. The dealership is based on old fashion values and exceptional customer service. It is their goal to make sure that customers have a great experience at the dealership and throughout the life of their vehicle. Their motto is Its all OK in Cloquet!

Topics: personal business story/experience, how to secure funding/get a loan, running a family owned business, buying and existing business, management techniques

Locations: Lake Superior College, Fond Du Lac Tribal and CC, WITC

Patrice Bradley is owner and founder of SwimCreative, and advertising agency in Duluth, MN. It all started when she and her some of her colleagues left cozy, comfortable jobs at other agencies with no real plan for what to do next. Now what? We dont even have a name! one said. After a long silence, Patrice said Well, at this point, we can either sink or swim. And an agency with a cleaver name was born.

Topics: personal business story/experience, marketing, web presence, sales/customer service

Locations: Lake Superior College, WITC

Dr. Carter is founder and CEO of Expert Advantage®, a company that provides medical evidence analysis, independent examinations, and expert witness testimony nationwide in the USA and Canada. In Minnesota, they provide psychological evaluations, neuropsychological evaluations, and psychological treatment. They help people obtain Social Security Disability benefits (MN, ND, WI excluded). They serve individuals, families, law firms, insurers, railroads, and government agencies.

Topics: personal business story /experience, entrepreneurship, goal setting, business planning/writing a business plan, management techniques, cash flow/financial statements

Locations: Lake Superior College, Fond Du Lac, Hibbing CC, Mesabi Range CC, Vermillion CC

John Foucault CEO of Points North Consulting which develops innovative services, including time & labor management, that help businesses save time, improve the utilization of their resources, and increase their bottom line through data integration. This integrative approach allows them to provide added value to out-sourced services and in-house applications.

Points North Consulting can help improve business operations immediately and seamlessly with their products and solutions by integrating data systems to maximize efficiency. From custom attendance policy administration to certified payroll reporting, and from shop floor data collection to benefits administration, their straightforward and proven products and solutions can greatly streamline processes and benefit businesses.

Topics: personal business story /experience, entrepreneurship, goal setting, business planning/plan writing, marketing, sales/customer service, legal issues and legal structure, operations planning, growth/expansion, selling in national and international markets, buying an existing business, management techniques, cash flow/financial statements.

Locations: Lake Superior College, Fond Du Lac, WITC, CSS, UMD

Dawn Johnson is program director of the Womens Business Network at Northeast Entrepreneur Fund. In this role she manages and evaluates NEFs training opportunities, including classes, workshops and networking events. She is the instructor for many sessions, and also has led instructor training for NEFs CORE FOUR Business Planning Course^®. Dawn has 10 years of experience running a home-based business and 17 years experience in event planning and training. She holds a degree in psychology from the College of St. Scholastica, where she also served as an admissions professional for three years.

Topics: personal business story/experience, entrepreneurship, goal setting, business planning/plan writing, sales/customer service

Locations: Lake Superior College, Fond Du Lac, Itasca CC, Hibbing CC, Mesabi Range CC, WITC, CSS, UMD

Michael Lattery is a business developer for the Northeast Entrepreneur Fund, serving the Duluth area and Two Harbors. Mike has 17 years experience owning and operating 12 Dominos Pizza restaurants in Duluth and throughout Minnesota. Previously, he had been a franchise consultant for Dominos. For several years, he has also owned and operated the Poplar Golf Course in Poplar, Wisconsin.

Topics: Business planning/plan writing, how to secure funding/get a loan, cash flow/financial statements, buying a franchise

Locations: all arrowhead colleges and universities

Riki McManus has been working in the film industry all her working career. She started as an on camera and voice over talent in the commercial industry in Minneapolis. Riki then became an agent with the model and talent agency that represented her. After taking on the roll of Agency Director at Plaza Three Models and Talent, she landed the contract for the casting of the feature film “Purple Rain”. McManus then started her own business, “Riki Wuolle Casting Company” was the first casting company to start in Minneapolis. She received a Clio Award for a self promotion piece to announce her opening and introduce her casting company which was a fairly new concept in the Minneapolis production community. Since then she has cast over15 Feature Films/Movies of the Week and Television Series.

While in Minneapolis, McManus was part of a group of people that found a need for a Film Office in Minnesota and helped bring that to fruition. She has also been a past President for the Minnesota Film and Television Board. Since moving to Duluth she started the Upper Minnesota Film Office which is a public/private project under the umbrella of Northspan designed to promote the region to film makers in hopes that they would bring the projects to our area. This is a model that supports tourism, economic development for the region and the arts. McManus has been listed in the Who’s Who for Women in Minnesota. She has served on The Duluth Playhouse Board, and on the Duluth Entertainment & Convention Center Board. She is currently on the Visit Duluth Board, as well as the NMSDP Board.

Topics: personal business story/experience, goal setting, entrepreneurship, going above and beyond, how to bring Hollywood to your community.

Locations: all arrowhead colleges and universities

Jessie Schlosser is the Marketing & Communications Specialist for the Northeast Entrepreneur Fund. Alongside his duties at NEF, Jessie does freelance graphic design and marketing. Before starting at NEF, Jessie did agency work in Chicago doing internet and social media marketing. He holds a bachelors degree from Columbia College Chicago in Marketing Communications with studies in web technology and graphic design. Currently Jessie is creating two new marketing workshops for the Northeast Entrepreneur Fund Connected: Establishing your Business Online and Logged In: Social Media for your Business .

Topics: marketing, web presence, establishing online business, social media

Locations: all arrowhead colleges and universities

An experienced entrepreneur, Rebecca Spengler is the owner/operator of A Laundry Room Inc in Ely, MN. Serving the needs of residents and tourists, A Laundry Room Inc. offers coin-operated service, drop-off fluff-and fold service, dry cleaning, and commercial laundry services for resorts and outfitters.

Rebecca is a graduate of Vermilion Community College with an associate of science degree in business. While at Vermilion, she worked with the Campus Entrepreneurship Initiative to promote and encourages entrepreneurial activity on campus and in the community. She developed E-Camp, an experiential business camp which focused on teaching production, development, and marketing skills to children 6-12 years old.

Topics: personal business story/experience, Entrepreneurship, Goal setting, Business planning/writing a business plan, buying and existing business, energy efficiency, alternative energy

Locations: Mesabi Range CC, Vermillion CC

Jennifer Young is the owner/operator of Cookie Temptations, a gourmet cookie business which designs custom sugars cookie with chocolate. Young has worked as a business consultant at a local business development, Duluth Pack as customer service, shipping and credit manager, Advanstar Communications in Duluth as credit manager and a General Manager for Sunny Hills Golf Club located in Florida. Jennifer also owned and operated a floral wedding business for three years and had worked with her family in business since the age of 14. She is passionate about being an entrepreneur and enjoys helping other entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.

Topics: Personal business story/experience, entrepreneurship, goal setting, business planning/plan writing, marketing, sales/customer service, operations planning, growth/expansion

Locations: Lake Superior College