An entrepreneurial spirit is a key part of the fabric of both the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.
“There is such a rich history of doing entrepreneurial things on both campuses,” said Paul Marsnik, a professor of entrepreneurship and global business at CSB and SJU, the academic director of the Entrepreneur Scholars program and the director of the Donald McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship.
“I think it’s embedded into the DNA of CSB and SJU. The nuns at Saint Ben’s started the hospital in St. Cloud and have done so many other truly entrepreneurial things. The monks at Saint John’s with Abbey Woodworking, the Liturgical Press, The Saint John’s Bible and the Benedictine Volunteer Corps. MPR has its origins here. That entrepreneurial mindset is a big part of who we are.
“So it’s really important that we continue to celebrate that tradition.”
Which is the idea behind the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, presented annually by the McNeely Center.
The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University Entrepreneur of the Year Awards “recognize the achievements of a Johnnie and a Bennie who best exemplify the ideals of entrepreneurship by starting and successfully managing one or more businesses in a way that demonstrates notable entrepreneurial characteristics and achievements while practicing Benedictine values in the workplace and in their lives.”
The CSB and SJU Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award “recognizes the achievements and qualities of a Johnnie or Bennie who best exemplifies the ideals of social entrepreneurship by starting and successfully managing one or more ventures that enrich humanity or address a social issue in a way that demonstrates notable entrepreneurial characteristics and achievements while practicing Benedictine values in the workplace and in their lives.”
·The 2024 SJU winner is Anthony Schmidt ’09, the founder and CEO of Tarmac – a nearshore software development company with over 300 engineers in the USA, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, The Netherlands and North Macedonia.
·The 2024 CSB winner is Lacie Gerhardson ’00, who has practiced chiropractic care in the St. Cloud area for the past 21 years and founded Gerhardson Chiropractic, LLC in 2018.
·The 2024 CSB and SJU Social winner is Katie Kalkman ’06, the cofounder and executive director of Impact Hub MSP (Minnesota Social Impact Center), part of a worldwide network of 110-plus impact hubs in over 60 countries, as well as the cofounder and executive director of Folk School Warroad.
This year’s recipients will be honored in a program scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. Monday (Oct. 28) at the Metropolitan Ballroom and Clubroom in Golden Valley. Tickets can be purchased online at connect.csbsju.edu/register/2024EOYAwards.
“It’s really about honoring our tradition of entrepreneurial thinking,” Marsnik said. “Seeing opportunities in the world around us and taking action.”
Here is more about each of this year’s winners:
In a way, it was a football injury that opened a door to the world for Schmidt.
The Totino-Grace High School graduate was the Johnnies starting kicker as a freshman in 2005, connecting on 65 of 70 extra points and booting three field goals. But he suffered an injury that kept him out of action as a sophomore, and he elected to study abroad his junior season.
“That had a big impact on me,” he recalls of the experience. “In all, I ended up studying abroad in some form or fashion four times at Saint John’s, and it kind of got in my blood.”
Schmidt went to work for UnitedHealth Group after his time in Collegeville, but the travel bug remained strong. That – combined with the inspiration to fill a software-related void that had become apparent to him – led him to Uruguay.
It was there in 2012 that he took a chance and founded Tarmac, a nearshore software development company that has grown from a two-person operation to employ over 300 engineers in the U.S., Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands and North Macedonia.
The company designs, builds, scales and maintains custom software for companies like Caribou Coffee, Allina Health and Boston Scientific. In addition to Tarmac, Schmidt now also owns and operates several other businesses in the software and hospitality space.
“I figured the worst thing that could happen is I could fail and end up living on my parents’ couch,” Schmidt said of his venture. “When you’re in your 20s, that’s not the worst thing in the world. At the time, I didn’t see a ton of downside. As you get older, and you have kids and you have to pay the mortgage, risk becomes a much bigger factor. But when you’re young, it’s easier to take chances.”
It was an aunt who helped set Gerhardson on her future career path.
The St. Cloud Tech High School graduate originally thought she might get into pediatrics while she was a student at CSB. But a job shadow experience convinced her that wasn’t the route she wanted to travel.
“My aunt was a chiropractor, and she needed part-time help,” Gerhardson recalls. “So I went to work for her. I saw how she was able to help people and I fell in love.”
Gerhardson earned her Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, then returned to her hometown where she has practiced for the past 21 years. In 2018, she decided to strike out on her own – founding Gerhardson Chiropractic, which now has offices in Waite Park, Foley and Cold Spring.
“Deciding to open my own practice was terrifying, but exciting at the same time,” she recalls. “There were so many logistics. Looking at buildings and leases, figuring out what equipment and how many treatment rooms I needed. Figuring out where to get financing. All the pieces you really don’t think of until you decide to make the leap.
“But I focused on getting the anchor pieces in place, then started chipping away at everything else on the list.”
The entrepreneurial spirit was already present in Kalkman, even in the St. Cloud native’s first year at CSB.
“Instead of problems, I would see opportunity,” she said. “When I was a freshman going into sophomore year, we wanted an apartment for three roommates, but we didn’t win the lottery in the dorms and were so bummed. Then, I’m running down the street and I see a house for sale in St. Joe. I was like, ‘I can buy that house and I can rent it out and make some money.’
“So that summer, when I was 19 years old, I bought my first property and got my real estate license.”
She then became part of the first E-Scholar cohort, and while still a student at CSB, launched a business – Collegeville Carpets – with 2 other E-Scholars.
She’s used her problem-solving and organizational skills to bring people together in her post-graduate career as well – Founding Impact Hub MSP and Folk School Warroad.
In addition to her work as an executive director, Kalkman serves or has served in a variety of executive, advisory, board and trustee roles, including with MN B Corps, Wintergreen Northern Wear, the McNeely Center, Forge North, Warroad Strategic Design, the CSB/SJU Alumni Board and in various urban and rural housing and economic and entrepreneurship ecosystem roles among others.
She becomes the first former E-Scholar to earn one of the three entrepreneur of the year awards.
“When I think of characteristics that make an entrepreneur successful, in my lens, I think of persistence, patience and – for me – optimism,” she said.