FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Jerry Robinson, President

The Minnesota Entrepreneurs, Inc.

(612) 797-9900

GOVERNOR JESSE VENTURA NAMED ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR BY THE MINNESOTA ENTREPRENEURS

Minneapolis/St. Paul, April 6, 1999 -- In a move that surprised many in the business community, the Minnesota Entrepreneurs, Inc. named Governor Jesse Ventura as the 1999 Entrepreneur of the Year. Presentation of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award to Governor Ventura will take place at a special Minnesota Entrepreneurs meeting to be held on May 4, 1999 at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium, St. Thomas University in St. Paul.

Governor Ventura joins an impressive list of past recipients of the Minnesota Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur of the Year Award:

• Curt Carlson, Carlson Companies
• Harvey Mackay, Mackay Envelope Co.
• Earl Bakken, Medtronic, Inc.
• Leeann Chin, Leeann Chin, Inc.
• Irwin Jacobs, Minstar, Inc.
• Rudy Boschwitz, Home Valu, Inc.
• Glen Taylor, Taylor Corporation and The Minnesota Timberwolves
• Manny Villafana, ATS Medical, GV Medical, Cardiac Pacemakers, St. Jude Medica
• Gerald Rauenhorst, Opus Corporation
• Carl Pohlad, owner of many businesses and the Minnesota Twins

"Our vision is to take entrepreneurship in Minnesota to a higher level and create hundreds of new businesses and thousands of new jobs in Minnesota," said Jerry Robinson, president of the Minnesota Entrepreneurs. "We selected Governor Jesse Venture as our 1999 Entrepreneur of the Year because he has achieved outstanding entrepreneurial accomplishments." These include:

• He was an active entrepreneur long before he became Governor, having created and operated businesses for years.
• His campaign for governor was one of the most entrepreneurial campaigns ever conducted in America. It was a small nimble operation competing against large, well financed organizations. It was financed outside the bounds of the usual political funding machinery and used Internet technology to gain a competitive advantage. It changed the rules of the game by targeting voters who have been largely overlooked by politicians. It created innovative new products that helped him get elected ... and are now commercially-viable consumer products.
• He exhibits leadership, the confidence to set his own course and willingness to take chances and risk criticism.
• He is a creative thinker, a problem-solver who thinks "outside the box" and finds new ways to achieve goals and communicate with his target audience.
• He actively promotes self reliance and stands up for the principals of our free enterprise system. 

• He brings a fresh perspective to the regulatory burdens placed on Minnesota business, vowing to improve Minnesota's business climate.
• His marketing prowess is sure to attract new business to Minnesota.

"All of these support the vision of the Minnesota Entrepreneurs ... to take entrepreneurship in Minnesota to a higher level," said Robinson.

The Minnesota Entrepreneurs™ is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation with a mission to educate, to inspire and to act as a resource for entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. It is the oldest organization of its kind, having pioneered entrepreneurship before the word ëentrepreneurí became popular.

Since 1981, the Minnesota Entrepreneurs has been helping entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs build businesses and grow the economy. Rather than teach entrepreneurship from a book, the Minnesota Entrepreneurs brings aspiring entrepreneurs together with seasoned entrepreneurs to teach valuable real-world entrepreneurial lessons.

Regular monthly meetings of the Minnesota Entrepreneurs are held at 6:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month at the University of St. Thomas, 10th and LaSalle Streets, Minneapolis. Meetings feature presentations by successful entrepreneurs teaching real-world lessons in entrepreneurship, Networking Opportunities, "Open Mike" opportunities and the "Entrepreneurs Resource Table."

The Minnesota Entrepreneurs also encourages monthly breakfast networking meetings in St. Paul, Minneapolis and Burnsville and sponsors educational activities such as the upcoming "How to Raise Money to Finance Your Business," seminar on April 6, "Making Your Dream A Reality," workshop, April 6, 13, 20, 27 and "Marketing on the Internet," seminar, May 27.

Membership, meeting and event information: (612) 922-1136.

The Minnesota Entrepreneurs is a trademark of the Minnesota Entrepreneurs, Inc.

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