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Alerus’ Newman named one of Upper Midwest’s entrepreneurs of the year
RRandy Newman, chairman, president and CEO of Alerus Financial Corp., has been named an Entrepreneur of the Year in the Upper Midwest by Ernst & Young.
The awards program, now in its 30th year, recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Newman received the Upper Midwest’s top honor in the Financial and Technology Services category.
Finalists for the award were chosen during a nomination process earlier this year. Recipients of the annual award were selected by an independent panel of judges and announced during a black-tie celebration held June 9 at the JW Marriott Minneapolis Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. Newman and other winners from the Upper Midwest region, which includes Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, will be considered for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year national awards, which will be announced Nov. 19 in Palm Springs, Calif.
“I was flattered just to be named a finalist for this award, so to be named one of the top entrepreneurs in the entire Upper Midwest is a true honor,” Newman says in a statement. “Banking isn’t usually the first profession that comes to mind when you think of entrepreneurs, but we encourage all of our employees to approach their work with an entrepreneurial spirit and to take ownership of their roles within the company. That independent thinking and welcoming of new ideas and strategies has allowed us to buck national trends in the financial industry and forge our own path with much success, so I share this award with the entire Alerus team.”
When Newman was named a finalist for the award in May, he said Alerus certainly has demonstrated entrepreneurialism in its expansions, risks, survival and collaborations. When he first got into the banking business in 1981 at what was then called First National Bank North Dakota, 18,000 financial institutions prospered across the country. Today, there are 6,000. “We’ve done more than survived,” he told Prairie Business. “We’ve prospered, through entrepreneurship probably. … Our business is taking risks.” PB