Business Boom

New Business Applications

New business applications are booming in the upper Midwest. In Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, the total number of applications has grown nearly 70% since 2005 — with a sharp, mid-pandemic upturn that’s most notable in Minnesota.

Source: US Census Bureau | Chart by Sam Easter

Q: If you were to rate what attracts people to join the company, what rating would you give HR? Why?

Our team members and culture are what attract people to join our company and I would rate that very high. When you consider the amount of time a person spends at work, it’s really important to not only enjoy what you do but also who you work with – and we have some of the best!

Q: What does the company do to ensure culture is maintained and its employees are engaged during remote work?

Yes, we did have team members work remotely during the pandemic and we do have a few that are now working remotely permanently. We utilize Webex for meetings to ensure team members are still connecting and supporting each other if they cannot meet in person. During the pandemic, teams continued to have their weekly meetings to help maintain some sort of normalcy and to ensure we continued living our values.

It’s similar for Ryan Hoffman, managing director of Fargo operations for Marsh McLennan Agency, who said he expects new business contacts to pick up even more in the future.

“We do consult with a lot of startup businesses. We’re seeing a lot of immediate activity, because a lot of incubator businesses really start within a home,” Hoffman said. “And before they get off the ground, it will take some time before they develop into something more substantial to which they’re going to need a risk strategy.”

But new business starts are just one way the economy has radically changed over the course of the COVID pandemic – with droves of employees now working from home, not to mention the massive whipsawing in supply chains that’s now wracking markets.

That shift to work-from-home, which is remaking the nature of the office across the country, has helped soften cybersecurity defenses, say Matt Peterson and Thomas Tweten, both officials with Bell Insurance.

“The two claims that we see the most would be ransomware claims, where somebody makes a ransom demand after they’ve (passed) software into your system to lock information or locked systems,” Peterson said, and added that the other is “social engineering” – where a scammer spoofs a bill or an invoice for a service that a recipient regularly uses.

“When people are remoting in and working from home, we’ve certainly seen an uptick just in general of businesses that had ransomware incidents or social engineering (issues),” he said.

Inflation has driven an enormous amount of economic change, too, with the federally tracked Consumer Price Index jumping 1.2% in March, and food prices up 7.9% across 2022. That surge in prices is affecting auto parts, too, Peterson said, driving up automobile repair costs.

“What we’ve seen is the cost to get an auto repaired (has) significantly increased. So insurers are paying higher dollar claims today for the same claim happening now versus two years ago,” Peterson said.

And, he added, if things keep changing, the insurance industry will keep changing, too.

“If that trend continues, we would expect that there’s probably an auto rate increase of some sort in the future.”

Q: What does it do to ensure a positive work-life balance?

Work-life balance is very important to us. We allow our team members flexibility to ensure they are able to put their families first while still being productive and providing great customer service.

Q: What programs are in place to help employees develop and grow into leadership roles?

Part of our strategic plan is to ensure all team members have an active development plan. We want to ensure we are helping team members reach their career goals by enhancing their skills and knowledge that can lead to mastery of their current job, promotions or transfers to new or different positions or opportunities within their current position.

Q: What is the best thing about your HR program?

We have a great culture, a wonderful benefits package and awesome team members. I’m so fortunate to work for an organization that truly cares for their team members!