Sunday January 16, 2011
Business 2011 Section
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Pizza man
Progress
Produced by the Grand Forks Herald Features team
Todd Halverson, Happy Joe’s franchise owner in Grand Forks, knows every phase of his pizza business ■
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By Ann Bailey
Herald Staff Writer
ood, solid coaching has produced consecutive winning seasons for Todd Halverson.
The owner of the Happy Joe’s franchise in Grand Forks runs his business like the coach he was, using terms such as teams and plays when he talks about the keys to success. Halverson, wasn’t too sure about a career in the pizza business when a friend who owned a Happy Joe’s franchise in Fargo told him about the opportunity in Grand Forks. A football and hockey coach at the University of Minnesota-Crookston, Halverson didn’t have much pizza experience except for occasionally helping out at the Fargo franchise. “I said, ‘I don’t know how to make a Tombstone Pizza. How can I be a pizza man?” Halverson recalled. “I never had any intentions of being a pizza manager. I just wanted to coach and teach,” he said. But his friend told him that Joe Whitty and his son Larry, who own the Happy Joe’s franchise, had been impressed when they had seen him working at the Fargo franchise.
From the ground up
After Halverson decided to
buy the franchise, he immersed himself in the business so he could figure out how to make it profitable. “I worked every phase of the business. I was delivery driver, cook, every phase of the business because we were losing money,” Halverson said. Working various jobs also earned him the respect of his employees and helped him to understand their daily challenges. “I don’t think I’m better than any of the players. We’re a team here,” Halverson said. His team strives to give customers the best possible customer service and highest-quality food it can, he said.
Quality
“I have always gone for the high-end quality and high-end toppings.” He strives to instill in his employees the importance of making each pizza the best it can be. He tells them: “Think of that as your pizza. You paid a lot of money (for it.) Does it look that way?” This winter, Happy Joe’s also will give its customers an updated place to eat. Happy Joe’s will be gutted inside and out and remodeled. Halverson hopes to have the work completed by this spring. “I’m changing it to the new style. I’m excited about that,” he said.
Todd Halverson is owner of Happy Joe’s in Grand Forks.
Kevin Ritterman’s newest development is on the site of the former Grand Forks Civic Auditorium in downtown Grand Forks.
Developer extraordinaire Photo by Cam Bachmeier
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Kevin Ritterman started working in realty after he graduated from UND in 1992
By Ann Bailey
Herald Staff Writer
Building relationships has helped Dakota Commercial to grow its business. “Obviously, you can’t do it yourself,” said Kevin Ritterman, Dakota Commercial president. “Investment partners, lenders, contractors, architects, engineers, they’re all key to the overall growth.” Ritterman started working in realty after he graduated from UND in 1992. He began working for the business, then called Dakota Financial with Don Langerud, the previous owner. In 1997, after Langerud’s death, Ritterman bought Dakota Financial. A few years later Ritterman changed the name to Dakota Commercial. One of Dakota Commercial’s biggest projects is the development around the
Ralph Engelstad Arena, including retail outlets, a gas station and townhomes. “Multi-family (dwellings) has really grown,” Ritterman said. Dakota Commercial has 650 apartment units. Besides the residential projects in Grand Forks, Dakota Commercial also has in Grand Forks, Minot, Fargo, Mandan, N.D., and on Cass Lake in Minnesota.
Growth
During the last few years development of multi-family units has grown more than commercial development, Ritterman said. Sometimes the reverse is true. “Overall Grand Forks has been good. We’ve seen good growth in the last few years … North Dakota, in general, has been great.” Ritterman’s newest development is on the site of the former Grand Forks Civic
Auditorium in downtown Grand Forks. The project, which includes 7,500 feet of commercial space and 53 apartment buildings, is expected to be completed by Aug. 1.
John Stennes, staff photographer
Famous skid-steer loaders remain top seller for Bobcat of Grand Forks By Ann Bailey
Herald Staff Writer
Bobcat of Grand Forks caters to its customers. And the key to providing good service is to hire first-rate employees, said Jason Vasichek, Bobcat of Grand Forks president. “I like to hire the best people available,” Vasichek said. Bobcat’s location on Highway 2 West also has helped the business grow, he said. Vasichek bought the Bobcat franchise from the former Grand Forks Equipment in 2000 and relocated it to north Grand Forks. In 2003, Bobcat moved to its present location on Gateway Drive. Equipment sales make up the biggest part of the business of Bobcat of Grand Forks. Skid steer loaders, track loaders and excavators make up the bulk of sales, Vasichek said. The dealership also rents and fixes equipment.
Other equipment
Bobcat also sells utility vehicles, lawnmowers and walk-behind snow blowers. Core customers of Bobcat of
Grand Forks are contractors, agricultural companies and farmers. Farmers use the skid-steer loaders to move chemical fertilizer totes and remove snow. “That’s been our biggest growth in the last few years,” Vasichek said. “Once we get to them, they’ll never be without one. We hear that all of the time.” Most of the skid steer loaders now not only have heated cabs, but also air conditioning, he said.
Customers service
Service to customers does not stop with the sale. “They count on our technicians and service people to get them moving. We have a shop here and we also do service calls and go no-site and fix what we can.” In 2008, Vasichek started a Bobcat dealership in Devils Lake. “I was doing some business there, but everything was 90 miles away from Devils Lake and their guys needed someone there.” Vasichek would like to expand his business in the future and is considering adding other lines of equipment, he said.
Success
One of the keys to Dakota Commercial’s success is to constantly be on the look out for potential new projects, kind of adapt to what’s going on in North Dakota. “We don’t sit back and wait for things to happen. We go out and make them happen.” Work is under way on several potential projects, which will be under construction this year. Besides Grand Forks, Dakota Commercial also is working on projects in Bismarck and Minot “They’re great areas, especially with the oil development out west.”
Photo by Ann Bailey
Jason Vasichek is president of Bobcat of Grand Forks.