Corridor announces 2024 Business Recognition Award winners

Iowa Lakes Corridor announces 2024 Business Recognition Award winners 

The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation (Corridor) once again recognized great achievements by local businesses Wednesday at the organization’s 13th Annual Business Recognition Luncheon at the Clay County Regional Events Center in Spencer.

Winners of this year’s Business Recognition awards are:

• Young Professional of the Year – Sara Taylor, Spencer Regional Hospital Foundation, Spencer
• Entrepreneur of the Year – Nate Kraft, Krafty’s Meat Market, Milford
• Small Business Excellence – Carstensen’s Meat & Grocery, Lake Park
• Large Business Excellence – Merrill Manufacturing, Storm Lake

Also recognized were Blurry Bigfoot Coffee Company of Lake Park and AERO Race Wheels in Estherville as recent Small Business of the Week features by Senator Joni Ernst.

Two individuals were honored for their years of service on the Corridor board:

• Doug Benjamin represented Northwest Bank from July 2017 until December 2023
• Scott Berglund represented Safco Products from October 2021 until December 2023

“We are proud to honor these exemplary individuals and businesses for their strong commitment to their communities, customers, coworkers and the Corridor region,” said Corridor President and CEO Curt Strouth. “We had a great pool of nominations this year, and these are the ones that stood out among the rest as strong contributors to economic development.”

Nominations for the annual Business Recognition awards in the categories of Young Professional, Entrepreneur, Small Business and Large Business are made by area business leaders and community members. These nominations are then reviewed by a volunteer committee drawn from across the region and are evaluated based on commitment, impact and growth in Corridor communities.

Recipients accepted their awards Wednesday in front of a large gathering of over 200 community representatives and leaders. The Business Recognition Luncheon also featured speaker Cory Hepola.

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About the Iowa Lakes Corridor

The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation is the regional economic development agency for Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson and Emmet counties. The Iowa Lakes Corridor’s mission is to foster, encourage, promote, aid or otherwise assist in the economic development growth and development of the four-county region.