I had the privilege of attending this year’s Lakeville Manufacturers Appreciation Reception, on October 24, 2012, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The event was sponsored by the City of Lakeville and Dakota Electric Association, Frontier Communications, Minnesota Energy Resources, and Xcel Energy. The event was held at the Lakeville Holiday Inn and Suites. The reception was well attended, including Lakeville Mayor Mark Bellows, who gave an optimistic address to attendees and was also joined by City of Lakeville staff and council members.

I was delighted to represent APPRO Development, Inc., general contractor, design-build company and CERRON Commercial Properties, LLC, commercial real estate broker, both located in Lakeville, MN, along side many other Lakeville businesses. I learned a lot about some amazing manufacturers in our local business community.

As a thank you, and to help celebrate APPRO’s 25^th anniversary this year, we conducted a drawing for two personalized bottles of wine. We are proud to announce the following winners:

Craig Nelson a Project Manager with BTD Manufacturing was the winner of a bottle of wine (as Craig has a generous spirit, he may be sharing his bottle with fellow friends – thank you for helping to spread the cheer!)

The other winner was Andrew Shaffer, who along with his wife Shelly, are the owners of Bass Flexible Packaging, Inc. I understand they were pretty excited to receive the wine and have planned a date night to celebrate!

Congratulations to the winners – thank you for helping us celebrate 25 years! It is our privilege to serve and be a part of our local manufacturing community!