The team at Weidner's would like to congratulate Tom Frericks and this recent award. It has been a pleasure working with Tom and his staff on the design, installation, and service of all the HVAC and Plumbing needs at the Ultimate Sports Bar and Grill.
"(KNSI) – Ultimate Sports Bar & Grill owner Tom Frericks has been named the 2022 St. Cloud Area small business owner of the year. The award was announced by the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.
Frericks had owned the Ultimate Sports Bar in Waite Park for decades when a fire destroyed the building on April 6th, 2020. According to a press release, Frericks talked with his children about the bar, the fire and his future. He had already made up his mind. He would rebuild. He says starting from the ground up after 35 years in business has reminded Frericks how much he loves the bar and restaurant industry.
The new Ultimate Sports Bar & Grill is bigger and busier than ever. According to the chamber, the old Ultimate had 23 employees, none of whom were full-time. Today Frericks employs 90 people during the winter and 115 workers during the summer, including ten full time.
Frericks’ payroll has gone from $200,00 to $1.6 million, and his
revenue projections have gone from $1.2 million to nearly closer to $6 million. The St. Cloud Area Chamber says Frericks has been given the small business owner of the year award for these reasons.
The chamber also announced Michelle Henderson of BadCat Digital as this year’s winner of the St. Cloud Area Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award and Rengel Printing as the 2022 St. Cloud Area Family-Owned Business of the Year.
According to the chamber, Henderson did not start out wanting to own an ad agency, but after moving to St. Cloud, she needed to do something to earn a little money while she looked for a job. In September 2017, Henderson tried her hand at creating a business she called BadCat Digital.
St. Cloud Chamber
She reached her goals in four months and, within nine months, had hired her first employee. From first-year sales of about $60,000, then tripled in year two, doubled in year three, and doubled again in year four. She added employees, moved to larger office space, and finally decided to buy and remodel a building in downtown St. Cloud at 819 West St. Germain Street.
Rengel Printing was started 100 years ago by John M. “Jack” Rengel and his business partner Andrew H. Goedert. Goedert passed away in 1950, and Jack Rengel purchased his shares in 1951. Jack’s son, John, purchased the business from his father in 1975, and John’s wife Dee joined the company in 1979.
Today the business is owned by Jack Rengel’s grandson, Pete. He had no intention of buying Rengel Printing. After growing up in the industry, he was interested in going in a completely different direction. According to the chamber, Pete got a phone call from his father saying he would sell the business unless he wanted to come home and buy it.
He says it was a struggle for the first few years when he took the company from 23 employees down to 12 and worked 20-hour days learning every aspect of the business and looking for new products and services.
Under Pete’s leadership, Rengel Printing purchased St. Cloud Stamp and Sign, which helped them branch into additional services and St. Cloud-based Continental Press, expanding his customer base. The company has grown to about 45 employees in the last five years with four satellite offices across the state. And there are additional expansion plans in the works which will add another office and 14 more employees.
St. Cloud Chamber
Today this 100-year-old company remains family-owned and is on a growth trajectory. According to the chamber, Rengel Printing is constantly finding ways to reinvent itself and grow under the leadership of the family’s third generation.
For this reason, Rengel Printing was selected as the 2022 St. Cloud Area Family-Owned Business of the Year by the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce.
Tom Frericks, Ultimate Sports Bar; Michelle Henderson, BadCat Digital; and Pete Rengel, Rengel, will be
honored at the annual Central Minnesota Business Awards Luncheon on May 4 at the Park Event Center in Waite Park. For ticket information and reservations, visit Business-Awards-Lunch.com."