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Our invocation was offered by Dave Lindgren. After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and The Four Way Test, President Ryan thanked those Rotarians who helped in the harvest at Lake Region Healthcare's Community Garden on September 11th. Thanks to Katie Johnson, John MacFarlane, Dean Monke, Keith Olson and to Ryan Welle as well. We were reminded there is no Wednesday noon meeting this week -- we are having a picnic starting at 5:30 p.m. at Broadway Park where you are to bring a dish to share and a drink for you and guest(s) if you so choose (lemonade should be available); spouses, significant others and/or family members are welcome. When it came time for brags, Steve Austvold reported he had just returned from a retreat in beautiful northern Maine and that Kathy was in Pennsylvania visiting her father. Katie said she had pictures of Rotarians busily working at the community garden on the 11th but had not posted them yet; she also contributed for having to leave the meeting early. After what had to be the fewest brags in a long time, Mary Pettit came forward to introduce our program, Chad Harrington from Capital City Construction and Remediation. Mary attended their open house out on East Fir/County Highway 1, and Chad graciously accepted her invitation to present a program at Rotary, notwithstanding some trepidation when it comes to public speaking. With Chad was Brian Beardsley, who is the "face" of the company's Fergus Falls operation. Capital City, described as a family business, has been operating in the Twin Cities since 2009 and it has four divisions: 1) mold remediation; 2) exterior construction; 3) water mitigation; and 4) remodeling, the latter being the largest part of its business. It started out in Chad's brother's basement and has grown exponentially, which Chad credited to its quality of service and customer support. His mother graduated from Fergus Falls and his father is from the Battle Lake area; his parents own quite a bit of land by Phelps Mill. Chad's aunt lives here in Fergus Falls and he loves the area. Chad now has a place on Otter Tail Lake and when their oldest child graduates from high school in the spring of 2027, Chad and family will move up here full-time; his children are 16, 8 and 4 years old. Chad understands the importance of local relationships and has been hiring local electricians and plumbers as subcontractors; he also wants to find local roofers to work with and, right now, needs to find someone who has experience with water loss and light carpentry skills. He believes that his company can make a big impact in our area on insured losses as it does a lot of that work in the Twin Cities and runs the same software programs as large insurance companies. Chad's brother will be in charge of the Twin Cities operation once Chad permanently relocates to this area. In Fergus Falls the company has three full-time employees, while in the Twin Cities it has 20 to 30 workers at any given time. Chad said his company was busy installing a sauna on the 14th floor of an apartment building in downtown Minneapolis while he was up here talking to us. The company's building in Fergus Falls has been fitted with a complete bunkhouse for employees who come up from the Cities to help on projects. His team has over 250 years of experience in their industry. While his younger children will be going to school in Battle Lake, the business will be centered in Fergus Falls. Chad wants to get involved in our community and the outdoor and golfing opportunities. He did participate in the Chamber's golf scramble and although a non-drinker, he said the effect of the event was kind of intoxicating. Chad also owns a business now operating out of Maple Grove, Minnesota, called Advon Inc., which provides high quality contract embroidery services. It is one of eight licensed Madiera dealers in the country (world?), which producers top-of-the line embroidery. Ryon thanked Chad for his presentation. He also mentioned we received thank you notes from the Veterans Home for the donated peaches and the two Wes Waage Rotary Scholarship recipients at M State. |
