Living In Carver County Minnesota

Len Simich Chief Executive Officer Len Simich has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Southwest Transit Commission since 1997. He has received numerous awards for his personal and academic achievements including being selected as the Minnesota Transit Professional of the year, and one of the top 40 business leaders in the Twin Cities by the Minneapolis – St. Paul Magazine. Under his leade...

Carla Beaurline is one of those people you know you know, even if you're not sure from exactly where from.  She's been a local beauty pageant participant, a MC for numerous charity events, a television talk show producer and host for the show, "Around Town" for going on 20 years, as well as a dedicated caretaker for her parents as they were going through end-of-life stuff.  She's smart,...

I'm filled with gratitude for all the guests who have agreed to spend their valuable time visiting with me to discuss things happening here in Carver County. I've learned something from every guest and really enjoyed each conversation. I want to also thank everyone who has called, texted, emailed or just walked over to me at the grocery store to give me their thoughts about the show, I appreciate...

Back for his second sit down interview, (Bob was guest 5 of this show when we 1st started) is my friend, long time community champion, Bob Roepke. From his early years on city council to serving three terms as Mayor to his countless hours of service on various boards and committees, Bob is always attached to action and is an important part of almost every positive change. In this episode we talk a...

My guest is Jay Rohe, who has been a fixture in local Chaska politics for the last 20 years.  We talk about his early days on city council, the lessons learned from his two failed attempts at mayor, and his reelection to council followed by his resignation after moving out of the ward. Jay has had lots of learning opportunities.  As he has matured and become more reflective, he has also developed...

 Deb Barber serves the residents of Carver and Scott County (District 4) at The Metropolitan Council, a position she was appointed to by then Governor Dayton in 2015 and again in 2019 by Governor Waltz.  She chairs the Transportation Committee which along with the Land Use Committee is one of the most visible and out-front positions of the Council. Some of the topics we discussed are; What exactly...

Clark's bio on his Facebook page gives a brief sneak peak of what's behind the Front man for the popular local music group Traveled Ground. ( Singer, Songwriter, Multi-Instrumentalist, Teacher, Farmer and Traveler. Founder of Traveled Ground)   Clark is a long time teacher at Waconia High School, (although not music) a maple syrup farmer, a talented songwriter (which we get a look behind the curta...

Mary Hernandez is a force for good in the community.  From her current role as the Community Project Coordinator with the CAP Agency in Shakopee and as the director and co-founder of Esperanza, Mary is all about helping people in need. She is uniquely positioned to connect people from the Latino community with resources to help them cope with challenges caused by our recent pandemic which dispropo...

Andy Schornack President of Security Bank (Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender) talks about banking, changing markets, major regulation changes and the future of non-banking entities.  Andy has been in banking his whole career and offers some great perspectives on the banking industry.  Security Bank is based in Glencoe and is one of a vanishing breed of companies.  Andy is smart, funny and he ma...

Tom Workman- Tom is the Carver County Commissioner for most of Chanhassen and Victoria. (See S3, E3) He is back for a wide ranging conversation on a variety of topics including; property taxes, the 2022 county budget, school district spending, vaccinations, policing, and the value proposition of Carver County.  Some people will agree, others will oppose, but Tom stands firm in his positions and ha...

I know thinking about your will is one of those things that is easy to push down the road and deal with "Some Day."  The problem is if you are ONE DAY LATE, things can be a real mess! With many of us dealing with elderly parents, boomerang children and the fact that we are all growing older, this estate planning stuff is something that is simply too important to not have handled correctly. Jennife...

John & Kim Motchenbacher are in the midst of riding their bicycles across America.  They started in Oregon and will eventually end in Virginia in several weeks.  The trip is to raise awareness and funds for Lobular Breast Cancer.  I've included links to their web site for a daily blog update, a link to their Facebook page and of course to their charity's web site.   What I was more interested in d...

My guest this episode is Victoria resident Ellie Krug.  Ellie is a former trial attorney, book author, public speaker, podcaster, radio show host and transgender woman.  After making the difficult decision to live as her true, authentic self, she had to re-invent herself in almost every aspect of life.  She moved to Minnesota to start over dedicating her life to one of service.  Recent political c...

Sarah Carlson is one of those people who make things happen, quietly leading on social justice and housing issues.  She chairs the commissioners on the CDA.  She is active on the Chaska Human Rights Commission. She is active with the League of Women Voters.  She volunteers with Launch Ministries.  She forgot to mention her work with the Historical Society and she was one of the...

Dean Hilgers is a life long Waconia resident.  He started off working part time at the local Ford dealership while in school and then became a sales associate and within a very short period of time, one of Ford's youngest dealership owners.  He ran Waconia Ford for 25 years and grew it to over 150 employees.  I suspect a big part of his success was his humility and willingness to give recognition...

Tom Workman is a long time political guy who served on Chanhassen City Council, at the state legislature and for the past several years as a Carver County Commissioner.  (District 2 includes Chan 1a, 1b, 2a and 3 plus Victoria ward 1.)  Tom is a fun guy to talk to because he doesn't hedge about what he is thinking.  He's pretty outspoken on lots of topics, so no matter if you agree with him or not...

Carla Struble is a formidable presence on local charitable boards. She brings a wealth of business experience ranging from personally working for large corporations to a starting an electrical company with her husband, to running a 1200 acre large scale hog operation.  In this interview, she shares some of the insights she has gained from a lifetime of hard work and well thought out decisions.  Sh...

In case you've been living outside the area, Chanhassen has just exploded in the past several years.  New restaurants, a new brewery, a funky barber shop and lots of new homes have created a major shift in what was at one time, "the first town on your way out of town."  Mayor Elise Ryan is leading the city during this shift.  She is smart, driven and fun to talk to because of her pa...

My guest is Keith Payne of Sunbelt Business Advisors talks about buying an existing business and what that takes as well as what to be thinking about if you have a business and are thinking about an exit strategy.  Keith brings his years of business experience to help people make wise decisions about this type of huge investment.  Work is such an integral part of our lives and if the past 12 month...

Recently elected to represent Waconia's Ward 2 city council, Carl Pierson dishes on some new things on the horizon for the City of Waconia and then we talk about connecting civics in a classroom setting with "Boots on the ground" involvement in local government.  We discuss how things have changed for local governance in a hyper-politized world and his optimism for the power of a local, invol...

Bob Moeller has been a major driving force behind the biking/ walking trails that connect several cities in Carver County.  What started out as a response to the frustration from getting run off the road by irritated and/or distracted drivers has become a serious group of citizens committed to making Carver County a place where people can walk, run or bike between the cities and connect to am...

With the 212 expansion looking like a near term reality, the western part of Carver County will soon experience a rush of new people moving out.  Long time resident, educator and civic volunteer and now Mayor Carol Lagergren is guiding NYA (The "Mini-Twin Cities") into this new era.  Her passion for small town living and her enthusiasm for her community are evident in this conversation....

Guess what Carver County city will have the largest population according to the 2040 Comprehensive Plans? I know it is hard to imagine that when you drive through the current downtown which has become Carver County's unofficial Friday and Saturday night Hot Spot over the past few years.   Victoria has been mostly a bedroom community  for many years but with expansion into the township, and the ong...

In Feb of 2021 the US had a record cold spell that caused massive power outages across the country forcing rolling blackouts.  No state was as profoundly affected as Texas.  As we watched on TV and talked to friends (I used to live there and have many friends there still) we were horrified at the lack of critical action.  My wife asked me if I thought we should be more prepared for something like...

What is the real value of small town newspapers? Can't we just get our local news on Facebook or Instagram? Abraham Lincoln said it best; "Half of everything you read on the internet is false" :-)  Local news plays an important part in our communities. The things that get reported locally have a more profound impact on citizen's lives than anything happening in Washington or on the national news m...