On Wednesday, March 21st, at Vadnais Heights Commons, the VHEDC presented awards to several outstanding individuals for their excellence in business and their valuable contributions to the community:

The Business Leader Award was presented to Jim Volp, Volp Vadnais Heights LLC / Heights Plaza: Jim Volp has been the Owner and Chief Manager of Heights Plaza since 1990. Under Volp’s leadership, the plaza – located at the intersection of Centerville Road and Highway 96 – has evolved from a neighborhood shopping corner to a first-class shopping center for the Northeast Metro area. Most recently, in 2016, Volp added high-profile tenants Punch Pizza and Starbucks Coffee after making improvements that included a new 4,300 square feet building, new paint and replacement of aging façade material for the entire complex, two new pylon signs and a City monument that distinguishes the corner as an attractive gateway into Vadnais Heights.

Since its construction in 1988, Volp’s plaza has been home to many different businesses; several no longer there, such as: PDQ Food & Gas, a butcher shop, a drugstore, Asian restaurants, a chiropractor, a video store, a floral shop and Little Caesars Pizza. The plaza’s long-time, current tenants include Clean’n’Press, Salon Zeo, Subway, MGM Wine & Spirits, H&R Block and the United States Postal Service. Newer tenants – in addition to Punch Pizza and Starbucks Coffee – include Noodles & Company and T-Mobile. Culver’s Restaurant, HealthEast Clinic and other offices occupy additional Volp property directly southwest of Heights Plaza.

Volp says, “I love to make real estate meet and serve people’s needs. Properly designed, real estate is the catalyst for most any group’s successes. When both private and public organizations small & large succeed, the communities grow and succeed also. To me, everything needs to work in harmony from entering the property to the satisfaction of the customers/members, stake holders, occupants, employees, vendors, and, of course, the formal community. I’ve enjoyed working with the City and Vadnais Heights Economic Development Corporation to develop and grow the Heights Plaza that the community and surrounding areas currently patronize.”

Rising Stars Awards were presented to three emerging professionals who work in the Northeast Metro area:

Kristine Fredrickson, Program Plan Coordinator for Merrick, Inc.: Fredrickson supports a team of 18 co-workers supporting 56 Merrick clients with disabilities who present challenging behaviors that can limit work options and community inclusion. Having completed the 2017 Northeast Metro Young Professionals program hosted by VHEDC, Fredrickson has strengthened the leadership skills that are the foundation of her daily work. Outside of work, Fredrickson plays an important role in the lives of a number of people with disabilities by attending their personal events and assisting them in staying connected to friends and their community.

David Gunderson, Director of Audit for IC System: Gunderson oversees several initiatives: Strategy, Call Center Administration, Call Quality, Compliance Audit and Vendor Due Diligence. Gunderson’s career path at IC System led him from Consumer Financial Representative to Operations Manager, from the supervisor of the Call Quality department to Strategy & Analytics, and finally to his current role. Throughout the year, Gunderson volunteers his time to several families for the Financial Stewardship Mentor Program (FSMP), a program dedicated to working directly with households to resolve financial and spiritual difficulties.

Alexandria Schumacher, Vice President of Operations and HR for MME Group: Schumacher directs all company product operations. She has created and empowered teams for continuous improvement, is changing the scheduling processes for two plants and coaching technical leads to grow their people. Schumacher has taken the company core beliefs of “treating everyone with dignity and respect” and built that into company culture. She has driven and installed a mandatory management leadership training program, coordinated for others to have continuing education courses and is collaborating to help send technical people to out-of-state conventions for their exposure and educational purposes.