Peer to Peer
CEOs advise, support and encourage one another through MTI’s Peer Councils.
Jena Thompson is a chemist. She knows how to formulate soaps, lotions and scrubs that will cleanse, moisturize and beautify your skin.
Thompson is also a CEO. She runs Daisy Blue Naturals, which manufactures all-natural skin care products in Albert Lea. So she needs to know how to find the right accountant, balance the books and negotiate with employees. That’s why she spends one day each month at a Peer Council meeting.
Like the dozens of other CEOs who participate in one of six groups facilitated by Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI), Thompson appreciates the advice, support and encouragement she receives from other members of the Peer Council.
When a financial question comes up, she brings it to the council. When she needs to make an important hire, she solicits advice from the council. “This group is truly my peers,” she says. “They deal with the same issues that I deal with, and I can trust what they’re telling me. They’re my first source when something comes up.”
MTI started Peer Councils almost six years ago as away to support business leaders. Unlike other networking groups or industry roundtables, the Peer Councils were designed to be ongoing support systems for business owners and CEOs in the manufacturing arena. “Our key focus is to think about strategy and growth — not about networking,” explains Vicki Prock, a MTI business specialist who facilitates five of the six Peer Councils. “This is a working environment. The participants rely on each other.”
Steve Thul, president of Buffalo-based Whirltronics, has come to rely on his Peer Council group outside of meetings as well. “There are a few of us who have developed an ongoing relationship,” he says. “They help me make and clarify decisions that are difficult to make. They’re my sounding board. They always give me their objective opinions.”
That impartial advice is important to the participants. No one has a financial stake in anyone else’s business, but everyone wants to see the others succeed. “I had one person tell me that their Peer Council is their most trusted board of advisers,” Prock says. “They all help each other.”
— Sara Gilbert