Two-Time Winner

Every year Enterprise Minnesota employees nominate coworkers to be our organization’s “Esteemed Colleague,” the individual they believe best embodies our core values and advances our mission to help manufacturers grow profitably.

The prestigious award is presented at our annual recognition celebration, a high-energy event our team looks forward to every year. This year’s winner, Abbey Hellickson, is our first colleague to receive the award twice.

A business growth consultant who focuses on talent and leadership development, Hellickson joined Enterprise Minnesota in 2016. She won her first Esteemed Colleague award in 2017.

Our Enterprise Minnesota core values are practical creativity, exceptional service, respectful interactions, and transformational growth, and Hellickson embodies all of them. She is trustworthy internally and externally, and she is purposeful about her role. She thrives on helping companies retain and grow their employees.

President and CEO Bob Kill says Hellickson’s background is one reason why her clients hold her in high regard. She grew up in a farm family and began her career in human resources, first as a corporate training instructor at Fastenal in Winona and then as director of business and workforce education at Rochester Community and Technical College.

“Abbey’s experience gives her an appreciation for what it takes for small businesses to succeed,” Kill says. “I have so much personal respect for what Abbey does for our organization. She is really a catalyst for making talent and leadership a core offering for our clients.”

Hellickson has won Enterprise Minnesota’s “Above and Beyond” award four times for going the extra mile for clients or colleagues. She’s a sought-after asset for any Enterprise Minnesota team when business developers are pitching their services to potential manufacturing clients. She also facilitates our oldest peer council, based in southern Minnesota.

Hellickson thoroughly enjoys working closely with manufacturing clients, doing executive coaching, creating customized leadership series, and helping grow Enterprise Minnesota’s service offerings in talent development.

“I love the diversity of my days,” she says. “I get to interact with fabulous people, who all want the best for their employees.”

Hellickson hopes the award is a reflection of how rewarding she finds her work with peers and clients. “I just truly love what I do, and I hope that everyone loves what they do, too,” she says. “When I work with leaders, my ultimate goal is to help them be successful in their jobs. Being a leader is so hard and helping them find their way as a leader is what drives me. I enjoy watching the growth and development of my clients and watching them be successful.”

Read more about Abbey Hellickson in the upcoming issue of Enterprise Minnesota® magazine, due for publication in late August. Subscribe here.

Industry News

West Central Steel was named the Best Manufacturing Company in the 2025 Best of the Best competition
July 26, West Central Tribune

Meet the business owner bringing manufacturing to Lakeville
July 25, Sun Thisweek Dakota County Tribune

Candy manufacturer Maud Borup thrives on innovation, diversity, sustainability initiatives
July 25, MSP Business Journal

Taylor Corp. leads printing workshop for neurodivergent South Central College students
July 24, Mankato Free Press

St. Paul-based Ecolab sees gold in surge of new AI data centers
July 23, Minnesota Star Tribune