Upsize Business Builder of the Year
Before, Maverick Software had to open a brickand-mortar office to service client companies,
Now it can pair students "available from
anywhere" with companies from everywhere,
says Martin Hebig, president, at left.
photos by gerogene bergstrom
sota. "We can sense there is oncoming
competition and we want to be at the
top of the heap before others flood in."
duction this year and is paying for the expansion ($175,000 of wine-making equipment and tanks from Europe, bottling
equipment, "huge" quantities of grapes) in
cash. With a $1 million investment to start
the business in 2010—with mortgages
on some of the farmland and real estate
loans—they've never used an operating
loan since opening their doors.
"We started small to be sure we knew
how to make and sell wine effectively and efficiently and have increased
production each year as we sell out
the previous vintage," they say in their
18
nomination form. This spring they'll
break ground on an 8,000-square-foot
event space, up from their existing
10,000-square-foot space, so they can
host hundreds of weddings.
They're on track to produce 26,000
gallons of wine this year, doubling last
year's yield and setting them up to become the biggest winery in the state.
But they feel the need to keep building.
"Another aspect that is common to
farmers is you have to get big to survive," Justin says, pointing out there are
as many as 50 other wineries in Minne-
upsize december 2013 • january 2014
maverick
software consulting
Matching more 'computer
geeks' with companies who
need their services
"The big problem Maverick is trying to solve is the shortage of computer
geeks," says Martin Hebig, president of
Maverick Software Consulting in Lakeville.
He's trying to fill that gap by placing
www.upsizemag.com
