From its humble beginnings as a small lumber company, Frandsen Corporation has evolved over 50 years into a diverse, entrepreneurial organization of companies in the financial services, injection molding, manufacturing, and distribution segments. There have been many milestones along the way:

1951: Dennis Frandsen founded Frandsen Log and Lumber Company in Luck, Wisconsin. In 1953, at age 19, he purchased 200 acres of land in Rush City, Minnesota for $13,000, paying off the loan before he had harvested half of the timber. He soon moved his business to Rush City.

1961: Frandsen purchased Star Tool Company. By 1963 he had become the company’s majority owner and president, and had renamed the company Plastech Research, Inc, and later  Plastech Corporation. The company would serve some of the leading corporations in Minnesota and the U.S.

1970: Frandsen founded All American Snowmobile Parts Company, whose name would eventually be changed to Dennis Kirk. Though Frandsen sold the company in 1977, it remains one of the leading independent distributors of snowmobile and motorcycle parts and accessories in the world.

1973: Plastech moved into a brand new, 36,000-square-foot pre-stressed concrete plant in Rush City. A $2 million expansion the next year added another 24,000 square feet. Total annual sales for Plastech approached $8 million.

1976: Plastech created a separate Tooling Division as a result of the acquisition of Star Mold in Hugo, Minnesota. In 1978 the Division moved to a new facility in Maplewood. Plastech also acquired Hartland Plastics of Hartland, Wisconsin, gaining accounts with Revlon, Banta Media and S.C. Johnson.

1978: The acquisition of Research Molding of Mendon, Michigan gave Plastech an opportunity to serve the auto industry. The next year, the company purchased Umco Corporation, who was another plastic injection molder. 

1980: Frandsen became a partner in Kinger’s Mall Associates and constructed a new retail mall in Rush City.

1981: Nearly 30 years after the Fidelity State Bank of Luck, Wisconsin turned Dennis Frandsen down for a real estate loan, he followed through with his personal pledge to buy the bank and its assets of $25 million. Today it is part of the Frandsen Financial Corporation’s Rural American Bank charter.

1983: To gain a foothold in the southwest, Plastech opened a sales office in El Paso, Texas, and then purchased Push Button Container, a plastic molding company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Frandsen eventually sold it in 1997. Also in ’83, Frandsen formed Frandsen Bancorporation, which would eventually become Frandsen Financial Corporation (FFC).

1985: Plastech acquired Norwesco of Belle Plaine, Minnesota. Annual sales for the company reached $25 million.

1986: A profile in the Minnesota Business Journal , “Mr. Rush City,” recognized Dennis Frandsen’s impact on the city.

1987: FFC purchased Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Hinckley, renaming it the Rural American Bank of Hinckley.  It was sold to the Mille Lacs band of Ojibway in 1999.

1988: FFC purchased First State Bank of Braham and Lakeside State Bank of Isle from Carl Pohlad. The names were changed to Rural American Bank.

1991: Dennis Frandsen purchased Citizens State Bank of East Grand Forks, Minnesota. The bank was transferred to FFC in 1993.

1992:  FFC acquired First State Bank of Ada and First State Bank in Foley, Minnesota.

1994: Frandsen purchased a minority share in the National Basketball Association’s Minnesota Timberwolves franchise. FFC purchased Peoples State Bank of Warren. Dennis Frandsen gave 117 acres of land on West Rush Lake near Braham, Minnesota, to Chisago County, the largest donation the county had ever received. Today the land is a county park known as Dennis Frandsen County Park.

1995: Frandsen purchased Allied Plastics of Plymouth, Minnesota, and moved the operation to a 110,000-square-foot facility in Coon Rapids. In 1999, Allied acquired Glynco Plastics of Minnetonka and merged it into the Coon Rapids facility. Also in ’95, FFC acquired Citizens State Bank of Montgomery, today known as Frandsen Bank and Trust, and Citizens State Bank of Waterville.

1996: Frandsen acquired Miller Manufacturing, a manufacturer of farm, ranch and pet supplies.

1997: FFC purchased the State Bank of Lonsdale. Frandsen opened the Frandsen Technology Center in Arden Hills, which would become headquarters for Frandsen Financial Corporation.

1998: Traveling on a bus to the NBA All-Star game with Timberwolves’ majority owner Glen Taylor, Frandsen negotiated the purchase of six chartered banks in North Mankato, New Ulm, Hector, Fairfax, Minnesota Lake and Jordan from Taylor Bancshares. In June, he was featured on the cover of Minnesota Business and Opportunities magazine.

1999: Frandsen purchased InterNet Incorporated, a converter of plastic and metal mesh based in New Hope, Minnesota. He would later move the company into a larger facility in Anoka and rename it Industrial Netting. Dennis Frandsen was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young.

2001: FFC purchased Valley State Bank of Oslo, F&M Bank of Dundas, and in 2002, Community National Bank of Grand Forks, North Dakota.

2002: Using capital from Frandsen, Miller Manufacturing acquired Hot Shot Incorporated, a manufacturer of cattle prods and respected brand in the cattle industry, based in Savage, Minnesota.

2003: Dennis Frandsen received the John F. Cade Award, presented annually to an outstanding entrepreneur, from the John M. Morrison Center for Entrepreneurship at University of St. Thomas.

2005: Frandsen Corporation, with offices now established in Forest Lake, Minnesota, and with a growing corporate staff, reached $125 million in annual sales from its manufacturing entities. Frandsen Financial Corporation, following the 2005 acquisition of Queen City Federal Bank of Virginia, Minnesota, exceeded $1.2 billion in assets managed.