AIRPORTS
James Lawrence
The Metropolitan Airports Commission announced that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has appointed James Lawrence as chair of the MAC board, which oversees Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and six general aviation airports in the Twin Cities, effective Wednesday. Lawrence previously chaired the commission’s Planning, Development and Environment Committee and was acting vice chair of the 15-member board. He succeeds Rick King, who retired in November 2025.
ARCHITECTURE/ENGINEERING
Golden Valley-based design and consulting firm WSB announced the promotion of Shannon Gwost to director, contract administration, overseeing three offices including Baxter, Minn., Fargo, N.D., and St. Cloud. Gwost has been with the firm for 10 years,
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Platinum Bank, Oakdale, announced that Nicole Sever has been named president, effective Jan. 1. Sever previously was as the bank’s chief sales officer; she succeeds David Faust, who remains with the company as vice chair and as a director. …First Resource Bank, Forest Lake, announced Aaron Siegle has assumed the role of chief executive officer, and Charlie Anderson as president and chief operating officer. Tim Siegle, the bank’s outgoing CEO, will transition to chairman of the bank’s holding company, Ameri Financial Group, and will serve as vice chair of the FRB board of directors. … Piper Sandler Cos., a Minneapolis-based investment bank, announced the following leadership appointments: Co-heads of healthcare investment banking: Brandon Rice and Chad Huber; Carlos Sanchez, co-head of consumer investment banking, and Paul Scansaroli, co-head of equity capital markets.
HEALTH CARE
Medica Foundation, an arm of Minnetonka-based health insurer Medica, announced the retirement of JoAnn Birkholz as executive director, effective Jan. 9. Birkholz began her career as a critical care nurse and joined Medica in 1999 as director of provider and customer support within Health Services.
MANUFACTURING
GF, an Apple Valley-based manufacturer of Uponor-branded indoor plumbing products, announced Javier Alarcón as vice president of finance for GF Building Flow Solutions Americas, effective Dec. 15. He succeeds President John Reutter, who also served as vice president of finance in an interim capacity. Alarcón previously was at CHS Inc., most recently as segment CFO, Agriculture.
MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
Forj Medical, a St. Paul-based contract developer and manufacturer of medical components, announced the appointment of Ward Sokoloski as chief operations officer. Sokoloski most recently was vice president of operations at ECA Medical. Forj Medical was formed by the merger of Minnetronix and Intricon.
ORGANIZATIONS
The Minnesota Chamber Foundation, St. Paul, announced the appointment of the following members to its Board of Directors: Kathy Bray, SFM Mutual Insurance Co.; Justin Erickson, The Brookshire Co.; Mercedes Jackson, Fredrickson; Kristina Morton, API Group, and Laura Oberst, Wells Fargo. The Foundation also announced Rene Knippel, Stearns Bank, as the chair of the Committee for Workforce Solutions.
RECREATION
MarineMax, a global retailer and servicer of recreational watercraft, announced the promotions of Brent Wiczek to district president for Minnesota and of Jeremy Wiczek to general manager of MarineMax Nisswa and MarineMax Crosslake. The brothers previously were with Nisswa Marine.
SERVICES
Assisted Living Locators, a nationwide franchised senior placement and referral service, announced the opening of a Rochester, Minn., office serving the Rochester, Faribault, Owatonna, Red Wing, and Albert Lea communities. The office is owned and operated by Evangeline “Eva” Stadtherr, with her husband, Daniel Stadtherr.
TECHNOLOGY
FORTÉ, formerly AVI Systems, an Eden Prairie-based provider of audio-visual systems for businesses and schools, announced that Josh Braun has been promoted to chief information officer, a new position at the company. Braun joined FORTÉ in 2016 as director of IT and was promoted to vice president of IT in 2019.
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UTILITIES
Otter Tail Corp., a Fergus Falls, Minn.-based diversified electricity provider and manufacturer, announced it has appointed Chris Clark of Minnetonka and Steve Rasche of St. Louis, Mo., to the board of directors, effective Jan. 1. Clark is the retired president of Xcel Energy – Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Rasche is retired as chief financial officer for Spire Inc.
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