HONORS

Bob Dunning

Stearns County announced that Agricultural Inspector Bob Dunning was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota Association of County Agricultural Inspectors and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Dunning was to retire at the end of August.

AGRICULTURE

Bongards Creameries, a Chanhassen-based dairy cooperative and cheese supplier for retail and institutional clients, announced that Dennis Thomas has been appointed president and chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, succeeding Daryl Larson. Thomas currently is Bongards’ chief operating officer. Prior to Bongards, Thomas held management roles with Dairy Farmers of America, Foremost Farms, Land O’Lakes and Kraft Foods.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Merchants Bank, Winona, announced that Julie Carstensen has joined as senior vice president / chief operations / process officer. Carstensen previously was SVP / manager, consumer operations for UMB Bank in Kansas City, Mo.

HEALTH CARE

The Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation announced that Dr. Wendaline M. VanBuren, a radiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., has been awarded the Dr. Scott C. Goodwin Grant for Adenomyosis. The grant will support VanBuren’s study, “Endo-Deep: An AI-Powered Model for Diagnosis and Treatment Planning in Adenomyosis and Endometriosis.” … Allina Health, a Minneapolis-based metrowide chain of hospitals and clinics, announced it has received American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines achievement awards for treatment of stroke. Eight Allina hospitals received recognitions. … Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, an Eagan-based health insurer, announced the appointments of Erin Barney as president of commercial markets and Jamie Reuter as vice president of pharmacy solutions. Barney has more than 20 years of leadership in the organization, most recently serving as vice president of network solutions for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association; Reuter’s career path includes serving as director of pharmacy policy at CareFirst BlueCross.

LAW

Gov. Tim Walz announced the appointment of Jacob Fischmann and Carrie Doom as district court judges in Minnesota’s Tenth Judicial District, serving Kanabec County and Isanti County respectively. Fischmann succeeds the Honorable Krista K. Martin and Doom will be replacing the Honorable Amy R. Brosnahan.

MANUFACTURING

Sappi North America, a Boston-based maker of paper, packaging and other wood-derived products for industry, announced that Jeff Boulden has been appointed managing director of its Cloquet Mill in Cloquet, Minn. Boulden previously was director of manufacturing at the company and previously held leadership positions at other paper product manufacturers in the upper Midwest.

MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Inspire Medical Systems, a Golden Valley-based developer and provider of sleep apnea treatments, announced that Chief Financial Officer Rick Buchholz will step down effective Dec. 31. Buchholz will remain employed with the company in a financial advisory role through February 2026.

NONPROFITS

The Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance, a Minneapolis-based support organization for ovarian cancer survivors and their families, announced the appointment of Mary Uran as executive director. Uran previously worked as managing director at Compass Pro Bono and is a co-founder of Girls on the Run Minnesota. … The Minnesota Zoo Foundation, Apple Valley, announced it has been awarded a $200,000 strategic grant from the Otto Bremer Trust, St. Paul, to support the zoo’s access programs.

RESTAURANTS

Caribou Coffee, a Minneapolis-based national specialty coffee retailer, announced the appointment of Scott Kennedy as president and chief executive officer. Kennedy previously served as the company’s chief financial officer and was appointed interim CEO in March 2025. Before joining Caribou, Kennedy spent 14 years in executive positions at Target Corp.

TECHNOLOGY

Izzi Software, a Minneapolis-based aggregator of smaller founder-led tech companies for investment and growth, announced that Frank Chu, software engineer at subsidiary ColeSoft Marketing, has been elected to join the board of SHARE, an independent volunteer-run information technology association that provides education, professional networking and industry influence for the enterprise IT community.

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EMAIL ITEMS to businessnews@pioneerpress.com.

DUBLIN — A lengthy trip across the Atlantic represented a chance for the Vikings to get rolling with a pair of games that looked winnable on paper. Instead, the Vikings stumbled out of the gates on Sunday afternoon at Croke Park, feeling like they had left something on the table.

A furious comeback by the Vikings died its final death when veteran Carson Wentz threw incomplete to receiver Jalen Nailor in the final seconds, pulling the curtain on a 24-21 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On the final drive, though, Wentz was called for intentional grounding, and the team was penalized for a clock violation, which proved costly as the Vikings were trying to get into field goal range

It was an up-and-down performance from Wentz, who completed 30 of 46 pass attempts for 350 yards a pair of touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. Some of the struggles were due to pressure. He was sacked a half dozen times while playing behind a tattered offensive line that lost center Ryan Kelly to a concussion and right tackle Brian O’Neill knee injury.

On the other end, future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers was efficient, completing 18 of 22 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown. He did most of his damage early while helping the Steelers build a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Some of highlights from the legendary stadium in Dublin had nothing to do with the game itself.

The rendition of the country’s national anthem by Irish singer Lyra brought the house down before kickoff. The crowd later provided a memorable moment with a rousing singalong to “Zombie” by the Irish rock band The Cranberries during a break in the action.

As for the Vikings, they couldn’t get into a rhythm for most of the game, looking like a shell of themselves on offense while also getting got carved up on defense.

The game started pretty well for the Vikings as they forced a punt defense, then parlayed that into an effective drive on offense. It stalled out short of the red zone however, and Reichard nailed a field goal to make it 3-0.

On the next drive, Rodgers shredded the Vikings with his arm, marching the Steelers down the field before running back Kenneth Gainwell plunged into the end zone to make it 7-3.

After methodically working the ball down the field, Rodgers took a different approach on the next drive, this time throwing a slant to receiver DK Metcalf, who took it  80 yards for touchdown to help the Steelers stretch their lead to 14-3.

It looked like the Steelers were about to take a commanding lead before halftime when the Vikings got a boost from a couple of their breakout stars on defense. There was a sack from defensive tackle Jalen Redmond followed by a blocked field goal from cornerback Isaiah Rodgers that kept points off the board.

That gave the Vikings the ball back before halftime and after a solid drive by Wentz they got another field goal from Reichard to make it 14-6 at halftime. The deficit felt like it could’ve been much worse given how everything was going for the Vikings at that point.

After the Steelers pushed their lead to 24-6 following another touchdown from Gainwell and a field goal from kicker Chris Boswell, the Vikings finally showed some fight, battling back with a pair of scoring drives to keep the game interesting.

The comeback attempt started with a touchdown pass from Wentz to running back Zavier Scott to cut the deficit to 24-14. It continued when Wentz found receiver Jordan Addison for a long gain that set up a touchdown pass to receiver Jalen Nailor to make it 24-21.

It was too little too late for the Vikings.

Though they got the ball back with a chance to tie the game, Wentz couldn’t get the Vikings in field goal range.

Now the Vikings must travel from Dublin to London for a game against the Cleveland Browns next weekend that they can’t afford to lose.

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P.J. Fleck referred to himself as Greg Schiano’s “little brother” in the build-up to Saturday’s Big Ten game at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Like siblings, the Gophers and Rutgers head coaches “get into it” from time to time, sometimes “fighting over (assistant) coaches,” as Fleck put it on the KFAN pregame show.

The Rutgers head coach nabbed offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca away from Minnesota after the 2022 season. Then Fleck, who is 15 years younger than Schiano, tabbed Knights linebackers coach Corey Hetherman to be the U’s defensive coordinator for one year in 2024.

There wasn’t much of  a squabble over Robb Smith after Fleck fired him as defensive coordinator in 2018, and Smith reunited with Schiano for a third time as D.C. this season.

After the Gophers’ 31-28 win over Rutgers, Schiano and Fleck used the sentiment of “Tommy Boy,” that “brothers gotta hug” like Chris Farley and Rob Lowe’s characters did in the 1990s comedy. The two coaches embraced at midfield after the Gophers’ comeback win put them at 1-0 in Big Ten play before a trip to No 1-ranked Ohio State on Saturday night.

“It’s like looking in a mirror,” Fleck said of Rutgers postgame. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Rutgers, lot of respect for their coaching staff. We know them very well, and I wouldn’t be where I am without them. Simply that, whether it’s Kirk or Greg or Joe Susan (Rutgers’ special assistant to the head coach). I can go on and on.”

After Rutgers took a 14-0 lead early in the second half, Fleck and his coordinators Greg Harbaugh and Danny Collins — both younger and more inexperienced than their counterparts — made vital adjustments to stake the Gophers’ biggest home comeback since 1992.

Former U quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis completed his first nine passes, two for touchdowns. It was coming easily for him, talking only one sack and finding openings in the Gophers’ coverage with deep out routes. The Rutgers QB was stacking up chunk plays.

Fleck credited Collins with mixing up some coverages with “completely different looks.” While they blitzed regularly, Fleck said they also needed to get to Kaliakmanis with four rushers to shrink the pocket.

Defensive end Anthony Smith did a “tremendous job of that,” with seven pressures and 1½ sacks. The Gophers finished with seven sacks.

The Gophers, however, struggled to tackle, with Pro Football Focus totaling 17 missed tackles. The lowlight came with at least three missed tackles as running back Antwan Raymond was able picked up 20 yards on third-and-15. Two plays later, Raymond scored from four yards out to give Rutgers a 28-24 fourth-quarter lead.

On offense, the Gophers struggled on the opening two drives with a three-and-out and a five-play drive. So, to begin the third series, Harbuagh called a deep post route to Jalen Smith. Drake Lindsey put it on the money and the 78-yard completion became the longest pass play in the history of Huntington Bank Stadium.

“We were a completely different team in the second half, as you saw, Fleck said. “We had to get away a little bit from the run.”

Minnesota ran the ball nine times in each half, but had 13 passes in the first half compared to 28 in the second.

The Gophers’ run game is a concern going into a daunting matchup against the defending national champion Buckeyes. Without top tailbacks Darius Taylor and A.J. Turner available on Saturday, Fame Ijeboi and Cam Davis averaged 3.0 yards per carry, and only one offensive lineman, left tackle Nathan Roy, has a run-blocking grade above the average mark of 60.0.

To start the second half, the Gophers’ used a quick-tempo passing game, and on the opening drive, Lindsey went 8 for 11 for 76 yards and a 9-yard touchdown to Smith to tie the game at 21-21.

During the game, Harbaugh used motions and shifts to decipher whether Robb Smith’s defense was in man or zone coverage.

“I thought Greg did a great job of being able to peel back the onion and give Drake the keys,” Fleck said.

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