Growing up on a dairy farm in Luck, Wis., Dennis attended a country schoolhouse and contributed to the family business. The first check he received was $3.57 for cucumbers sold to Gedney Pickle Company. In his teens, Dennis earned money by cutting logs on the family farm and selling them to a yo-yo factory in Luck.

After finishing high school in 1951, Dennis invested in a truck and contracted with neighbors to expand his logging operation. In 1953, at 19, Frandsen heard of 200 acres of virgin timber for sale in Rush City, Minn. He hopped on a plane to Chicago (for the first time in his life) to drop in, with no appointment, on the owner. He emerged with a $13,000 purchase agreement for the land—but not enough capital to fund the deal.

Doing business as Frandsen Lumber Company, Dennis applied for a loan at his local bank in Luck but was denied. He promised himself he would someday own that bank. A bank in Rush City similarly turned him down. But as he drove home, he stopped at the bank in Grantsburg, Wis., where he met a kindred spirit in banker Walter Jensen. Jensen decided to fund the lumber venture.

Dennis paid off the note in five months, with half the timber still unharvested. The initial lumber venture resulted in a healthy profit, which he reinvested into other business ventures like real estate in the Rush City area. Here, Dennis met his wife, Jeanette; they started a family; and together became recognized figures in the community. In 1963, Dennis’s entrepreneurial spirit led him toward the purchase of a manufacturing company. He again turned to Jensen to finance the purchase of Plastech Corporation, which today sells $80 million a year in plastic parts and is a component of Frandsen Corporation. This holding company supports his now-many enterprises, including Miller Manufacturing, Industrial Netting, and JD Products. 

Invested in Community Banking

In 1982, Dennis’s hometown bank in Luck was serendipitously for sale—the bank that turned him down for his first loan. Dennis bought that bank and started Frandsen Financial Corporation, a bank holding company. Today, the banking organization, operating under the brand Frandsen Bank & Trust, has grown to total assets of $3.5 billion and provides a complete array of depository, lending, treasury management, investment, and trust services. ¹ 

As it’s grown, each bank retains its commitment to community. Each market has a bank president with local decision-making authority, which enables each location to put its customers, local businesses and emerging entrepreneurs first.

Now, more than 70 years after launching his business career, Dennis has surrounded himself with a group of talented leaders who are charged with running his companies with the same entrepreneurial spirit. Frandsen entities have a reputation for honesty, fairness, and accountability. Dennis’s unique management style holds senior management accountable but allows them the freedom to run the businesses. That style has earned him recognition as one of Minnesota’s leading entrepreneurs.

Rooted in Tradition, Built for the Future

Frandsen companies continue to help employees and customers in each community. Dennis believes well-run enterprises can benefit employees, shareholders, communities, and clients. 

His corporations and charitable organizations offer full, two-year scholarships to technical college for every graduate of ten high schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin, donations of drones and AEDs to law enforcement in several counties, and significant support to Lakes Region EMS ambulance service and the Mayo Clinic.