When a 911 call came in at 3:30 a.m. on October 2, 2022, that reported a fire at Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery, multiple fire engines rushed to the scene. Derek Lynde, the fifth-generation owner of the Maple Grove business, will never forget the sky’s orange glow as he drove the four miles from his home.
“Part of me was trying to tell myself it wasn’t the greenhouse on fire, but sure enough, it was,” he said.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze.
About 10 years ago, Jason Peterka applied for a sales job at Pacific Granite, a stone fabrication company where his brother, Cameron Peterka, worked. It turned out to be such a good fit that a few years in, the owner started talking with Jason about buying the business.
“One day, he was very serious,” Jason said.
Tony Winick grew up surrounded by the family business.
When his paternal grandfather was ready to pass on the reins of his specialty manufacturing business, Winick’s mother was starting to look for a career. She held a pharmacy degree from her native Philippines, but applying that in the U. S. was daunting, so she took over Aero Assemblies in 1983.