Biz beat: Dakota County's Open to Business program off and running

Open to Business, a program that provides assistance to fledgling businesses, has gotten off to a strong start in its first year in Dakota County.

Overseen by the nonprofit Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD), the program has reported that for the first quarter it provided advisory services to 20 start-up firms and 16 existing businesses in the county. The businesses included restaurants, fitness studios, an interior design firm and a small-engine repair shop.

The program also provided or helped arrange for more than $50,000 in loans for businesses during the period.

Open to Business has been available for several years in Hennepin County and in Carver County since 2012. It expanded to Dakota County this year, where it's being offered by MCCD in partnership with county and city community development agencies and several chambers of commerce.

The program in Dakota County is being funded with $130,000 from the Dakota County Community Development Agency and 10 partner cities.

Wind Point Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, has merged two of its portfolio companies, one of which is Ryt-way Industries of Lakeville.

Ryt-way's combination with Hearthside Food Solutions of Downers Grove, Ill., creates a single corporate entity that is the leading contract food manufacturer in North America, with more than $1 billion in sales and 19 manufacturing facilities in seven states.

Under Wind Point's ownership, Hearthside and Ryt-way each completed three acquisitions that further diversified each company's customer base and product portfolio.

The newly combined company is headed by Hearthside's former CEO.

Dakota Communities unveiled a new sign at its office in Eagan last week to officially recognize the changing of its name to Living Well Disability Services.

The nonprofit organization was founded in 1972 by parents of children with disabilities, along with volunteers and community partners.

Over the decades it has expanded and now provides a wide array of services for people of all ages with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities, in their homes, their communities and in 33 residential settings throughout the Twin Cities area.