A look at the people behind the numbers in area business:
RICHARD BROWN
JNBA FINANCIAL ADVISORS
Title: CEO
Age: 51
A spur-of-the-moment charitable trip to the Dominican Republican led to Richard Brown's recent selection as president of the Starkey Hearing Foundation board of directors.
The trip happened to be departing, Brown said, the day after a philanthropic recognition program where he first met Bill Austin, Starkey Hearing Foundation founder and CEO of Eden Prairie-based Starkey Laboratories. The foundation gives Starkey hearing aids to children around the world.
Brown jumped at Austin's spontaneous invitation to join that 2010 mission and has been a member of the board since last year, serving as co-chair of the fundraising committee.
"What [Austin] does and what Starkey Foundation does are all much in line with the values that I have, and it's exciting to be part of that," said Brown, who has been on 16 domestic and international foundation-related trips, including a 2012 mission to China.
Brown has been CEO of JNBA since 1995, joining the firm his mother, Judith Brown, founded in 1979. Richard Brown's wife, Kim Brown, is president. As a fee-based, Registered Independent Advisory firm, JNBA offers financial planning and asset-management services. The firm has more than $500 million in assets under management.
