Company History and Future
Company History and Future
NorthStar Surgical was founded in January 2002 by Jay Juntunen and John Zak. Soon after, Bob Fundingsland and Matt Schuster joined NorthStar as partners and Jerry Carrier became our first employee.
In 2005 the NorthStar footprint was expanded from MN, ND, SD, WI to include IA and NE at the request of several manufacturers who wanted to improve their coverage in these states. Mark Klinkacek was added and Jerry Carrier moved into a sales position to support this expansion and have since become partners in NorthStar.
In 2008 we lost our partner and friend Jay Juntunen to pancreatic cancer.
In the Summer of 2010 Bob Fundingsland retired and additional sales people were added to fill his territory. In addition, John Zak moved into a Sales Manager position to work with the new representatives and manage the business.
NorthStar leased office space in St. Louis Park, MN until early 2009 when a building in Edina MN was purchased to support office staff and sales personnel and to warehouse product.
Mark Klinkacek was added as a partner to the corporation in 2011 and we were pleased to add Nolan Fox, Kelly Haapala, and Rick Zak in 2012.
NorthStar continues to add sales people and staff to support future expansion within our geography. Our goal is to increase our presence and penetration in current accounts by adding product lines and expanding to new departments within facilities such as interventional radiology and the emergency room. NorthStar does not plan to expand our footprint any larger than the six states that we cover well.
NorthStar has always utilized technology to make our staff and sales people as efficient as possible. We have an extensive marketing database of facilities and surgeons and continue to expand our marketing capabilities which include mailings, email blasts, and social networking.
In January 2012 NorthStar Surgical celebrated ten years in business. We are passionate about our business and the customers and manufacturers that we serve.
We celebrate the past, and look to the future!
