Quicksilver opened in July 1982 with only $2000 and a small loan to buy two-way radios for the cars. Eight friends joined me and committed to work for 90 days with no pay. We had no money for a real office, so we used one of the founders' (Linda Furst) basement. I offered the employees their first benefit…free washer and dryer!

After six months the founders agreed to continue receiving no pay if I could find a real office- not in a one hundred year old damp and dark basement. It has been my job to find our Minnesota offices for the last 43 years. My unique method involved endless driving around in the area where we had our most customers. So I found a closed and boarded up Standard Oil gas station with one large room, two small offices, and a furnace room. The rent was cheap and there was a large statue of a Lion left behind by Standard Oil.

After a few months I learned about our landlord who owned a popular Italian restaurant next to the gas station. He was the supposed last leader of the St. Paul Mafia! After one year I asked him if we could use his garbage containers. He was at lunch with five very large Italian men.

I could not have picked a worse time to talk to him. He showed me why I did not want to ever use his garbage containers. Then he informed me that the low rent came with a deal: “Take care of all your issues and do not ask me for anything.”

We turned the furnace room into a third office for our first office employee. Becky Wagner started at $5 per hour and was so happy to get out of the loud and crazy dispatch room. Becky went on to become an owner/partner and the Chief Financial Officer. She retired after over 30 years of great work. 

Our office was across the street from the Franklin Avenue fire station. I returned one very cold afternoon from a day of sales calls and to my horror there was a car on fire right outside our front door. It was owned by our incredible dispatcher, Greg. He was able to dispatch to 60 drivers using the two way radios. He had headphones with thirty drivers talking to him in each ear. But he sat there for many hours without looking out the window to see his car burning up. The fire department also missed it. The car was completely totaled before the fire engine arrived. Greg had left the car running to keep it warm…real warm!

After two years we finally made enough money to pay the founders a meager salary. It was time to move to an actual office space. I found another cheap deal located three blocks from the Vikings stadium. When we moved, I decided to take the Lion statue with me. Seemed to be a good luck charm. And the mob boss did tell me to take care of my own needs. Fortunately I never heard from him about the lion and it has graced our office entrances for the last 42 years.