Beganik Wins Deubener Award
Beganik Strategy + Design was recognized with the Deubener Award at the 25th Annual Small Business Awards of Excellence Luncheon on Friday, May 19 at Prom Center in Oakdale, Minnesota. We won the Emerging Business of the Year award from the Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce for outstanding achievements, leadership and business success. The Deubener Award is the Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce’s highest honor.
Justin Bieganek, creative director and founder of Beganik Strategy + Design, started the company in 1998 out of his home as the sole employee. As recipient for the Emerging Business of the Year, Beganik competed with over 50 nominees. The award is only open to those businesses anonymously nominated by six Chamber judges after meeting certain requirements.
The Deubener award is in recognition of Walter & Lydia Deubener, proprietors of a grocery and five and dime store on West Seventh Street in downtown Saint Paul in the early 1900’s. The Deubeners noticed their customers’ purchases were limited not by their pocket books but by how much they could carry. Walter came up with an idea: he took an ordinary paper sack, punched four holes in each side, reinforcing the bottom with string, looped the string through the holes and over the top to form handles. This was the birth of the first handled shopping bag. Their business increased overnight. The couple eventually sold their store to go into the shopping bag business.
