Welcome one and all to historic Iowa County, Iowa, USA and the Ladora Savings Bank.  Brad Erickson and Colleen Klainert are thrilled to be your hosts! 

Brad’s Story . . .

Brad’s journey has led him in many directions.  The one-time army paratrooper, playwright and entrepreneur tends to lean toward the unconventional.  Over the past decade, he’s built a successful wireless retail enterprise with stores throughout the Midwest, and he's owned an industrial engraving business and two cafes.    A motorcycle enthusiast, he happened upon the bank during one of his motorcycle excursions, and it was love at first sight!  Around the same time he purchased the bank, he also happened upon Ms. Colleen Klainert, a St. Paul beauty that captured his heart.   In one of their first meetings, Brad explained that he wanted to one-day open the bank as a wine bar/galleria, not knowing that Colleen was a wine and spirits representative for one of the nation’s largest wine distributors!  Talk about fate!

Colleen’s story . . .

Colleen Klainert was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota.  A University of Minnesota graduate (go Gophers!), she too has dipped a toe or two into the unconventional pool, having lived in Alaska as a cook at a fish camp, as well as living abroad in Milan, and Bologna Italy.  Fluent in Italian, with a degree in . . .  get this . . .  Early 20th Century Italian Feminist Literature, (WHEW!)  . . .  and one of only a handful of Certified Wine Specialists in the region, Colleen brings a unique blend of creativity and knowledge to the table in terms of how to run and manage a food and beverage business.  She and Brad were engaged in Tuscany last spring (2007) when Brad dropped to one knee in an Italian bistro and proposed using a cork from an empty wine bottle!  (She said “Si!”)