Tom Franta started Superior Packaging Company in 1994 in his hometown of Minnetonka. Eventually he moved the business to Superior, where he was able to get his foot in the door with many companies by cold calling. The company’s product, called dunnage, or damage prevention, consists of materials that are placed in domestic and international shipping containers or boxcars to prevent damage to inventory by restraining any excess space.

SPC supplies companies such as Kikkoman, Del Monte and Seneca foods. Franta recalls his humble roots in his then-partner’s parents’ garage with no heat, using the alleyway to roll paper tubes to make packaging supplies and gluing them to cardboard to make pallets by hand. Today, Superior Packaging Company uses machines to do what he once did by hand. The company moved to its present location in West Duluth 15 years ago, when a larger facility was needed. This location is convenient for SPC as most shipping is done using common carriers on the highway.

Dianne Anderson launched Demolicious in 2000, creating a public drop-off site for everything but the kitchen sink. Well actually, Demolicious will take kitchen sinks. It will take anything but household garbage, hazardous materials or chemicals. Anything else is fair game, but mostly the business receives construction waste. Clients can drop off their trash for a fee or rent a roll-off, which is a large waste container Demolicious will drop off empty and pick up when filled.

Materials get sorted and separated. Wood, for example, gets grouped together and ground into wood chips. What can be recycled is recycled. The business has many repeat customers, especially contractors who use it often, as well as one-time users who wish to discard things like old furniture.