Courtesy Steve Greenfield
Donn Larson and Steve Greenfield
Steve Greenfield of Greenfield Communications (right) introduced Donn Larson at the 24th annual Joel Labovitz Entrepreneurial Success Awards in Duluth. Donn, a Lake Superior Magazine advisory board member and contributor, received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Steve Greenfield’s introduction of Donn Larson as winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 24th annual Joel Labovitz Entrepreneurial Success Awards.
As a sponsor of this event each year, I typically present one of the earlier Labo Awards. But since our final honoree is someone who has done a lot for my career during the past 35 years, Elaine let me make this introduction.
The Lifetime Achievement Award goes to a person who has had a tremendous impact on our region, and is the Dean of public relations and advertising in our area: Donn Larson.
Donn began his career at KDAL in 1951 – 65 years ago – and was a longtime owner of the Westmoreland, Larson & Hill ad agency, which had offices in Duluth and, for a time, Denver.
If there were tough communications challenges in this region, Donn was the one who solved them. His clients included the Iron Mining Association, Lake Superior Paper Industries, Minnesota Forest Industries, Barr Engineering, Minnesota Power, and the Minnamax copper-nickel project near Babbitt in the 1970s, to name just a few. He also counseled mining companies in other states and Canada.
Someone once asked Donn what set his ad agency apart from the others. He replied: “They make ads; we solve problems.”
Donn’s influence is still felt by many of you, even if you don’t realize it. His agency became what is now the Flint Group. One of Donn’s employees, Howard Klatzky, created an agency that is now HTK Marketing. Paul von Goertz also worked for Donn before starting his ad agency, a precursor to today’s Giant Voices.
One of Donn’s best artists, Steve Isola, now designs both the Duluthian and Positively Superior magazines. And Greenfield Communications would not be here if not for all that Donn taught me, either.
Just a few months ago he and I worked together on a project, and I saw again how his strategic thinking still runs circles around the rest of us.
Donn, who is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America, is also an author. In 2004 he and his friend, the late Monnie Goldfine, published The Will and the Way, highlighting how the Duluth area overcame many challenges in the late 20th century.
Donn is still a frequent contributor to Lake Superior Magazine. And just last fall he wrote A Life Worth Living, his autobiography.
If fact, you’ll have to read that book to learn why Donn, while motorcycling through Europe in 1950, was arrested by Soviet soldiers in Vienna – accused of being a spy!
Donn was involved in politics as well, beginning by working with Fritz Mondale in support of Hubert Humphrey in 1948. In 1959 Donn was elected to the Duluth City Council at age 29, and served for eight years.
Donn was on the boards of the DECC, the Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation, Duluth Art Institute, Park Point Community Club, Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, the Lake Superior Marine Museum and Great Lakes Aquarium. He also served on the Duluth Charter Commission, Planning Commission, the North Shore Management Board and the Society of Mining Engineers.
All of this, my friends, adds up to a lifetime of incredible achievement. It is my extreme honor to present the UMD Center for Economic Development’s 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award … to Donn Larson.