Businesses of the Year

Thumbs Up: Congratulations to the two businesses who were selected Thursday at the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet as the Businesses of the Year. 3M was chosen by Chamber members as the Large Business of the Year for 2020, and A to Zinnia Floral & Gifts was selected as the Small Business of the Year for 2020. Both are outstanding choices.

This is the second year that the Chamber has chosen a large and a small businesses to honor, and we like the format. 3M and A to Zinnia are as different as two businesses can be, but they do what they do extremely well. It’s great to recognize a variety of successes.

St. Paul’s School

Thumbs Up: On Sunday, St. Paul’s Lutheran School is dedicating the new addition it has made to its school building. A special service is being held on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the school, with a meal and self-guided tours afterward. A community open house will be held from 3 to 5 p.m.

The $6.7 million expansion and renovation has created new space, including a new entryway, a pre-school wing and science and art labs.

St. Paul’s is part of the extraordinarily varied education system in New Ulm, and we encourage people to stop by and see the new school additions on Sunday.

Winter driving

Thumbs Down: It has been a tragic week on area highways, especially Highway 14 between Nicollet and New Ulm. While the need to expand that stretch of highway to four lanes would help make it a safer stretch of road, the icy, snowy conditions earlier this week no doubt played a role in the three separate fatal accidents in the area.

We all know winter driving calls for special caution and care, especially driving slower when conditions are bad. If you can’t see where your are going, if the road is icy, if you see flashing emergency lights ahead, you need to slow down. You may even need to get off the road until conditions improve. It won’t kill you to slow down — it may save your life.