While much of the attention about Jim Hagedorn's entry as a Republican contender has been focused on his literary career as "an equal opportunity hater" (as he reportedly described himself in a Rochester press conference) and offensive post scrubber in his blog, Southern Minnesota voters might well find other parts of the Hagedorn family resume just as interesting. Perhaps more.
Over at Minnesota Central, my friend McPherson Hall points out in MN-01 : Minnesota’s Newest Funny Man:Don’t know Jim … that may be the first joke on First District voters. According to his bio,
he entered George Mason University in 1980. Then did a little work as a
legislative assistant and spent most of his career as part of
Congressional Affairs Office at Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
Currently, Hagedorn is employed as Director of Government Relations and
Corporate Development for Electromed, Inc. . . .
Hall spots a piece of that connectedness I didn't notice:
The
picture seems clear … a son of a Congressman wants to follow his father's
footsteps and use his father’s contacts to make that happen.Long time Minnesota voters may remember the Hagedorn name … that has
been missing from local politics since Tom Hagedorn was defeated by Tim
Penny in 1982 to represent the southern Minnesota in Congress. Hagedorn
is now president of a number of real estate operations in Virginia
(Premium Properties, LLC, Premium Financial Services, Inc., etc.) and
is listed on the Board of Directors of Electromed, Inc. - a New Prague medical company.
Follow that last link, and you'll learn that the CEO of Electromed is Robert D. Hansen; according to news sources found via Nexis (sorry, it's a subscription database so no links), Tom Hagedorn and his son's new boss have long-standing business ties that illustrate the "revolving door" culture of Washington DC, wherein a retiring or defeated representative or Senator (or a staffer) begins serving lobbying interests as soon as legally possible.
Good government groups have worked for years to create barriers to that churn.
Hagedorn the Elder and Hansen were the poster children for a February 22, 1984 New York Times article illustrating how valuable an ex-congressman snubbed by the voters in 1982 in favor if a young Tim Penny could be. In "The Contact, or Getting A Leg Up," the NYTimes notes:
The businessman told Mr. Hagedorn of his plan to raise money to build a futuristic engine that needed no oil, no radiator and was made of superhard ceramic parts. Excited by the idea, Mr. Hagedorn gave the man his card and told him to call if he ever needed help in Washington.
Last February [i.e. 1983] the businessman, Robert D. Hansen, remembered Mr. Hagedorn, by now out of office and working as a Washington lobbyist, and called to seek his aid in obtaining a Government research grant.
A result of the chance meeting four years ago is now tucked into this fiscal year's $255 billion Defense Department budget: a $500,000 grant to design and develop a ceramic valve for a more fuel-efficient and maintenance-free rotary engine. The tale is a classic example of how contacts, even casual ones, can make the crucial difference in Washington.
Leg Up in the ContestIn the months ahead Mr. Hansen's four-person company, the Hansen Engine Corporation, of Minnetonka, Minn., must still compete with larger and more widely known competitors for the grant that is crucial to their continued operation. But Mr. Hansen's company would seem to have a leg up in the run for the money.
In this city, where political connections often open locked doors and gain a sympathetic ear, an idea short on money hooked up with some Congressional know-how to produce results.
The turning point for the company came when it hired Mr. Hagedorn, a four-term Congressman who was well-acquainted with the nuances of Capitol Hill as well as the problems facing small businessmen.
Mr. Hagedorn arranged a 30- minute meeting last April between the Hansen engineers and half a dozen influential members and staff of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Research and Development. Later, he spoke privately to some former colleagues, who were impressed enough with the Hansen presentation to authorize the Defense Department to contract further research on the rotary valve.
If awarded the $500,000 grant, Mr. Hansen feels his company could carve out a niche in the pioneering industry of high-technology automotive ceramics, already dominated by such giants as the General Motors Corporation and the Cummins Engine Company.
Landing a lobbying gig so soon after being turned out of office is no longer allowed under House ethics reforms that took effect via the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, as a departing representative must wait at least a year to lobby former colleagues.
Getting the leg up in government contracts was good for Hansen Engines. On October 2,1989, Beth Ewen of Minneapolis-St. Paul CityBusiness reported in "Hansen Engine: After 12 Years, Still No Revenues":
Hansen Engine Corp. is trying to raise $ 500,000 in a private placement of stock so that it can continue to develop a rotary valving system, which principals hope to license within three years.
To date, the Minnetonka-based research company, founded in 1977, has sold nothing but stocks. It has had 12 consecutive years of zero revenues, does not have a product and is at least a year and a half from developing a product.
"People say to me, You've been in business for 10 years and never sold a product. How can you do that?'" said Robert Hansen chairman and CEO of the private company.
Hansen Engine has continued to eke out enough interest from about 100 investors to raise $ 2 million in equity capital. It has also received more than $ 1 million in government grants, including $ 200,000 obtained from the U.S. Department of Energy in August. . . .
The company has continued to receive grants into the 21st Century, according to FedSpending.org. Grants were bid under the "Competition after exclusion of sources" category.
Electromed, too, received a government contract, according to the database, for the year 2008.
Though the ethics rules have tightened since Southern Minnesotans traded Hagedorn for Penny, none of the elder Hagedorn's activity was illegal at the time he started lobbying. However, the Washington insider status of both Hagedorns is clear--and so some of the attacks against Walz by Hagedorn the Younger seem simply peculiar.
"Washington, D.C. is out of control,” Hagedorn continued....
Hagedorn cites his congressional priorities as implementing Reagan/JFK economic policies to help small business create jobs; slashing federal spending through top-to-bottom reviews of all federal agencies, beginning with the Pentagon. . .
Currently, Hagedorn is employed as Director of Government Relations and Corporate Development for Electromed, Inc., a Minnesota-based company that manufactures devices to help patients with breathing disorders and circulatory ailments.. . .
Moreover, Hagedorn speaks of his great passion for the prairies and
returning to help the people I love the most because this country is worth defending, our way of life is worth saving and the people of Southern Minnesota are worth fighting for,” Hagedorn stated.
A native of Blue Earth, Jim worked with his dad and grandfather on the family’s grain and hog farm located just outside Truman. In 1974, Jim’s father, Tom, was elected to Congress to represent Southern Minnesota, which he served until 1983. “Living on the farm and being part of our rural communities ingrained in me the small town values that have sustained me throughout life,” Hagedorn said.
According to his filing statement, Jim Hagedorn's address is now 906 Upper Valley Drive, Blue Earth, Minnesota (MN), a home that is still listed for sale here though a local realty listing of the property notes today that a sale is pending on MLS #122261.
Jim Hagedorn may indeed love the people of southern Minnesota most, but it was a long-distance relationship at best. One wonders how much a Hagedorn loves before closing a deal in Blue Earth and whether he would so love Southern Minnesota had not an executive position opened up in a company where his father just happens to be on the board of directors (a board headed no less than by someone who owned another company for which the father had in his own turn lobbied).
A final reflection: the persistence of the two Hagedorns in Washington DC contrasts sharply with the behavior of the man Southern Minnesotans hired as Tom's replacement.
From "Penny stuns House, says he won't seek reelection; Family matters, frustration with Congress cited," the Star Tribune's August 7, 1993 coverage of Penny's floor speech announcing his retirement:
". . . Minnesota, my family, my friends and my roots call me home. And I want . . . my four children to finish school in Minnesota so that they might grow to love our state as much as I do."
Though Penny often appears emotionless, his voice quavered a bit and he paused for a beat.
Following his retirement, former congressman Tim Penny returned home to Waseca, where he lives to this day.
More to come...
Photo: The kitchen of Jim Hagedorn's new home, found at an online realty listing.
Screenshot: A local real estate firm's listing for the address listed on Hagedorn's candidacy statemen filed with the FEC.Screenshot 12/5/2009.
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