Classroom to Boardroom | Bruce Nustad (’93)

Bruce Nustad’s (’93) future is as big and bright as the 1980 powder-blue Buick Century station wagon he purchased from a faculty member when he was a Concordia student. He ranks business professor Tom Hanson as one of his favorites, not just for selling him that reliable old “boat,” but for imparting many valuable lessons about practical management.

Nustad credits Concordia for giving him a foundation for understanding others, especially in the business world. Not unlike many Concordia students, Nustad said the culture and people in his small Minnesota hometown didn’t look much like Concordia. “Concordia is in a nice little melting pot area that showed me there are a lot of different people in the world,” said the Winona native. “My Christian education taught me how to put myself in someone else’s shoes and respect their perspective.”

For Nustad, that lesson translated directly to the business world. His ability to take an inside look at a business and come up with ways to advance its agenda is what landed him the corner office at TwinWest, the state’s fourth largest, 1,000 member chamber of commerce.

Nustad took the post as president in March and set aggressive goals to immerse himself in the western suburb marketplace. He has since discovered that regardless of whether someone is a business owner, school superintendent or government official, the desire for economic growth is evident. “The reason I wake up every day and go to work at the TwinWest is because the growth of business is vital to the growth of society,” Nustad said.

Even though that blue station wagon is no longer on the road, Nustad’s drive to succeed in the business world is as strong as ever. “I believe it’s my job and my place in this world to try to help drive the success of businesses,” he said.

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