Michael Nolan is a serial entrepreneur dedicated to helping companies get started, get going and grow to their full potential. He currently serves as the Director of the Small Business Development Center in South Central Minnesota, a grant funded non-profit serving small business. The Minnesota State University, Mankato program assists over 350 entrepreneurs each year. In addition, he teaches adjunct for the MBA program at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
After graduating in 1987 from the University of Wisconsin, Mike Nolan began a career in broadcasting at WIFC in Wausau Wisconsin. In 1988 he took an account executive position at KSTP in Minneapolis, coordinating the media budgets of both local and national advertisers, and working closely with area advertising agencies.
In 1993, he purchased KEEZ-FM in Mankato, and soon took over operations of KAUS AM/FM in Austin Minnesota. Nolan served as President & CEO of the Nolan Broadcast Group before selling the stations to Three Eagles Broadcasting in the fall of 2000.
Nolan has served numerous community boards and local charities, including the Salvation Army, The United Way, the Mankato YMCA, Educare Foundation and Rotary. In 1999-2000 he served as campaign chair for the Mankato United Way, successfully coordinating the efforts of 500+ volunteers and raising over $1.6 million in donations. He is currently on the Board of Directors for Legal Corps, a statewide pro-bono legal services organization serving small business and entrepreneurs.
He has lead many community efforts, including co-chairing the Mankato Sesquicentennial celebration with his wife Jules. In 1998 the National Association of Broadcasters recognized his exceptional charitable efforts, bringing together dozens of community based resources to raise food and money for food shelves and disaster relief organizations.
It was during his broadcast career that Nolan created MinnesotaCars.com, one of the pioneering websites of its kind, focusing not only on consumer needs but also providing powerful “back end” solutions for dealers across the United States.
The website soon grew into a network of over 450 dealers, a magazine publishing company, website design and hosting, and a marketing solutions provider for large newspaper companies in several states. In 2006 AutoConX and MinnesotaCars.com was sold to Car Truck Trader.
In addition to his own companies, Nolan has been a successful consultant for a variety of firms. He mentored an early start up with angel funding and leadership, assisting in the successful merger of the venture with a publicly traded company. In addition, he led the first-round funding and provided marketing and management services to an environmental manufacturing firm in Mankato.
In 2009 Nolan helped form an e-commerce company for 20th Century Fox’s movie Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. The project included design of a multi-channel marketing campaign, platform implementation and coordination with the License and Merchandising and Entertainment divisions at Fox.
As an angel investor, Nolan led the first funding round for Yovia.com and served as its COO in 2008. Yovia is a cutting edge social media company that serves several world-class brands, including Nickelodeon, Prevention Magazine, Rodale Publishing and The Street.com, and is a platform for thousands of bloggers. Nolan currently serves on the board of directors for Yovia.com.
An avid traveler, Nolan has spent time in 23 countries and holds an MBA from the Melbourne Business School. His studies include research and lectures at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Illinois, WHU in Koblenz Germany, University of Economics in Bratislava Slovakia, and group study in Shanghai China.
Nolan has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship at Minnesota State University, Otto Beisheim School of Management (WHU) near Koblenz Germany, and Rasmussen Business College. He has been a guest lecturer and presenter at the University of Prague in the Czech Republic and Eden Campus in South Africa, where he currently travels annually to learn from the students and assist them in setting up e-commerce and electronic revenue solutions for the campus.
Nolan is a facilitator with Endurance America, and works with large companies in the areas of Sales Performance, Leadership, Strategic Planning and Culture development.
He is currently seeking certification as an Economic Development Finance Professional, with coursework to be completed Fall 2011. Nolan is a certified facilitator of the Profit Mastery curriculum.
Nolan is a private pilot, an avid tennis player and holds a scuba divemaster rating. He lives in Mankato with his wife Julene, a doctoral student at Minnesota State University, Mankato. In 2007 the Nolan family returned from traveling the world with their three teenage children, visiting 16 countries in five months. Their blog is www.takethekidswith.com.