1. Our executive team has spent many hours
planning, reviewing, and evaluating our fu-
ture growth plans while
examining our suc-
cesses and failures. As
always in those strate-
gic conversations, we
recognize everything
that we do and will do
depends on our people.
Sometimes we bring in outside professionals
to advise us. One such professional sug-
gested that the main reason we are in busi-
ness is to sustain the Marsden legacy for our
people—nearly 10,000 families across these
United States depend on it. This idea has
resonated with us as an undeniable truth.
The Marsden legacy can only be sustained if
we recognize that every person is important
to our future and we take action to maximize
every person’s success.
We are very lucky in our organization that
we have a unique leadership development
roadmap to follow. Our CEO, Guy Mingo,
began his Marsden career as a cleaner. He
was mentored by our founder directly and
grew through management roles and into
executive leadership roles. When Mr. Mars-
den retired following the sale of the company
in 2002, Guy was promoted to CEO. From
Guy’s experience, we know that successful
leaders come from within our company.
What can you do to advance your career
here at Marsden? First, be great at what you
are doing now and find every opportunity,
internally and externally, to learn more. Sec-
ond, make sure your manager knows what
your career goals are (even if they don’t ask
you). Third, when the opportunity presents
itself to make your career goals known to hu-
man resources or a member of the executive
team, follow through with it. Together we can
all ensure the Marsden legacy will carry on
for the benefit of our employees and custom-
ers alike well into the future.
In early May, a team of Marsden’s most tal-
ented (available and willing) athletes stormed
the Minneapolis Convention Center in search
of their first Blue Bike Challenge victory in as
many tries.
This year’s competition was a bit of a depar-
ture from how the stationary-biking event has
traditionally been conducted—this time add-
ing a separately-scored social media contest
that would ultimately yield two grand prizes
of $2500 (for each team’s chosen charity).
Portico had dominated the past year’s con-
test, with impressive performances on both
the physical and social-media fronts, and this
year they were the projected favorites de-
spite a slightly restructured scoring system.
Aside from the favorites, Marsden joined
a group of teams as diverse in racing tal-
ent as in industry; Allina and event-sponsor
Blue Cross (participating, abstaining from
UPDATE
Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Summer 2015
Yo u r o f f i c i a l s o u r c e f o r n e w s a n d d i s c u s s i o n
w i t h i n t h e M a r s d e n f a m i l y o f b r a n d s
Sustaining a Legacy
Sita Morantz | President & CAO
Marsden Holding
M A R S D E N
Marsden Impresses at
BlueBike Challenge
Team Marsden Makes a
Strong First Year Showing
Shannon Foss, Damon Fraser, Marcus Rien, Josh Cramer
(continued on back)

2. In order to pinpoint and recognize service
employees, office staff, and those in man-
agement roles that provide remarkable ser-
vice, Marsden Bldg Maintenance has rolled
out an employee recognition program called
MARS Awards for employees of Marsden
Bldg Maintenance, Fidelity Building Servic-
es, Palen Kimball, and Final Touch Services.
Here’s how it works:
-Managers will be on the lookout for employ-
ees that stand out in areas such as safety,
teamwork, best improvement ideas, custom-
er service, attitude, training achievements,
quality work, going above and beyond, and
community involvement.
-Managers will then hand-deliver a certificate
of appreciation, a personal message, and a
candy treat to the selected employee.
-The certificates are submitted for review
by a committee, and the top 3 every quarter
earn a cash award of $100 and are then eli-
gible for the annual cash award of $500.
Employee recognition programs such as
these are important for many reasons. As
Vice President of HR Administration, Vicki
Hildebrandt explains:
“Sincere appreciation is the best communica-
(continued on page 3)
2
Spotlight
Krystal Rosmann
from CleanPower
Krystal has worked for CleanPower for over 1 ½ years and takes care of two sites.
The clients that she services rave about the quality cleaning she provides. She also
goes above and beyond….one time when the client forgot to order soap, Krystal
brought some in until they could get to the store. The customer was so impressed by
her thoughtfulness. In addition, she does a great job communicating in the log book,
keeping them informed of everything that is going on.
She has become someone her manager can count on for anything, whether it’s help-
ing to cover open areas, or picking up extra hours. Whatever we need, she is there!
Know someone who deserves a Spotlight?
Nominate a co-worker by submitting his or her name,
and a brief description of what makes him or her great to:
JCramer@marsden.com-- be sure to include the term “Spotlight” in the subject line.
‘Sweet Recognition’
New MARS Program Awards
Standout MBM Employees
ThankyouKrystal!

3. tion method. It shows all associates that
they are a valued member of our organi-
zation. Reaching our goals is just a lucky
by-product!”
Since its implementation in April, MBM
has already received 17 nomination
forms. Iowa manager Sally Mortoza was
one of the first managers to present a
certificate, candy treat, and message.
“Having them see it in writing goes a long
way. We’re letting them know that it’s not
just the managers telling them great job,
but that it’s Marsden as a team.”
In the coming months, MBM would like
to see MARS Awards grow as a tool to
not only recognize and motivate, but to
encourage greater engagement across
all functions and roles in the organization.
Managers that are interested in partici-
pating can reach out to HR staff in St.
Paul, Des Moines, and Omaha for more
information.
In March, leaders from the Marsden Holding
family of companies met in Las Vegas for
a three-day conference to launch the 2015
company-wide goals. To kick off the event,
the more than 65 leaders engaged in a team-
building event with a greater purpose – sup-
porting deployed military members by creat-
ing care packages for Mission: Military Care.
Sometimes the simplest of things can remind
those deployed and separated from family
that they are supported and that their ser-
vice is valued. Our leadership team created
care packages consisting of basic care items
including toothbrushes, soap, deodorant,
and snacks. Along with the care packages,
our leadership teams included personalized
messages expressing appreciation for the
service that these courageous women and
men provide.
3
Effective Incident Investigations
Can Improve Our Safety Performance
Mike Kilsdonk | Safety, Training, & Sustainability Manager
Marsden Bldg Maintenance
It’s important that managers understand the purpose of any incident investigation is to
prevent future incidents, not lay blame. Research findings indicate hazardous conditions,
alone, represent only about 3% of the causes for incidents in the workplace, while unsafe
behaviors make up about 95% of the causes. Managers are encouraged to look for the root
causes of worker behaviors and assume that each incident has more than one cause.
An effective incident investigation starts with gathering relevant facts about the incident.
These should include information from a visit to the incident site; interviews with workers
and any witnesses; and details about the work procedures, equipment, weather, experience
and training related to the incident.
The facts must then be analyzed to look
for causes. Some causes related to
working conditions are: time pressures,
task planning and availability of tools.
Causes related to organizational factors
are: staff selection, training, work proce-
dures, communication and the type of
equipment available.
The final phase of incident investiga-
tion involves recommending corrective
actions designed to prevent future inci-
dents. Corrective actions should include
the name of the person responsible for completing the action. When the corrective ac-
tions are implemented proactively, before another incident can occur, the result is improved
safety performance.
A necessary step towards improving safety performance is for managers to accept the fact
that human error is a normal characteristic of human behavior. Because human error can’t
be totally eliminated managers should seek to design and build processes and procedures
which have built-in defenses against the effects of human error. Some examples of these
are: supervision, hazard awareness training, standard operating procedures, PPE, and ma-
chine guards.
Mission: Military Care
Marsden Leaders Team Up
to Support Our Troops
Damon Fraser, Chad Jewell, and James Rice
Entrance sign to Dow Chemical. Scioto is 1 yr Injury-Free!

4. 4
Looking Ahead
National Parents’ Day
Gave a lame gift on Mothers’ or Fathers’ Day? Mulligan!
Senior Citizens Day
Hug your favorite octogenarian!
Have News to Share?
Send us your stories and ideas!
AEngstrom@marsden.com
(continued from cover)
awards) appeared understandably healthy
and spry, while the Gander Mountain and
Great River Energy teams showed grit and
rough-sawn determination. The Land O
Lakes team would definitely have won the
spirit competition, as resting participants
treated each other to high fives, burpees,
and yoga poses in the foreground warmup
area.
By lunch time, team Marsden had logged
200 miles. And as they caught their collec-
tive breath over lunch, they discussed their
strategy for round two. Despite the shortened
afternoon session (and perhaps their better
judgment), the team resolved to double their
score. Due to the extraordinary cooperation
of the team and some well-placed whoopee
cushions (courtesy of Blue Cross), team
Marsden exceeded their hard-fought goal
of 400 miles with jubilation—just
before the final buzzer. It may not have
been the highest score reached that day,
but it was certainly a
victory nonetheless.
The second part of
the scoring process
depended on social
media points. Each team
had been given a set of
hashtags (in Marsden’s
case, #Marsden and
#BlueBike) that were of-
ficially tracked during the 1 week ramp-up
period before and during the physical event.
Any Facebook post or tweet containing the
two hashtags would count as 1 point toward
the competition. People could participate as
many times as they wanted, so the team with
the most social influence would win.
As with the last year, Portico’s highly orga-
nized and publicized attack proved success-
ful. Although, Marsden did quite well—reach-
ing the middle of the pack in social media
engagement in its very first year of participa-
tion. Plans are already set in place to chal-
lenge next year, so be sure to look out for
details on how you can help us win nextApril!
Marsden employees have a rich tradition
of friendly competition; it’s something that
brings us great pride.
However, it’s important
to keep in mind our high-
er purpose. Marsden’s
charity of choice this
year was Cleaning For A
Reason—a nonprofit or-
ganization that provides
free housecleaning for
women undergoing can-
cer treatment. Because of our participation,
they received a $500 donation toward their
worthy cause. If you’d like more information
about their services or would like to donate,
visit them at www.cleaningforareason.org.
26
1508 21
1507
Q: Where does seaweed go to look
for a job?
A: The Kelp Wanted section.
Fun Fact: German chocolate cake
doesn’t originate from Germany.
It was named for Sam German, an
American who developed a sweet
bar for Baker’s Chocolate.
Shannon Foss, Chris Bicha, Damon Fraser, Josh Cramer, Marcus Rien, Matt Johnson, Ocea Bicha