Anderson Center

What Anderson Center does

Anderson Center is a nonprofit management and leadership development organization founded in 1998 and headquartered in St. Cloud, Minnesota. It delivers 15 distinct forum products organized across five development tracks (Executive, Management, Supervisory, Board, and All-Leaders), serving leaders from first-time supervisors to C-suite executives across the Greater Minnesota region. The core methodology is the Harvard Business School case method, supported by FranklinCovey-certified curriculum (7 Habits for Managers, Speed of Trust, Inclusive Leadership) and facilitated by a network of senior practitioner Discussion Leaders who serve as regional executives and subject matter experts. Forums are delivered via two primary distribution channels: public cohort-based sessions at retreat venues (Madden's on Gull Lake, Grand View Lodge, Granite Innovations, Courtyard by Marriott St. Cloud), and customized Private Forums delivered in-house or virtually to individual organizations for groups of 10+ team members.

The organization makes money through three principal streams: individual and team registrations for public forums, customized private forum delivery contracts for organizations (typically $15,000-$80,000 per engagement as observed in 2021 partnership data), and event sponsorships and individual tickets for ancillary gatherings. A scholarship channel, run in partnership with six Minnesota Initiative Foundations, extends access to non-profits and smaller organizations that could not otherwise afford full tuition. Customer concentration is distributed across mid-market and enterprise organizations in diverse industries including manufacturing (Vector Windows, Coldspring), life sciences (Microbiologics), financial services (Preferred Credit), and staffing (Central McGowan). Marketing is conducted through a multi-channel mix including the corporate website, email newsletter, LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter organic social, client referrals, and the Minnesota Initiative Foundation partner network.

Anderson Center operates with a lean team of 1-10 employees, governed by a Board of Directors chaired by Scott Anderson (grandson of founder Harold Anderson). The organization transitioned from a volunteer-led model to its first full-time President (Aleisha Gaalswyk Stephens) in October 2019, marking a significant professionalization of leadership. Since founding, it has trained over 6,500 leaders across the region, with record participation in 2022 (1,000 participants from 36 organizations). The entity is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors, subsidiaries, or parent company.

Name

Anderson Center

Legal name

Anderson Center

Website

https://anderson-center.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Anderson Center is a St. Cloud, Minnesota nonprofit founded in 1998 that delivers management and leadership development forums using the Harvard Business School case method and FranklinCovey curriculum to mid-market and enterprise organizations across Greater Minnesota.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Leadership Development Services

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Training, Enablement & Talent Development Summits (THAHAMAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Executive Leadership Summits (C-Suite, Board, Strategy Offsites) (THAHAMAA), Functional Summits (HR, Finance, IT, Marketing, Procurement, Legal) (THAHAMAJ)

Keywords

• Leadership development forums
• Executive education programs
• Management training
• Professional development services
• Supervisory training programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint Cloud

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Forum Registrations: Individual and team registrations for scheduled public forums across various leadership topics including Executive Forum, Management Forum, Supervisors Forum, and specialized topic forums. Participants from multiple organizations attend cohort-based sessions.
2. Private Forum Delivery: Customized leadership development programs delivered exclusively to individual organizations, either onsite at client locations, partner retreat venues, or virtually. Programs can be tailored to specific organizational needs and delivered to groups of 10+ team members simultaneously.
3. Organizational Partnership Engagements: Long-term leadership development partnerships with companies, creating customized development plans with investments ranging from $15,000 to $80,000, including planned development paths for supervisors, managers, and executives over multi-year engagements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Anderson Center delivers management and leadership development forums to organizations across Greater Minnesota. Experienced participants including owners, directors, executives, managers, and supervisors debate and apply real-world case studies and world-renowned frameworks guided by highly-skilled Discussion Leaders. The organization offers 15 distinct forum products spanning supervisory, management, executive, and board-level development, delivered as either public cohort-based sessions at retreat venues or as customized Private Forums for individual organizations.

Product overview

Anderson Center is a management and leadership development organization that provides a portfolio of educational forums for leaders at all organizational levels. The offering consists of 15 distinct forum products organized across five development tracks: Executive Development (Executive Forum, Strategy Forum, Leadership Forum), Management Development (Management Forum, 7 Habits for Managers Forum), Supervisory Development (Supervisors Forum), Board Development (Governance Forum), and Development for All Leaders (Data Analytics Foundations Forum, Operations Forum, Marketing Forum, Leading Change Forum, Leading Negotiations Forum, Speed of Trust Forum, Inclusive Leadership Forum). All forums are delivered either as public cohort-based sessions at retreat venues across Greater Minnesota or as customized Private Forums for individual organizations. The organization utilizes the Harvard Business School case method and partners with FranklinCovey for leadership curriculum. The product portfolio represents a service-based educational model, not a software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Executive Forum A yearlong cohort-based forum for executives with three four-day sessions and optional company tours, designed to increase effectiveness through deep dives into strategy and leadership during business survival, growth, and expansion stages.
• Strategy Forum An application-based forum for management teams responsible for strategic leadership, guiding participants through building or refining business strategy using tools, frameworks, and case studies.
• Leadership Forum A forum based on FranklinCovey's 4 Essential Roles of Leadership designed to help leaders increase trust, improve communication, build execution processes, and empower team member growth.
• Management Forum A blended-experience forum providing participants with enhanced decision-making skills through exposure to essential management concepts including leadership, operations, finance, and marketing strategy with tools to increase cross-functional awareness.
• 7 Habits for Managers Forum Based on FranklinCovey's 7 Habits for Managers course, this forum equips managers with tools to lead teams, overcome challenges, manage team member performance, and produce lasting results.
• Supervisors Forum A forum introducing individuals to supervisory skills including effective communication, giving feedback, facilitating difficult conversations, and driving team performance through role play and application exercises.
• Governance Forum A comprehensive forum assisting board members in assessing key knowledge, skills, and abilities, forming plans for individual and full-board development to improve board performance and effectiveness.
• Data Analytics Foundations Forum A forum for team members, supervisors, or managers to learn foundational elements of data analytics for business.
• Operations Forum A forum preparing participants to address operations concepts including production, process flow, supply chain, and quality control with tools and action planning.
• Marketing Forum A forum providing in-depth understanding of marketing principles, how marketing supports strategy, and delivers insight and solutions to marketing challenges.
• Leading Change Forum A forum featuring John Kotter's 8-step change framework providing participants with tools and strategies to lead, manage, and institutionalize change in an organization.
• Leading Negotiations Forum A forum for leaders to build win-win relationships with team members, customers, and vendors through self-assessment exercises, negotiation simulations, situation analysis, and advanced negotiating tools.
• Speed of Trust Forum Based on FranklinCovey's Speed of Trust curriculum, this forum equips individuals and teams with practical leadership tools for self-trust and relationship trust built on concepts of credibility and behavior.
• Inclusive Leadership Forum A forum built around FranklinCovey's Unconscious Bias: Understanding Bias to Unleash Potential exploring bias, helping participants understand and address unconscious bias to create inclusive cultures.
• Private Forums Customized private versions of Anderson Center's public forums delivered to organizations with larger groups of team members, with content tailored to organizational needs. Programs can be conducted onsite at client facilities, at retreat venues, or virtually via Zoom.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 6,500 leaders trained since founding
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Harvard Business SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnderson Center utilizes the Harvard Business School case library and case method teaching approach. This partnership provides access to thousands of real-world business cases that form the core methodology of their leadership development forums. The case method engages participants in evaluating business opportunities, analyzing data, and developing decision-making skills.
• FranklinCoveycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnderson Center partners with FranklinCovey to deliver certified leadership curriculum including 7 Habits for Managers, Speed of Trust, and Inclusive Leadership forums. FranklinCovey's research-based leadership frameworks and tools are integrated into Anderson Center's program offerings.
• Minnesota Initiative FoundationscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSix Minnesota Initiative Foundations (Northwest, West Central, Southwest, Northland, Initiative Foundation, and Southern Minnesota) partner with Anderson Center to provide scholarships for forum participants from smaller organizations, non-profits, and high-potential individuals who might not otherwise afford full tuition. This partnership extends Anderson Center's reach throughout Greater Minnesota communities.
• Madden's on Gull LakeminorOthersRetreat destination venue in Brainerd, MN where Anderson Center hosts various forum programs including Leadership Forum and 7 Habits for Managers Forum. The venue provides immersive learning environment away from participants' daily work routines.
• Granite InnovationsminorOthersConference venue in St. Cloud, MN used by Anderson Center for forum hosting. Provides professional meeting facilities for Anderson Center programs.
• Grand View LodgeminorOthersRetreat destination venue in Brainerd, MN where Anderson Center conducts forum programs, providing overnight accommodations and meeting facilities for extended multi-day forums.
• Courtyard by Marriott St. CloudminorOthersHotel and conference venue in St. Cloud, MN used by Anderson Center for forum hosting, particularly Operations Forum and other multi-day programs.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• DDI (Development Dimensions International): Global leadership and talent development firm offering leadership programs, assessments, and consulting. Comparable to Anderson Center in serving enterprise and mid-market organizations with cohort-based leadership training and supervisor/manager development content.
• Center for Creative Leadership: Premier executive education and leadership development nonprofit offering cohort-based programs, custom leadership solutions, and assessment tools. Comparable to Anderson Center in mission and methodology (cohort learning, applied leadership frameworks) but at national/global scale.
• Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning: Corporate learning arm of Harvard Business Publishing, which licenses HBS case content to organizations globally. Comparable to Anderson Center as a partner-licensed case method provider, but operating at enterprise scale with global reach.
• Dale Carnegie Training: Long-established provider of leadership, management, and communication training programs delivered through local franchises. Comparable as a franchise-style leadership training business targeting mid-market and enterprise organizations.
• FranklinCovey: Global leadership and organizational performance firm delivering 7 Habits, Speed of Trust, and similar FranklinCovey curricula that Anderson Center licenses. Directly comparable as a leadership development provider, though FranklinCovey operates at national scale with proprietary IP and a direct delivery model.
• Vistage: Peer advisory and executive coaching organization serving CEOs and business leaders through group coaching and workshops. Comparable as a cohort-based leadership development provider targeting senior executives of small and mid-market companies.
• Wilson Learning: Global provider of sales, leadership, and workforce development training programs to organizations. Comparable to Anderson Center in delivering cohort-based leadership and supervisor development programs with licensed/proprietary content models.
• The Ken Blanchard Companies: Leadership training and consulting firm built around Blanchard's Situational Leadership and related frameworks. Comparable to Anderson Center's content-licensing model and FranklinCovey-style approach to delivering proven leadership curricula to organizations.
• American Management Association: Nonprofit membership association offering management and leadership training seminars, webinars, and certificate programs. Closely analogous in nonprofit structure, mission, and cohort-based public/private forum delivery model.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with leadership development, executive search, and talent management practices. Comparable as an incumbent competitor in leadership development with broader portfolio including assessment, coaching, and consulting services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/andersoncenter1
• Facebookfacebook.com/AndersonCenter1
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/anderson-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Anderson Center