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Minnesota workplace ranking ‘awesome’ for Bursch Travel

Business with Marshall ties named one of state’s top 150 workplaces

Photo by Deb Gau Dawn Kopperud, travel consultant with Bursch Travel in Marshall, shared her reactions to the company being named one of the top 150 workplaces in Minnesota by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Kopperud said working with Bursch Travel, which has 12 locations in Minnesota, is like being part of a family.

MARSHALL — It was exciting news, Dawn Kopperud said. Bursch Travel, a Minnesota business with connections to Marshall, was recently named one of the top 150 workplaces in the state by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It was a big honor, especially considering that Bursch was the only travel agency that made it onto the list.

But in some ways, she said, it wasn’t a surprise that the company ranked well. As a travel consultant with Bursch’s Marshall office, Kopperud said she’s experienced the good working relationships employees have with each other and with clients.

“They truly are like family. They always have your back,” Kopperud said. In an important sense, she said, Bursch Travel “keeps the values that Minnesota people care about.”

The Star Tribune’s list of the top 150 Minnesota workplaces was published in a special section of the newspaper on June 25. Bursch Travel ranked 53rd on the small company list. The list was created with the help of survey responses from more than 69,000 employees at public, private and nonprofit organizations around the state.

“This award is a credit to our hard-working employees,” said Bursch Travel owner and president Fred Bursch, in a news release. “My father started the company 61 years ago with the idea or sharing the success with members of his team. As the company has grown, we have never forgotten our roots.”

An important part of Bursch Travel’s roots are in Minnesota, Kopperud said. The company started as a small business in Alexandria. In 1956, M.W. “Pete” and Audrey Bursch bought a cafe in Alexandria, and started selling bus tickets to travelers. The travel business grew from there, and Fred Bursch bought Bursch Travel in 1986.

While the surveys for the Star Tribune workplace rankings were completed only by Bursch Travel’s Minnesota employees, the company has 16 total locations in the Midwest, Kopperud said. There are 12 Bursch Travel locations in Minnesota, including one on Main Street in Marshall.

“We kind of knew we were up for it,” Kopperud said of the workplace ranking. Employees filled out email surveys conducted for the ranking study, and were asked to be as honest as they could.

“It was awesome,” Kopperud said of the news about Bursch Travel’s making the top 150 Minnesota workplaces. But at the same time, she said, it wasn’t a shock. Bursch Travel was a good business to be part of, and that must have been reflected in employees’ responses.

“We are basically one big family,” Kopperud said. Bursch employees work together as a team, even when they’re in different office locations, she said. And Bursch employees are dedicated to helping clients with their travel plans. Even in the age of online reservations, working with a travel consultant can really help make it easier to plan a trip, Kopperud said.

“A lot of the time, I think people don’t realize all the different pieces that go into it,” from travel logistics to getting a good deal, she said.

Over time, Kopperud said, “you really get a good bond” working with clients. Returning clients at Bursch feel like friends.

“That is something I think we strive for,” she said.

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