Famous Dave’s founder to share business secrets at SDSU, Sioux Falls

• Dave Anderson

Dave Anderson

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BROOKINGS – If all you know about Famous Dave’s is that it serves tasty ribs, the founder of the fast-growing restaurant chain has some secrets to share.

Dave Anderson, who tasted plenty of failure before stirring up success, will share his philosophy at talks Feb. 21-22 in Sioux Falls and Brookings, respectively.

Anderson will give the keynote address of the Spring Rickert Visiting Entrepreneur & Speaker Series at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, at the University Center campus, west of I-29, Exit 83, in Sioux Falls, and at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 in the Volstorff Ballroom in the University Student Union on the South Dakota State University campus in Brookings. Seating in Sioux Falls is limited to the first 130 guests.

Anderson is the second speaker in the Rickert series, which began in November 2011 with Wil Schroter of Columbus, Ohio, speaking in Brookings and Sioux Falls.

Anderson’s message is “everyone within them has the seeds of greatness” and “no matter how tough things may seem today, if you never give up on your dream and you have the willingness to work hard, tomorrow’s rewards will always come.”

While Dave Anderson has long been an entrepreneur, highly successful wasn’t always used to describe him.

He was raised in Chicago and on Wisconsin Indian reservations, and was in the bottom half academically of his high school class. Anderson started his first selling business at age 18 and failed. A year later, in 1972, he started selling plants wholesale to Chicago florists and grew the business, but saw it go bankrupt in 1979.

However, Anderson rebounded. He had success on the sales force of a Fortune 500 company and developed businesses for the Lac Courte Oreilles Chippewa Reservation in Wisconsin.

He opened the original Famous Dave’s BBQ Shack in Hayward, Wis., in 1994. In 1996, the business expanded to the Twin Cities and made an initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange. From there, the list of restaurants and awards continued to grow.

Today, Famous Dave Anderson travels the country speaking and is the author of several award-winning books, including “Famous Dave’s LifeSkills for Success: The Ultimate Manual for Achieving Your Very Best.”

Anderson lives in Edina, Minn., with his wife Kathy. His family still owns property in Hayward.

The speaker series will bring experts to campus during Global Entrepreneurship Week in November and National Entrepreneurship Week in February.

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