Despite a successful corporate career in mortgage banking, Mick Thorsland had long harbored an entrepreneurial urge. So when his employer decided to exit the business, he says it was an easy decision to start Venture Mortgage. That was in January 1990 and Mick has never looked back, building a successful, well-respected full-service commercial mortgage banking firm. Not bad for a kid from the small town of Milan, Minn., who moved to the Twin Cities with the simple belief that “if you do your best, everything else will take care of itself.”
Mick says his favorite parts of running Venture Mortgage are helping staff, clients and lenders to find solutions to their challenges, and seeing deals get done. His employees will tell you that he’s also a great boss. The fact that eight of the people he supervised when he worked at the bank came with him to join his new company back in 1990 speaks for itself. Likewise, many of his current employees have been with him nearly from the start.
When off duty, Mick enjoys being with his wife, three daughters and their families. He is also an avid golfer, and enjoys attending or watching sporting events and traveling. His dream jobs would be golf course ranger, sports reporter or travel guide. He has done some traveling, but he says a trip to Alaska is definitely on his “bucket list.”
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- Became one of the top production officers at First Bank System (FBS, now part of U.S. Bank) before leaving to form Venture Mortgage in January 1990
- Joined FBS as an Assistant VP with FBS Financial Inc. in Minneapolis in 1974 as one of three producers who started the firm’s mortgage banking division
- Began career in a management training program with IDS (now part of American Express) in Minneapolis in 1971, soon rising to the position of Mortgage Analyst
- Earned a BS in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Minnesota, Morris in 1970
- Proud graduate of the Milan, Minn., public school system, Class of 1966
- Involved in Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) of Minnesota, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), and the Minnesota Shopping Center Association (MSCA)