Synopsis "Imagining an Inland Empire: And Other Myths of Endeavor"
"Imagining an Inland Empire" takes its reader on an 80-year life journey from the Upper Midwest's wind-swept northern prairie to the very heart of America's burgeoning capital city, Washington, DC. The author's search for adventure carries the reader to the west coast for studies in agriculture, genetics, and plant-breeding, graduation with distinction from California Polytechnic State and Oregon State Universities, and a succession of instructive, deeply fulfilling entrepreneurial ventures in agricultural commodities and business consulting. Captivating vignettes describe the profound cultural changes the author experiences from his coming of age in the rural, whistle-stop market town of Hallock, Minnesota to the founding of a singularly creative business study group, the Superior Business Firm Roundtable. Tom Veblen experienced a full range of life's ups and downs on his way to recognition as a Marquis Who's Who "Lifetime Achiever." His four decades of corporate, think-tank, and consulting endeavors climaxed with the imagining and development of Food System Associates, Inc. a nationally prominent business strategy consulting firm. In this memoir, Veblen tells the story of serving as a Presidential White House Fellow, the creation of the Wolf Trap National Park, corporate leadership stints with Cargill, Incorporated and Stanford Research Institute, the discovery and use of U.S. Food System concepts to shape business strategy, and, finally, imagining a world free of hunger. Contrasting American "myths of endeavor" with his own---from the Inland Empire created by James J. Hill and his Scandinavian immigrant collaborators to today's global business behemoths---Veblen describes the cultural values that undergird America's entrepreneurial superiority. The book distills the meaning of "endeavor" and acculturation, showing how this knowledge is used to create better life outcomes--here, now, and moving on.
