ORONOCO, Minn. — The U.S. Small Business Administration recently chose Oronoco entrepreneur Beth (Fynbo) Benike as Minnesota’s Small Business Person of the Year.
She is the founder and co-owner of Busy Baby, which makes and sells a variety of baby-related gear, including their signature product — the Busy Baby Mat. The silicone placemat features suction cups to stay in place with stretchy tethers to attach baby toys.
As Minnesota’s Small Business Person of the Year, she will be honored during National Small Business Week in Washington, D.C. on May 4-5 along with other representatives from each of the states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.
Benike, a U.S. Army veteran, created Busy Baby in 2017. The idea came to her after a lunch with two friends and their young children, where they spent most of the time picking up thrown or dropped toys. She won awards at the Red Wing Ignite Cup business competition, the Minnesota Cup and made an appearance on the “Shark Tank” start-up pitch TV show. Busy Baby was also named one of the fastest-growing U.S. small businesses in 2023 by Inc. magazine.
Now leading the company with her brother and fellow veteran Eric Fynbo, Busy Baby can be found on the shelves of Walmart and Target stores across the country.
The local company has five full-time and two part-time employees. Benike said Busy Baby has added third-party logistics - outsourcing logistics functions like warehousing or fulfillment - to its offerings.
“We have the space so we now also do warehouse and distribution for two other e-commerce small businesses - both woman-owned with mom-invented products,” she said.
The Trust Project
