FARGO — Dustin Mitzel took a job with the Happy Harry’s Bottle Shop company in early 1996.

It was supposed to be a part-time job for the summer.

But August came and went and Mitzel was still on the job.

“I guess I stuck around,” said Mitzel, who is now CEO of the company that was born in Grand Forks in 1944 and became 100% employee-owned in 2015.

That’s when Hal Gershman, son of Harry “Happy” Gershman, the founder of the company, sold the business to his workers.

Mitzel said Hal Gershman has been a mentor to him his entire adult life.

“Learning from one of the best natural retailers and marketers in the country has been a blessing,” Mitzel said, adding that Hal Gershman helped guide him and the brand’s entire team as the company moved from being a family-owned business to an employ

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