Touring Limb Lab’s flagship location in Rochester, MN with co-founders Marty Frana and Brandon Sampson is essentially a crash course in entrepreneurship, taught with frankness, humor and stories of compassion. Frana and Sampson, industry veterans, joined forces in 2013 to create Limb Lab, an independently owned and operated boutique prosthetic and orthotic company with locations in Mankato, MN, La Crosse, WI, and Rochester, MN. Bremer has been Limb Lab’s banking partner since 2016.
Respectful partnerships are a big part of the story at Limb Lab, starting with the relationship between Frana and Sampson. “I’m the gas, and he’s the brakes,” Sampson joked as he described their very different, but aligned, roles. Frana, as CEO, manages everything from finance to HR to IT – and anything else that’s needed, including occasionally hauling trash and sweeping floors. While he’s modest about his role, Frana possesses a keen understanding of the importance of culture in running a successful company and demonstrates that understanding in his interactions with customers and employees. Sampson, a certified prosthetist, is less an operator and more a visionary who spends most of his time with patients. On the day of our tour, he was building a first-time prosthesis for a man who hasn’t walked in 10 years.
Sampson came up with the idea to build the Rochester location as a showroom. Instead of delivering more of what the industry has offered for decades, he envisioned an inviting, transparent space that would be welcoming to patients and take the stigma away from prosthetics and orthotics. Limb Lab’s mission to connect and create can be felt throughout the building, from the literal points of connection between building materials within the space, to the inspirational photos of amputee success stories that line the walls of the lobby. And there’s the connection between Limb Lab and the outside world, due to the large windows all around the lab, at one of the busiest intersections in downtown Rochester. “People come in off the street all the time, and we take them on tours,” Frana said.
When asked how they maintain an effective working relationship as co-decision-makers, Frana and Sampson said it comes down to clear roles and open conversation. They each have key areas of responsibility, with shared responsibility for the culture. When they don’t agree on something, they talk it out, let it sit for a few days if needed, and then come together and decide.
They follow this straightforward model in their banking partnership as well. In 2016, Bremer provided the initial line of credit and term financing the young company needed. Since then, mutual respect and trust has strengthened the relationship.
Frana and Sampson meet with their Bremer banker at least monthly, and once a year, they bring their banker, lawyer and accountant together for a strategy meeting. “We’re an open book. We want the input of these smart partners who understand our business,” Frana said.
Limb Lab’s connection with its patients is evident in the stories shared by Frana and Sampson, and in the demeanor of patients who cheer each other on as they try out their new limbs.
Frana and Sampson are focused on fulfilling their mission to connect and create by delivering new and unexpected solutions in an industry not always known for its innovation. Limb Lab’s growth strategy is entirely people-focused. Instead of building new locations and searching for staff to operate them, Frana and Sampson focus on developing their team so they can build locations for people who are ready. “We’ll build a business around good talent,” Sampson said.
Every member of the Limb Lab team understands the business and their role in maintaining the company culture. New hires spend their early weeks at the Rochester flagship, shadowing everyone from the CEO to the receptionist, to learn broadly about the company and the various roles necessary to make it hum.
“We have a farming mentality – no job is beneath anyone, and you work until the job gets done. And then, if you want to take a little time off, you do it,” Sampson said. Both Frana and Sampson were raised on farms and find deep parallels between that life and their current life as entrepreneurs. “There’s risk and reward, large expenditures, and elements – like pricing – that are out of our control.” Medicare sets pricing for some of Limb Lab’s services, so they focus on controlling the bottom line by excelling at the work they do, hiring great people and building strong partnerships.
For Limb Lab, controlling the bottom line does not include using cheap materials and equipment. For example, Limb Lab uses a shatterproof plastic made in Belgium that is of a significantly higher quality and far more durable than the predominant industry plastic, Vivak. And this entrepreneurial company is the world’s largest user of Myopro Orthosis, an external orthotic device that helps restore function in arms and hands paralyzed by stroke, brachial plexus injury (BPI), cerebral palsy and other diseases or injuries.
The company’s commitment to connect and create extends beyond the day-to-day business. For example, through Reaching Out On A Limb, its non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, the company provides low-to-no-cost, highly functional, state-of-the-art prosthetic limbs and orthotic braces to people in need. To help raise funds for this important global work, Limb Lab hosts an annual charity golf tournament, sponsored in part by Bremer Bank. Funds raised support Limb Lab’s work to build prosthetics for people in places as far away as Jamaica, and help local patients without insurance.
As Limb Lab approaches its fifth anniversary, its founders look back on the early days with a very real appreciation for how far they have come. With a clear and deliberate strategy of differentiation and excellence, fortified by a strong culture and top talent, we expect Limb Lab will celebrate many more milestone anniversaries. Bremer is honored to be a key partner as Limb Lab continues to grow by connecting and creating in unexpected, innovative ways.