Lee R Anderson, Sr

Biography

Anderson, an only child, was born in Minneapolis, Minn., and attended the private Breck School, then in St. Paul. A lifelong outdoorsman, he spent much of his boyhood at the family home in the Brainerd lakes area north of the Twin Cities. At the urging of his father, a successful plumbing contractor, he enrolled at the United States Military Academy at West Point and played football and basketball. After he graduated in 1961 with a B.S. in civil engineering, Anderson served in the U.S. Army at Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona, where he oversaw materials procurement and construction services and was promoted to first lieutenant.

In 1964, Anderson returned to the Twin Cities and took over Asbestos Products, Inc., an insulation contractor that was a division of his father's business. After he purchased an industrial fire sprinkler company in 1969, Anderson continued to acquire other firms, primarily in the construction and fire-protection fields. The growing conglomerate was renamed APi Group Inc. in 1997.

Today, the parent corporation consists of 37 affiliates with some 9,000 employees. While its holdings remain centered in the Upper Midwest, APi owns companies across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. In 2008, Forbes ranked APi at 351 among America's largest private companies, estimating its annual revenues at $1.35 billion.

Corporate Values and Culture

In 2008, APi completed a new LEED-certified headquarters in New Brighton, Minn., a northern suburb of the Twin Cities. The building features the work of APi's various affiliates and reflects the company's emerging emphasis on alternative energy and green construction. In keeping with the company's decentralized ownership style, new member firms are often encouraged to retain their brand identities and management teams. The subsidiary network allows for the sharing of resources and efficient practices, creating a "one-stop synergy" for APi's predominantly industrial clientele. In purchasing companies, Anderson has said he looks for those with a similar culture, with a focus on loyalty. He believes that valued employees should not have to ask for raises and promotions in return for good work.

Bank Acquisitions

In the late 1970s, Anderson also began to purchase small banks in central and northern Minnesota. In 1997, he sold his banking assets to Norwest Corporation for a reported $75 million in stock. Norwest's subsequent merger with Wells Fargo, in 1998, greatly enhanced the value of the shares Anderson had acquired in the original trade.

Philanthropy

In recent years, Anderson had committed a sizeable amount of his fortune to various charitable causes. In 2005, he and his wife, Penny, gave $60 million to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul - the largest individual donation ever received by a Minnesota college or university. The Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex opened on the St. Thomas campus in 2011. In 2003, the Andersons pledged $6 million for the building of the Anderson Rugby Complex at West Point, which was dedicated in May 2007. As frequent contributors to West Point, he and his wife are recognized as the largest donors in the academy's history, in terms of financial support. Since 2002, the Andersons have given $6 million to Children's Hospital Boston for research on a rare form of muscular dystrophy, mini-core myopathy, that afflicts one of their grandchildren.

Military Veterans

In 2011, the Andersons donated $2.5 million toward the building of the new Defenders Lodge, a $12.5 million hotel facility for veterans seeking care at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto, California. Anderson also pledged to fund the first three years of Hiring Our Heroes, a program launched in 2011 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with support from veteran service organizations, to stage job fairs across the country. The initiative also recognizes firms that have made extraordinary efforts to help wounded service members and other veterans reenter the civilian workforce.

Private Life

Lee and Penny Anderson, who married in 1965, maintain homes in Minnesota and in Naples, Florida. They have a son, a daughter, and six grandchildren. Anderson, an avid hunter, is the funder of a conservation education program through the Boone and Crockett Club in the Montana Rockies. The Andersons have also supported the St. David's Relief Foundation, a Texas-based Catholic nonprofit group that has assisted humanitarian efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina following the Yugoslav Wars (1991–1995). After first visiting nearby Croatia in 2001, the couple now owns a winery and hotel in Orebic, a town on the Adriatic coast.

Memberships and Awards

Anderson serves as director and trustee for numerous companies, organizations, outdoor groups, and academic institutions, including Breck School, the University of St. Thomas, and the Naples Children and Education Foundation. He is a director of the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.; Pan-O-Gold Baking Company; and a member of the Minnesota Executive Organization, the Chief Executives Organization, and the World Presidents Organization. His recent awards include:

Reuben Anderson

Reuben Anderson, Lee Anderson's father, was the plumbing contractor for the White House renovation project in 1951. As noted by the historian David McCullough, President Harry S. Truman admired a poem by the elder Anderson, posted on the wall of the head engineer's temporary headquarters on the South Lawn.