Curtis Sampson 

“Think Big...but be a Good Small Business First”
Curtis A. Sampson
Chairman, Canterbury Park Holding Corporation
President/CEO, Communications Systems Inc.

Award-winning Minnesota Entreprenuer
Named the Minnesota Small Business Person of the Year in 1978, Received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the University of Minnesota Regents in 1996
Curt explains how he grew up and got his start in business...and how he became one of Minnesota's most sucessful entrepreneurs. Meet this real Minnesotan who is sharp, funny, sincere, community-minded, and very successful.

Curt Sampson was the seventh of ten children from a family where the mother eventually became the breadwinner by operating a greenhouse and flower shop. He grew up in Hector, Minnesota, where all businesses were small...except one which tried to be a big business before it was a good small business—and failed. He was a newspaper delivery boy by age 10 and ran a trap line to make a few dollars.

During his last two years at the University of Minnesota, he managed a cooperative restaurant gaining valuable small business experience while majoring in Accounting and Business Administration.

Curt joined the Hector Telephone Company in September 1955 and helped it grow to become a successful public company...so successful it was acquired by a predecessor of GTE in 1970. Curt then launched Communications Systems, Incorporated, with financial support from Hector investors who each have reaped over $5,000,000 from their original $25,000 investment. CSI has made a number of acquisitions and spun off Hector Communications Corporation in 1990.

In 1994, Curt bought Canterbury Park, which had closed in December 1992, from Irwin Jacobs. The new management has resumed live racing and simulcasting of other tracks around the country. It has hosted snowmobile races, trade shows, two hugely successful craft shows each year, concerts, and while making Canterbury truly a family destination during live racing.

Curt has served on numerous boards and advisory committees including the SBA, Carlson School, Hands Inc., banks, small business ventures, school and church boards, Kiwanis, Chamber of Commerce, and more. His first love is building businesses as evidenced by Communications Systems, Inc., Hector Communications Corp., and Canterbury Park, employing over 2,000 employees in Hector, Minnesota, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Wales UK, and numerous other points throughout Minnesota, the United States, and abroad.