Paul Grangaard

Chairman and CEO, Faribault Woolen Mill Co.

Paul Grangaard is the Chairman and CEO of Faribault Woolen Mill Co., which was founded in 1865 and is Minnesota’s oldest manufacturing company. Paul and his co-founder merged their start-up men’s apparel developer, retailer, and content provider — CircleRockLLC — into FWMC in February 2020 and began a renaissance of the 155 year old brand. Creating and sustaining American jobs through Made in USA production is a key commitment in the combined company’s strategy.

Prior to CircleRock, Paul served as President & CEO of Allen Edmonds Corporation from September 2008 through August 2017. He led a major turnaround and subsequent rapid growth phase at the company — returning AE to significant profitability by nearly tripling revenues. During Paul’s tenure, the company was sold twice, once in 2013 to a second private equity owner and again in 2016 to Caleres, Inc., a leading NYSE-traded shoe company.

Prior to Allen Edmonds, Paul spent three years as a partner at Goldner Hawn Private Equity and 19 years at Piper Jaffray Incorporated — first in consumer investment banking, then as Head of Investment Banking, and lastly as a Management Committee Member and President of Private Client Services. He began his career at The First National Bank of Chicago, starting in its Chicago headquarters and then in its branch in Frankfurt, Germany. Active in the community, Paul has served as Chair and a Life Director of the Minnesota Orchestra Board of Directors, on the Board of Family & Children’s Services of Minneapolis, on the Board of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, and two elected terms on the Edina Board of Education. He is a member of the Andersen Corporation board of directors and chairs its finance committee. Andersen, a private company, is the nation’s leading manufacturer of residential windows and doors. Paul is also currently a Regent of St. Olaf College.

While at Allen Edmonds, Paul was twice a finalist for the Milwaukee Business Journal’s CEO of the Year Award and was named Milwaukee BizTimes’ CEO of the Year in 2013. In 2012, he was a regional winner of Ernst&Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award.  

Paul graduated from Stanford University in 1980, where he received a B.A. with Distinction in Economics, and he received an M.B.A. in Finance and International Business from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, in 1983. He was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma honor societies in college and business school, respectively. Paul and his wife of 38 years, Margot, met in college and have four adult children. 

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