Craig Leipold

Career

Leipold is the founder of Ameritel, a business-to-business telemarketing firm in Neenah, Wisconsin. He formerly owned the Rainfair Company, which made protective footwear. He has also been a director of Gaylord Entertainment Company, owner of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.

Personal life

Leipold is active in numerous civic and corporate organizations as well as several charities benefiting children. He co-chairs CollegeBound Saint Paul's Fund for the Future, which seeks to raise funding to support opening a college savings account for every baby born in Saint Paul. Leipold has been named "Sports Person of the Year" by the Nashville Sports Council, "1999 Father of the Year" by the Nashville Father's Day Council, and "Nashvillian of the Year" by Easterseals after the Predators' 1998–99 season. He and his wife, Helen Johnson-Leipold, have five children and maintain residences in Saint Paul and Racine, Wisconsin. Helen is the daughter of Samuel Curtis Johnson, Jr. of the S. C. Johnson family. She is chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson Outdoors, Inc. and chairman of Johnson Financial Group. Leipold is a prominent Republican who supported George W. Bush and Mitt Romney. St. Paul's Grand Casino Arena, then known as the Xcel Energy Center, hosted the 2008 Republican National Convention.

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