Dental office changes hands

One of Annandale’s longtime dentists sold his practice at the beginning of the year, and a new couple has replaced him and will be moving to town later this year.

Jeff Holmberg officially signed over his business to Dr. Eric and Dr. Meghan Rambow of Morris on the first business day of 2016, but will keep working out of the Park Street office once or twice a week as an associate.

"This was about the best deal that I could have ever imagined," said Holmberg, who came to Annandale 35 years ago in 1980. "I actually transferred all the assets of my practice, all the responsibility of the practice, but then I was invited to stay."

Holmberg explained that while he still loves dentistry, the demands of running a business were making it more and more difficult to get away for any sort of extended vacation. He was looking for some additional time for travel, and the new arrangement suited him perfectly.

"I’m just exchanging roles, going from an owner to an employee. That’s actually what I was kind of hoping for," he said.

The Annandale location drew the interest of the Rambows because it was closer to family and because of the lakes environment. They will be building a home just outside of town later this year.

"[Annandale] kind of meets all of our wants and needs," said Eric, who grew up in Litchfield. "It’s really nice."

The Rambows will continue to own their Morris practice, which they purchased about seven years ago after graduating from dental school at the University of Minnesota. They will operate it with the help of an associate.

Since they will be commuting until their Annandale home is completed, Holmberg has agreed to stay on and work 60 to 70 days for at least the first year. What happens after that is undetermined at present.

Annandale career

Holmberg, a St. Louis Park native, was about ready to leave dental school and begin his career when he saw an ad listing for a business property that could be used as dental space. The building was the current American Family Insurance office on Main Street, and former Annandale Mayor Wally Houle was the proprietor.

Holmberg had some familiarity with Annandale, as he had gone to college at St. Cloud State University and fished in the area, and his former high school and college soccer teammate Sheldon Brown had recently come to town to work as an attorney. After touring Houle’s location, which was too small, and considering the complications of setting up his own practice in the unsettled economic times of the early ’80s, Holmberg took up an offer to begin practicing as an associate with Dr. Dick Bateson in the Park Street office.

"The best thing I ever did was land in Annandale, to tell you the truth," said Holmberg. "From not knowing a single person when I moved into town to 30 years later, now it’s just like living with a big family. It’s been really fun from that standpoint."

In the early years Holmberg rented a home on Sugar Lake along with Brown and another college friend, Dr. Rodney Melgard, an optometrist in Buffalo.

In 1983 Dr. Bateson decided he was ready to set aside his practice and offered to sell it to Holmberg.

"Dick was a great dentist and a great mentor to me, a very kind and generous person for the years that I was with him," said Holmberg. "He was very patient. A couple of times I think it was really tenuous financially because those years, ’80 to ’83, were not the best years. He almost came close to letting me go."

Holmberg took over the business on July 1 of 1983 and ran the practice for the next 32.5 years.

Decision to sell

During those years, Holmberg said that the work, the patients and his staff at the practice made his job thoroughly enjoyable. There was so little turnover among office staff that its members had nearly 175 years of combined experience together.

"Every one of those gals, you just couldn’t have had a nicer group of people to work with," said Holmberg. "Everybody just loved working with each other."

Holmberg will remain in his well-established post as race director for the Heart of the Lakes Triathlon, and said that his lighter workload will provide more time for other activities.

"I think in the end I’ve had a really nice practice," he said. "I feel like I’m lucky because I can go out while I’m still feeling reasonably pretty good. I’ve got my health, and I’d still be doing it if I didn’t feel like I was confined (by the schedule). I just would like to be able to spend a little more time traveling while I’m still healthy."

About the Rambows

Athletics and an interest in dentistry helped bring Eric and Meghan Rambow together while in dental school.

Eric grew up on a hobby farm and played football, basketball and baseball in high school at Litchfield, where he graduated in 1999. He then played four years of Division II football as a linebacker and defensive end for Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, before going on to South Dakota State University for an additional two years of pre-requisite courses ahead of dental school.

Along the way, he earned degrees in math, chemistry and biology with minors in physics and micro-biology.

He had not planned on career in dentistry before attending SDSU, but said he considers himself lucky that a classmate opened his eyes to the opportunity.

"I shadowed a dentist out in Brookings, and I enjoyed it a lot," Eric said. "And I liked what it could offer. You’re able to pick the town where you want to live. It’s not like you’re forced to live in a big metro area."

Speaking of metro areas, Meghan grew up in Eagan and played soccer at Concordia College in Moorhead, where she earned a biology degree before dental school.

She graduated from dental school a year ahead of Eric and worked for a year for a group practice called Park Dental in the metro before the pair purchased a practice from two of Holmberg’s former classmates in Morris.

After about six years there they began looking to move back closer to family and purchased a practice in Shakopee to run along with Morris.

"It was just too hard geographically (to keep the Shakopee office too)," said Meghan. "We sold that office, and (Annandale) was a much better fit. Now we’re looking forward to being closer to family in this area. We’ve hired an associate for the Morris office, so we’ll still be sometimes working there and will still own it."

Both individuals graduated with a list of awards from dental school, and Eric was given the "Graduate of the Last Decade Award" from Northern State in 2012.

"I think they’re going to be a great couple," said Holmberg. "They’ve got a good track record, so it will be kind of fun to see how it goes. The things they are interested in dentistry are things that actually will probably strengthen the practice.

"The fact that there are two of them there will give the practice even more stability than there was before from the standpoint of having someone there to cover for emergencies or weekends or holidays or vacations."

Family life was the main reason the couple came to Annandale, Meghan said, adding that her parents are moving out this direction and she has family in Sartell. And the recreational possibilities are a nice bonus.

"We love being on the water. With all the lakes in this area, it was just perfect, because that’s where we spend our free time," she said.

■ The couple will be moving with three children, including 4.5-year-old Avery and 2.5-year-old twins Magnus and Victoria.

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