George Goldfarb is being inducted into the Twin Cities Business 2023 Hall of Fame in July 2023. Having spent more than 36 years working in the clothing store industry, he brokered deals with conglomerates, negotiated mergers, and oversaw the construction of the new Maurices building in Downtown Duluth. He marshaled Maurices growth and development, which included forming relationships with companies such as Ascena, Ann Taylor/Loft & Justice, Lane Bryant, and DressBarn.
Along the way, he mentored countless numbers of people in the Maurices firm. His role as a successful mentor was his proudest achievement. “I appreciated getting to know the people who worked for Maurices,” he says. “I bet I could tell you 75% of the people's names who worked in the Duluth office,” he says.
When the 11-story, 180,000-square-foot Maurices building was completed in 2016, he was encouraged to take an office on the top floor because of the view. He said. “No, any floor in the building is going to have a great view.” Instead, he wanted to be located right off of the lunchroom area. “We called it the family room. I wanted to see and interact with people. That was my priority.”
Goldfarb, an accounting major and 1981 graduate, has good memories of his time at UMD. “Fawzi Dimian was terrific and energized me around accounting,” he says. “I had Lawrence Syck for tax accounting. These were great instructors that made UMD interesting and enjoyable.” Goldfarb has other perspectives to share, “Most importantly, I received the foundation for my many work successes. I owe so much to UMD!”
The agenda for Goldfarb always included work and fun. He met his future wife, Liz Beaudry (BAS ‘80, MA ‘87) at UMD. Goldfarb laughs when he tells a story about attending a business law class with Liz. “She got a better grade than I did,” Goldfarb says. “A much better grade—and she wasn’t in the business school. She was studying speech therapy.”
Life hasn’t slowed down since Goldfarb’s retirement. He’s a board chair emeritus with Maurices, a board director and audit chair for Allete, board vice chair and planning committee chair for Essentia Health, and he is on the UMD chancellor's board as well.