Bruce Paddock
Pharmacist Leader in Entrepreneurism
Former Owner, Paddock Laboratories
Oct. 30, 2012
Bruce Paddock's entrepreneurial story is unique among the college's 7,000 alumni over 120 years.
Raised in a family of modest means, Paddock worked various jobs after his dad died when Paddock was 12, to help support his family and to put himself through school.
A 1970 alum of the college, Paddock worked in metro area pharmacies as a pharmacist floater for seven years, including a job overseeing the production line at a small and struggling manufacturer of compounding supplies.
When the manufacturer went bankrupt, Paddock saw an opportunity. He committed all he had, plus a bank loan, to buy the company's used equipment and one delivery van, at the bankruptcy auction.
Working hard to build the small compounding supplies business, Paddock saw another opportunity seven years later, when federal regulations were streamlined for generic pharmaceutical manufacturing.
By the time he completed the sale of Paddock Labs in July 2011, he had built the largest employer in his Minneapolis suburb, one of the largest private businesses in Minnesota, and one of the nation's top generic drug development and manufacturing firms.