For Blaze CEO Dan Stoltz, supporting Como Park Zoo & Conservatory is all about making Minnesotans’ lives better
Meeting Sparky the sea lion is a memory that connects Minnesotans of all ages. Ever since Archie Brand’s seal training show made its debut at Como Zoo in 1956, the splashy aquatics show has been a fixture at Como, evolving through seven decades (and seven different Sparkys) to reflect an ever-deepening understanding of the fierce intelligence, fascinating behavior, and natural adaptations that make marine mammals so amazing.
As Sparky and all the inhabitants of Como Harbor get set to dive into Como Zoo’s busy spring and summer season, Como Friends talked with one of her biggest fans, Dan Stoltz, the CEO of Blaze Credit Union, the member-owned cooperative that’s been the corporate sponsor of the Blaze Sparky Show since 2022.
Tell us your own Como story. Did you visit when you were a kid?
Como is a really special place for me. I have so many great memories of my mom and dad putting us kids in the car to visit Como Zoo, getting up close to the animals, having a family picnic on the grounds, and seeing the Sparky show, of course. Growing up on the East Side of St. Paul, Como was an affordable place where we could come and have an awesome day. Now I’m blessed to have 11 grandchildren and we still come here regularly. I love seeing it all through their eyes now.
How did you become a Como Friends supporter?
Being involved in the community is something that came from my upbringing, and the idea that life’s about giving, not getting. That’s something we believe in at Blaze, really leaning into organizations that are impactful and influential in our community. Through friends, my wife and I started coming to the Sunset Affair gala and getting to know more about what was happening here. The fact that Como is free is important to this community. But the fact that it’s free and a first-class organization is what’s really amazing. That’s why they need local businesses and corporations to step up and say, “We want to be part of that.” When the opportunity to support the Sparky the sea lion show came up, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made in my career. It was just a perfect marriage.
Why was that? What about Como’s mission resonated so much with you?
Many companies have really long mission statements and value statements, but ours is two words: Better lives. Our core mission is not about making more money, it’s not about being the biggest, we just want to help make peoples’ lives better every day. That’s what Como Park Zoo & Conservatory does every day—it’s about bettering Minnesotans’ lives. You see it every time you visit, the diversity here, people of all ages, and from all walks of life, from the metro area, or from outside of it. Como just feels like a place that really pulls us all together.
Corporate sponsorships are an obvious benefit for nonprofits like Como Friends, but how do they benefit businesses like yours?
Putting on my CEO hat here for a second, we just feel like it’s a duty of organizations and businesses to give back to the communities that they serve. It is a pay-it-forward commitment, and so we as a company are always looking for organizations that are really making large impacts on people’s lives and Como Park Zoo & Conservatory checked all of those boxes. On the promotional side, we want Blaze to be seen investing visibly in things that matter, but that’s not because we expect an immediate return on investment. But I think there is a kind of respect that comes from the public when they see that your business is investing in the community and doing things for the right reasons. All generations care about this, but it seems to be especially true with the younger generation, who are looking to do business with companies that really care.
Como is nearly 130 years old, and the Sparky the sea lion tradition goes back nearly 70 years. What do you think keeps people coming back?
I think it’s that anyone can visit, any day, any time. In the economy right now, the two key words are volatility and uncertainty. But at Como, you can count on it. When you walk into the Zoo to see the animals, or visit the Conservatory to see the gardens, you just know it’s going to be a great experience.
