Dick Pope

Dick Pope ‘58
Richard J. Pope is Chairman/CEO of Wincraft, Inc. of Winona, MN.  Wincraft, a privately held company, has been in business for 54 years. It started with a direct mail catalog selling school spirit products.  Today, with its Made in USA business model, the company manufactures and sells over 30 product families for retailers, companies and schools.  It has sports licenses with the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA, MLS, NASCAR, World Cup, the Olympics and more than 600 colleges.  The company employs over 600 people, manufacturing such items as towels, flags, buttons, pennants, drink ware, decals, magnets and jewelry. In 2015, the company has been consolidating its operations from 11 to 5 locations, including moving to a 97,000 sq. ft. office and towel facility and building a 125,000 sq. ft. plant and warehouse in Winona, MN.

Dick Pope was raised on a farm in Cleveland, MN. He received his degree in Economics from St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN and completed Executive programs from Stanford University and the University of Minnesota.  He has been on the Board of Directors of Winona-based Merchant’s Bank since 1982.  He has served on numerous boards including the Arabian Horse Association, NFL Properties, Inc., the Josten’s Foundation, the Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of America, St. John’s University and the United Way.  Dick and his wife, Sandy, have three daughters, Kathleen, Lisa and Jody.