Vandy Johnson is the Managing Member of Sleeping Bear LLC, the owner of Sleeping Bear Tree Farm.
Vandy was Vice President of Information Systems and Customer Solutions Support at XRS, a venture capital-backed leader in software solutions for the transportation industry, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
Before joining XRS, Vandy was Vice President of global IT infrastructure and system support at Medtronic, a leader in medical technology based in Fridley, Minnesota. He was responsible for leading the development, implementation, and support of Medtronic’s global IT infrastructure, Field Sales IT development and support, and SAP system support. He was also a member of Medtronic’s Global Technology Council.
Vandy earned his BS degree in computer science and engineering from Michigan State University. Upon graduation, he joined General Mills, where he held numerous roles of increasing responsibility in IT, most recently as the leader of global information systems infrastructure and operations. In this role, he was responsible for worldwide IT infrastructure. Vandy also served in non-IT roles. He led General Mills’ syndicated market research team and was the lead engineer for an automated storage and retrieval logistics system that included more than 40 robots. After 25 years at General Mills, Vandy left to become vice president of global IT infrastructure at Medtronic.
In 2010, Vandy received the Michigan State University Computer Science and Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award for leadership through professional contributions, public service, and personal accomplishments.
In his role as Managing Member of Sleeping Bear LLC, Vandy is a Member of the American Tree Farm System, the Minnesota Forestry Association, and is a Minnesota Master Woodland Owner.
In 2024, Vandy served as a representative for the state of Minnesota to the Bioeconomy Trade and Study Mission from the United States and Canada to Finland.