Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN articles from April 2008

Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN archives from April 2008

Unauthorized Minnesota Twins program publishers aim for growth.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Brian Johnson GameDay may not rank with peanuts, Cracker Jacks and hot dogs just yet, but three baseball-mad entrepreneurs are making the independent scorecard/program a familiar part of the local baseball landscape. Red-vested...

Minnesota firm asks, "It was built 'green', but does it perform?".
April 1, 2008... Byline: Brian Johnson LHB Architects is looking back at dozens of its completed projects in an effort to put hard numbers on the purported benefits of green building. The firm, which has offices in Minneapolis and Duluth, is assessing...

Minnesota businesses sign on to offer Republican National Convention discounts.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Kendall Anderson So far, some 370 Minnesota businesses from as far away as Grand Rapids want to give visitors to September's Republican National Convention a discount on their services. In exchange, the businesses get a listing...

. . . And the pitch.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Bob Geiger Need advice from hitting gurus? Just watch a new 30-second TV ad for the Minnesota Twins, in which young slugger Delmon Young, right, asks three red-robed Twins hitting legends, above, for advice. From left to right,...

St. Paul-based American Engineering Testing engineer earns license.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff St. Paul-based American Engineering Testing, Inc. announced that Joe Bentler has earned his professional engineering license for the state of Minnesota. Bentler joined AET in 2004, and works in the...

Wayzata-based Cargill awarded for diversity programs.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Wayzata-based Cargill's law department was one of two corporate legal departments to capture 2008 Employer of Choice Awards at the Minority Corporate Counsel Association's Midwest Region Diversity Dinner on...

Savage-based Fabcon names Don Westman to board.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Don Westman has been added to board of directors at Savage-based Fabcon, a national manufacturer of precast concrete wall structures. Westman is vice president of global operations at Minneapolis-based...

Concrete pours starting on 35W approach span.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Construction crews this week will begin pouring concrete for the new 35W bridge's superstructure, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Crews will focus on the approach spans on the...

Associated General Contractors of Minnesota accepting scholarship applications.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff The Associated General Contractors of Minnesota is accepting scholarship applications for the next academic school year. Applications will be accepted from students attending Minnesota postsecondary...

Associated General Contractors of Minnesota membership meeting April 22.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff The Associated General Contractors of Minnesota's spring membership meeting will be held April 22 at Northland Inn in Brooklyn Park. A reception will begin at 4:30 p.m. and the program will commence at...

Minnesota Cup prize doubled to entice entrepreneurs.
April 2, 2008... Byline: Kendall Anderson The University of Minnesota, Wells Fargo and other sponsors of the Minnesota Cup have doubled their prize to $50,000 this year for the state's best breakthrough business idea. We want to find new business ideas...

Minnesota law prohibits Gov. Pawlenty proposal.
April 2, 2008... Byline: Bob Geiger Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposed transfer of $250 million from a health care fund for low-income and elderly Minnesotans is out of synch with a state law that prohibits such transfers for non-health uses. ...

'Green' crane in Twin Cities reducing Crosstown project pollution, officials say.
April 2, 2008... Byline: Brian Johnson An effort to clean up school bus exhaust is having an impact on a major Twin Cities road construction project. Inspired in part by Project Green Fleet, a business-government initiative aimed at reducing pollution...

Marcus & Millichap closes Farmington sale.
April 3, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff The Minneapolis office of national real estate firm Marcus & Millichap recently announced the sale of 3.83 acres of land in Farmington, Minn. Marcus & Millichap investment specialist AJ Prins represented the seller in the...

Minneapolis-based Thrivent wins energy award.
April 3, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week awarded Thrivent Financial an Energy Star award, recognizing the organization's commitment to energy efficiency in the operation of its corporate headquarters and other...

Sales tax votes hasten federal funding for rail, bus projects in Minn.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Bob Geiger Tuesday's passage of a 0.25 percent sales tax by the boards of Dakota, Hennepin and Washington Counties betters the odds of metro area mass transit projects garnering federal matching funds. Votes by the three...

Huempfner boosts Upland's industrial market in Minneapolis.
April 3, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff Joshua D. Huempfner has joined the commercial brokerage arm at Upland Real Estate Group, Inc in Minneapolis. Huempfner will specialize in industrial property tenant representation and investment sales, with a focus on...

Veterans named Bloomington-based United Properties, NorthMarq execs.
April 3, 2008... Byline: F&C News Brief Commercial real estate leader United Properties continued the transition of its services business to NorthMarq Real Estate Services by naming new presidents for each company. Frank Dutke, currently UP's executive...

Telephone companies in greater Minnesota: Can you hear them now?
April 3, 2008... Byline: Adam Johnson A historic auction by the Federal Communications Commission offered hope to a number of telephone companies in greater Minnesota last month, providing them with a high-quality section of the airwaves that allows them...

Consolidations, buyouts slim ranks of Minnesota telecom companies.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Adam Johnson Last month's auction of new wireless spectrum by the Federal Communications Commission comes during what has already been a decade of major upheaval in the U.S. telecommunications industry. The big telecom battle...

Twin Cities office market declines in first quarter.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Burl Gilyard Any commercial real estate broker can tell you that business is slow. The latest market statistics underscore the reality that brokers aren't just griping. Colliers Turley Martin Tucker reported that the Twin...

IDS Center lands Woodbury-based Globe University as new downtown tenant in Minneapolis.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Burl Gilyard Woodbury-based Globe University/Minnesota School of Business has inked a deal to lease 20,000 square feet of long-vacant space on the lower level of the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis. Essentially it's a...

DFLers, governor disagree on bonding priorities, debt capacity in Minnesota.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Charley Shaw DFLers in the state House and Senate this week put together a $925 million bonding bill that Gov. Tim Pawlenty said is too expensive. A conference committee on Tuesday approved the bill that would fund things like...

Calhoun Square renovation in Minneapolis takes the next step.
April 3, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff The Minneapolis Planning Commission has approved renovation plans for Calhoun Square, the mixed-use retail center in the city's Uptown area. The proposal must still be approved by the Minneapolis City Council. A...

Minneapolis/St. Paul office of Colliers industrial unit hires Terry as senior associate.
April 3, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff Dan Terry has joined the Minneapolis/St. Paul office of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker as a senior associate in its industrial sales and leasing division. Terry will work in partnership with Duane Poppe, Jeffrey...

Eagan-based JBL completes sales.
April 3, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff Last week, JBL Companies Inc. announced closings on several recent transactions for retail and office properties. Eagan-based JBL represented the seller on the each deal. It represented Collector's Paradise on the...

Ad agency chief to shed president title, become advisor.
April 4, 2008... Byline: Bob Geiger After nearly a decade of fast-track advertising life at Minneapolis ad agency Gabriel deGrood Bendt, Jim Bendt, the shop’s president, will scale back from full-time work at the end of May to help out with his two...

Chanhassen is tapping a growth niche in a slowing economy.
April 4, 2008... Byline: Burl Gilyard Retail development has cooled amid a slowing economy. The retail world is seeing more bankruptcies, store closings and declining sales. But out in Chanhassen, strong demographics and a new freeway have cleared...

Expanding wireless coverage threatens local telecom industry in Minn.
April 4, 2008... Byline: Adam Johnson On most days, Bob Riddell works alone in a small wooden building, no more than 240 square feet, surrounded by the tall pines of northern Minnesota as he provides isolated residents with their only means of...

Minnesota Marketing Briefs: April 4, 2008.
April 4, 2008... Byline: Bob Geiger After nearly a decade of fast-track advertising life at Minneapolis ad agency Gabriel deGrood Bendt, Jim Bendt, the shop's president, will scale back from full-time work at the end of May to help out with his two young...

Amid gloom, Twin Cities still drawing new retail concepts.
April 5, 2008... Byline: Burl Gilyard Retailers face tough times in the current economy. But amid the bleak headlines, some retailers are opening new stores, including several who are new to the Twin Cities. Outdoor apparel retailer The North Face...

Bloomington-based U.S. Bank's old-school mortgage biz thrives.
April 5, 2008... Byline: Mark Anderson Calamities usually produce opportunities for somebody, and the home mortgage meltdown was no exception, creating a handful of industry winners in the last six months -- with U.S. Bank Home Mortgage a prominent name on...

AGC-Minnesota award winner takes it one brick at a time.
April 5, 2008... Byline: Jim Martyka What Patrick Klein remembers most about his time as the project manager for the construction of the iconic Mall of America is the feeling of doubt that hung in the air. There was a sense all around that it wasn't...

A bridge reborn.
April 5, 2008... Byline: F&C News Brief Work on the 35W bridge project continues this week, as form work for the approach span superstructures on the north and south side of the river is nearing completion. The concrete for these spans will be poured...

Shift to digital TV brings confusion, clarity and even cost savings.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Kendall Anderson Jack Haskovitz likes to brag that his St. Louis Park-based TV store -- not big box retailers -- has been around as long as the rabbit-eared set itself. His father started the family business in 1955, a few years...

Groups spar over electrician unemployment in Minnesota.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Adam Johnson An electrical contractors' group and some educators are disputing an electrical union's claim that Minnesota technical colleges are graduating too many electricians. Last month, International Brotherhood of...

Legisaltive Auditor to look at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities program.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Brian Johnson A state oversight agency has agreed to examine the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system's occupational programs, with a specific emphasis on MnSCU's construction electrician training. The Office of the...

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty to St. Paul: Drop dead.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Charley Shaw Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Monday stripped $208 million in projects from the $925 million bonding bill the Legislature passed last week. Somebody has to be fiscally responsible. That job falls to me, Pawlenty...

Rehab of Minnesota's Highway 36 bridge to resume.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Repairs to the Highway 36 Bridge over Highway 95 in Oak Park Heights will begin on April 14. Bypasses along Highway 36 constructed last fall will be reused to carry traffic. Highway 95 traffic...

Parade of Homes in the Twin Cities begins April 26.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Low-maintenance homes are the focus of an upcoming event from the Builders Association of the Twin Cities. The Parade of Homes Easy Street event, scheduled for April 26 through May 18, will...

Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson names new vice president, project manager.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson Construction Company announced several new hires and a promotion last week. John Solberg, who joined the company in 1985 and previously served as a project...

First brick of Minnesota's TCF Stadium laid Monday.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report A centenarian construction veteran laid the first brick of the University of Minnesota's TCF Stadium on Monday. Hilding Mortenson, who helped construct the former Memorial Stadium as a...

Sleepy Eye-based Mathiowetz Construction Corp. to resume Highway 10 expansion.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Sleepy Eye-based Mathiowetz Construction Corp. will resume construction of the $10.2 million Highway 10 four-lane expansion project in Staples beginning April 14. A four-lane section that runs...

Annual work begins on Hwy 61 Bridge spanning Mississippi River in Hastings.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report An annual inspection of the Highway 61 Bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Hastings began Monday, in preparation for a five-month maintenance and painting project. The inspection is...

Central Corridor light-rail project connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul killed?
April 9, 2008... Byline: Charlie Shaw, Bob Geiger and Brian Johnson Gov. Tim Pawlenty touched off a hailstorm of criticism with his decision, announced Monday, to remove 52 projects - including the 11-mile Central Corridor light-rail project connecting...

Lawmakers in Minnesota divided on future of JOBZ program.
April 9, 2008... Byline: Charley Shaw State lawmakers on Tuesday debated whether to reform or eliminate Gov. Tim Pawlenty's economic development program for greater Minnesota. The debate bloomed during Tuesday's Senate Taxes Committee hearing as...

DEED awards $17.6 million in "Small Cities" grants in Minnesota.
April 9, 2008... Byline: Burl Gilyard Pipestone, a southwestern Minnesota city of about 4,300, was the second largest winner this year in the state's Small Cities Development Program sweepstakes, nabbing $744,500. In all, the state's Department of...

Minnesota Twins executives name new food vendor.
April 9, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff Minnesota Twins executives on Tuesday named Delaware North Companies, a $2 billion foodservice company based Buffalo, N.Y., as vendor for the Major League Baseball franchise's open-air ballpark. Starting in 2010,...

Frenz pitches new riverfront apartments in Minneapolis.
April 10, 2008... Byline: Burl Gilyard Despite the bumpy economy, proposed riverfront development rolls on in Minneapolis. Steve Frenz, president of Minneapolis-based JAS Apartments Inc., bought a site near the Minneapolis riverfront nearly three years...

Minneapolis-based Orion Financial sells Dignified Assisted Living.
April 10, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff Orion Financial Corp., a Minneapolis middle market mergers and acquisition's specialist, last week announced the sale of its client, Dignified Assisted Living, Inc., of Rogers. The buyers were Senior Housing...

Minneapolis-based Upland offers RV sales portfolio.
April 10, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff Upland Real Estate Group, Inc. is offering a portfolio of net-leased FreedomRoads/Camping World properties, making them available as individual units or as a package. Properties are listed at an 8.50 percent cap rate,...

Minneapolis-based Aeon adds property management June 1.
April 10, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff Nonprofit housing developer and owner Aeon and Property Solutions & Services, LLC have agreed to spin off approximately 60 percent of PSS operations into an independent property management entity controlled by Aeon. ...

Minneapolis Empowerment Zone seeks 'empowerment' projects.
April 10, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff The Minneapolis Empowerment Zone is requesting proposals for projects, programs, services and business enterprises that would benefit residents of the EZ area. Funding of up to $2 million is available for each...

Minneapolis/St. Paul office of Colliers represents Schwab in relocation.
April 10, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff The Minneapolis/St. Paul office of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker announced this week that it had successfully negotiated a new lease in the France Place office building in Bloomington for its client, San Francisco-based...

Minnesota Commercial Real Estate Women introduces girls to real estate career.
April 10, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff Minnesota Commercial Real Estate Women (MNCREW) is informing teen girls about the various career opportunities available to them in commercial real estate through an interactive program called CREW Careers: Building...

Minneapolis-based Timberland Partners adds to Rochester portfolio.
April 10, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff Minneapolis-based Timberland Partners has purchased the Brandywine Apartments, a 119-unit apartment community in Rochester. The deal closed on March 31, 2008. The complex, which was completed in 1991, is located...

Major road construction coming to Hennepin County.
April 10, 2008... Byline: Brian Johnson If you start to think you're seeing more construction crews out on Hennepin County roads this summer as opposed to last summer, you'll be right. County officials this week announced that their 2008 summer road...

Minneapolis-based Thrivent adds sales reps as retirement boom nears.
April 10, 2008... Byline: Mark Anderson Thrivent Financial for Lutherans pledged Wednesday to keep aggressively building its sales force, promising to add 800 new financial representatives to its current roster of 2,660 by the end of the year. That...

Court decision could cost Minnesota nonprofits millions in tax exemptions.
April 10, 2008... Byline: Kendall Anderson Officials at some 400 Minnesota arts and human services nonprofits are on edge these days as they await word on whether they'll lose millions annually in sales and property tax exemptions. The amount of savings...

Security guards, employers in the Twin Cities agree on contract.
April 11, 2008... Byline: Adam Johnson Twin Cities security guards have struck a tentative agreement with building employers on a new labor contract. If union members approve the deal on Saturday, it will bring to an end more than four months of tension...

Kraus-Anderson to build $31M Warroad crossing.
April 11, 2008... Byline: Burl Gilyard Do high security and LEED design mix? They will at the new $31 million border crossing station slated for the northwest Minnesota town of Warroad. The federal government required that the project meet LEED...

Bad timing for U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson's financial reforms.
April 11, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff Last week, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson launched what he hoped would become a landmark campaign to reform financial markets and their regulation. According to several veterans of the Twin Cities financial markets,...

Hennepin County bookmarks $15.3M for work at former Minneapolis libraries.
April 11, 2008... Byline: Bob Geiger In an effort to keep up with projects it inherited in January, the Hennepin County Board this week approved spending nearly $15.3 million to remodel, refurbish, expand and put new signs on the 13 former Minneapolis...

Minnesota designers aim to make senior housing more welcoming.
April 11, 2008... Byline: Todd Messelt When it comes to the design of assisted living facilities, the goal is to create warm, comfortable spaces that emphasize domesticity. In the best of worlds, they would be impossible to discern from other types of...

Declining dollars for senior care in Minnesota, nationwide.
April 11, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman Advancements in health care mean people are living longer, yet at the same time, many public benefit programs for seniors are being scaled back. This has led to a host of new funding issues for assisted living...

Demand is rising for memory care units in the Twin Cities.
April 12, 2008... Byline: Dan Emerson The $20 million Villages of North Branch, which opened last summer, offers a glimpse into the future of housing for senior citizens. The 126,500-square-foot community developed by Twin Cities-based Ecumen offers...

Despite economy, Minneapolis-based Patina rolls on.
April 12, 2008... Byline: Arundhati Parmar Conventional wisdom might suggest that this is not the time for small retailers to embark on an expansion. After all, consumer confidence is plummeting, real estate values are falling and the economic outlook seems...

Minnesota has worst rental affordability in Midwest.
April 12, 2008... Byline: Mark Anderson Minnesota has long enjoyed being a standout in all kinds of state rankings, but here's one that hurts: Minnesota has the worst rental affordability among 11 Midwestern states, according to a survey conducted by the...

Nonprofits using technology to reinvent donations.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Kendall Anderson That online investment portfolio you check on your computer over lunch? Imagine instead checking out the dollars you've donated in the past decade and what they're doing. You might see this on your computer...

Minneapolis Red Square project shrinks - from 40,000 s.f. to 5,000.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Burl Gilyard A few years ago, the proposed Red Square project in northeast Minneapolis was billed as a cutting-edge, green friendly office development. Minneapolis-based Locus Architecture and its Locus Development affiliate...

Northwest-Delta merger coming in for a landing?
April 15, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Merger talks have heated up -- again -- between Eagan-based Northwest Airlines and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines. The boards of both airlines, which were meeting Monday, have to approve the...

Minn. Dept. of Transportation says new 35W bridge crews making progress.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report The Minnesota Department of Transportation announced that crews plan to reach the half-way point in the casting yard of the new 35W bridge project this week. The casting yard is where workers...

Minn. Dept. of Transportation releases environmental assessment of Highway 55 expansion.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report The Minnesota Department of Transportation has released environmental assessment documents for the planned expansion of Highway 55 between the cities of Plymouth and Rockford. The environmental...

St. Paul-based American Engineering Testing geologist earns special certification.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report St. Paul-based American Engineering Testing, Inc. announced that Zachary A. Erickson has earned his ICC Reinforced Concrete Special Inspector Certification. Erickson joined AET in 1999 as a...

Minn. Dept. of Transportation reduces its proposed 2008 diversity goal.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report The Minnesota Department of Transportation has announced that it intends to reduce its proposed Disadvantaged Business Enterprise goal for the 2008 federal fiscal year. The new proposal calls...

Minnesota-based USGBC chapter names first 'platinum' sponsors.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report The Minnesota-based Mississippi Headwaters Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council named Dunham Associates, Great River Energy and McGough Construction as platinum sponsors this week. They are...

Minnesota's March foreclosures rise 63 percent over 2007.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Bob Geiger Minnesota foreclosure listings decreased in March from the number of February listings, according to a U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released today by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac. But while the 1,323 Minnesota...

Minnesota power company buys $200M of wind energy.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Bob Geiger Rochester-based Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA) has signed a 20-year contract to buy wind energy generated by the Wapsipinicon Wind Project LLC in Mower County. Located 90 miles south of Minneapolis...

Eagan-based Northwest Airlines wants to renegotiate.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Adam Johnson Northwest Airlines President CEO Doug M. Steenland said Tuesday the airline hopes to "redesign" the agreement under which it would have to repay Minnesota $245 million because the headquarters of the new merged airline...

Opportunity cost: What Minnesota-based Northwest pays if it leaves.
April 16, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff In 1991, the state agreed on an $838 million public financing package for Northwest. In the financing package, Northwest received a $270 million loan from the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). If NWA's corporate...

A history of state aid to Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines.
April 16, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff December 1991 Legislative panel approves, by a vote of 11-7, a financial aid package of $838 million for a maintenance base in Duluth and an engine overhaul facility in Hibbing. The package includes a loan of $270...

Officials, experts sound off on airline merger involving Eagan-based Northwest Airlines.
April 16, 2008... Byline: F&C Staff The announced merger deal between Eagan-based Northwest Airlines and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines have drawn a wide array of reactions from industry insiders, analysts and state leaders. Here is a sample of what they had...

Minnesotans worried about the economy.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Kendall Anderson Too bad Minnesota nice doesn't cover the economy. Like most across the U.S., Minnesotans are worried about their financial futures in an increasingly tough economic climate. The number of people in the...

Midwest inflation outpaces nation as a whole.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Adam Johnson Fears about the economy have focused largely on falling housing prices, flagging consumer spending and a Wall Street credit crunch, but a new report from the U.S. Labor Department shows that inflation is still a cause...