Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN articles from December 2003

Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN archives from December 2003

National City League approves updated model for city charters.
December 1, 2003... Byline: David Knutson The National Civic League recently approved a new edition of the Model City Charter, giving municipalities guidance on how to structure themselves in the future. David Schultz, a Hamline University professor who...

Patterson Dental completes $650M financing package.
December 2, 2003... Byline: staff Patterson Dental Co. said that it has completed two debt financing arrangements totaling $650 million. The financing package was done to reduce the company's cost of capital and provide flexibility for financing corporate...

Velocity Express completes $74M refinancing.
December 2, 2003... Byline: staff Minneapolis-based Velocity Express Inc., said it has completed a $74 million equity and debt refinancing. "Completion of the financing was a top priority, since our new capital structure provides the company with the...

Winmark announces Nasdaq National Market listing.
December 2, 2003... Byline: staff Golden Valley-based Winmark Corp. said that the trading of its stock will move from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market to the Nasdaq National Market effective today. "This is an important milestone in building our Company and...

Canterbury Park Holding Co. forms corporate charitable giving program.
December 2, 2003... Byline: staff Shakapee-based Canterbury Park Holding Corp. said that its board of directors has established a formal corporate charitable contribution program. The "Canterbury Park Minnesota Fund" will be administered through the Minnesota...

Economist for hire.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Jessica Griffith Geoffrey Ferster was interviewing farmers in Tanzania for an economic development project when a cattleman interrupted their conversation to turn on his Japanese transistor radio. It was July 1969. Neil...

Miller Johnson Steichen Kinnard returns to profitability.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Dave Price On the bookshelf in Dave Johnson's office is an illustrated history of Bugs Bunny titled "Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare." Johnson should be so lucky. The affable CEO of Miller Johnson Steichen Kinnard has...

Tony Lorusso named director of Minnesota Trade Office.
December 4, 2003... Byline: staff Tony Lorusso has been named director of the Minnesota Trade Office, the state's official export development arm. Part of the state Department of Employment and Economic Development, the MTO helps Minnesota companies...

Kontron Mobile receives offer from majority shareholder.
December 4, 2003... Byline: staff Eden Prairie-based Kontron Mobile Computing Inc. said that it has received an offer from Kontron AG to acquire all of the shares of common stock of Kontron Mobile Computing that are not currently owned or controlled by...

Marquette Capital launching new investment fund.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Dave Price Marquette Capital Partners is raising $25 million to $30 million for a new subordinated-debt investment fund and for the first time is accepting stakes from investors other than Carl Pohlad and his family. The...

Burnsville-based Cash Systems terminates agreement with Equitex Inc.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff Burnsville-based Cash Systems Inc. said it sent Equitex Inc. and Chex Services Inc. an official notice of termination of a definitive agreement. Cash Systems had signed an agreement on July 23 to acquire Chex. The notice of...

Credit Manager's Index shows nation's business economy has hit 18-month high.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff The National Association of Credit Management announced this week that its Credit Manager's Index, a monthly survey of the business economy based on credit and collections, reached an 18-month high in November. Solid...

American Subcontractors Assn. of Minnesota taking nominations for top contractor.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff The American Subcontractors Association of Minnesota is looking for a few good general contractors. The Anoka-based organization is accepting nominations for its 2003 General Contractor TOPS Award, which recognizes a...

Community development focus produces success at Minneapolis-based Franklin National Bank.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Mark Anderson Franklin National Bank formalized its longtime guiding principle into a motto last year: "Do well by doing good." By this year's third quarter, the bank had proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the admonition...

Wells Fargo chief Kovacevich named 'Banker of the Year'.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Mark Anderson The architect of the 1998 merger between Minneapolis-based Norwest Bancorporation and Wells Fargo & Co. of San Francisco has been named Banker of the Year by the nation's top banking publication. American Banker...

Allete's sale of Florida water assets nearly complete.
December 6, 2003... Byline: staff With the closing of two transactions on Friday, Duluth-based Allete Inc. said it has substantially completed the sale of its Water Services businesses. Allete subsidiary Florida Water Services Corp. closed Friday on the sale...

Binding arbitration offered to settle Mesaba Airlines case.
December 6, 2003... Byline: staff Three days of mediated talks between the Air Line Pilots Association, International and Mesaba Airlines yielded little progress this week, prompting mediators to offer binding arbitration to settle the protracted contract...

Richfield house aims to set standard for clean indoor air.
December 6, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson In a small but noteworthy way, Richfield's housing stock is about to get healthier. The city's Housing and Redevelopment Authority and the St. Paul-based American Lung Association Health House program are teaming...

Health Fitness acquires Johnson & Johnson fitness unit.
December 9, 2003... Byline: staff Bloomington-based Health Fitness Corp. said it has purchased the business assets of the health and fitness services division of Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc. for $4.7 million. Health Fitness has financed its...

Banta Corp. names vice president of systems development.
December 9, 2003... Byline: staff Banta Corp. has appointed David Winter as vice president systems development. Winter's responsibility is to coordinate the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system for the company's print sector. ...

Fitch Ratings upgrades Xcel Energy and subsidiaries rating.
December 9, 2003... Byline: staff Fitch Ratings upgraded its ratings for Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy Inc. and its subsidiaries. The senior unsecured rating of Xcel increased to 'BBB' from 'BBB-'; the senior secured ratings of Northern States Power Co....

Associated Builders and Contractors of MN official questions findings of study.
December 9, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson An Associated Builders and Contractors of Minnesota official is questioning the findings of a recent AFL-CIO-commissioned study that criticizes the effectiveness of ABC's apprenticeship training programs. Robert...

Residential construction remains strong in Twin Cities.
December 10, 2003... Byline: staff November was another good month for residential construction in the metro area, according to the Builders Association of the Twin Cities. The BATC announced this week that metro area cities issued 1,021 building permits...

ClearRock Title opening new facility in Woodbury.
December 10, 2003... Byline: staff Amy Roble, director of Title Production for ClearRock Title, announced on Tuesday that ClearRock Title opened the doors for its new branch office in Woodbury. The Eden Prairie-based company began in March 2000 with six...

Akula Partners amends terms for units of ML Media.
December 10, 2003... Byline: staff Excelsior-based Akula Partners has amended the terms of its offer to purchase up to 13,160 units of limited partnership interest of ML Media Partners. Akula Partners said if it does not receive confirmation from the...

Rebounding state economy fuels optimism.
December 10, 2003... Byline: staff writer The wellspring of business spending that economists have been counting on to add impetus to the recovery is finally under way, according to Wells Fargo chief economist Sung Won Sohn, who offered his semi-annual state...

Wal-Mart to replace outlet stores at Woodbury site.
December 11, 2003... Byline: staff An Edina-based developer is moving forward with plans to remake the Prime Outlets shopping center site in Woodbury with a Wal-Mart and other retail offerings. Robert Muir Co. plans to demolish two buildings on the site...

Minnesota Diversified Industries cutting 70 jobs.
December 11, 2003... Byline: staff Minnesota Diversified Industries said Wednesday that it will cut about 70 jobs at its St. Paul facility because it expects a reduction in government stamp contract orders next year. Mark de Naray, president and CEO, said...

Chronimed acquires Accent Rx mail service pharmacy.
December 11, 2003... Byline: staff Minnetonka-based Chronimed Inc. said it has purchased Accent Rx for $4.2 million. Accent Rx is a specialty mail service pharmacy focusing primarily on the distribution of pharmaceutical products to individuals living...

Construction industry builds war chest to fight lawsuits.
December 11, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson Twin Cities homebuilders and developers have contributed more than $500,000 so far to a legal action fund to fight some construction-related litigation. The fund, established this fall by the Builders Association...

Residential remodeling market remaining strong.
December 12, 2003... Byline: staff Residential remodeling activity remained strong in the third quarter, and there's no slowdown in sight, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The group based its findings on the results of its latest...

Architect returns to Ellerbe Becket's Minneapolis office.
December 12, 2003... Byline: staff Mark D. Searls, an architect who spent four years as a project designer for Ellerbe Becket in the late 1990s, has returned to the company. He will work in Ellerbe Becket's Minneapolis office as a design director. Searls...

Best is yet to come for St. Paul's Phalen Corridor.
December 12, 2003... Byline: Todd Misselt It has taken the cooperation of more than 60 public and private groups and the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars to facilitate the construction of the first major stretch of Phalen Boulevard, the backbone...

Waste products from schools help road construction projects.
December 12, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson Now kids have an excuse for not finishing their lunch: They're helping the environment. Half-eaten sandwiches and other "lunch leftovers" from 20 Hennepin County schools are being converted to compost for road...

U.S. Bancorp shareholders to receive Piper Jaffray stock.
December 16, 2003... Byline: staff U.S. Bancorp said that it has declared a special dividend of outstanding shares of Piper Jaffray Cos. stock, the capital markets business being spun off by U.S. Bancorp. The special dividend, which will give U.S. Bancorp...

Minnesota-based Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating opens store in Eagan.
December 30, 2003... Byline: staff Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating of Minnesota opened its 20th location. The new store is located at the Yankee Square shopping center in Eagan. Plymouth-based SSHE provides meal plans designed to improve health through...

Alexandria-based Rural Cellular Corp. approved for listing on the Nasdaq.
December 30, 2003... Byline: staff Rural Cellular Corp. has been approved for listing on the Nasdaq National Market. The company expects the move from the over-the-counter bulletin board to Nasdaq to be effective at the opening of regular trading today....

Cereal makers highlight corporate programs and charities on their product boxes.
December 30, 2003... Byline: Jim Martyka Increasingly, the morning ritual of reading the back of a cereal box at the breakfast table has involved learning about corporate programs and charities. While corporate-giving may not be as exciting as the...