Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN articles from July 2009

Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN archives from July 2009

Birth of a galaxy: Aging St. Louis Park drive-in resuscitated, rebranded.
July 1, 2009... Byline: Scott Carlson For years, Steve Schussler has been the creative dynamo behind such massive, eye-popping restaurant concepts as Rainforest Cafe and T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure. But near his St. Louis Park home,...

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Allina Hospitals and Clinics to build new clinic in Ramsey.
July 1, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Allina Hospitals and Clinics is planning construction of a new clinic in Ramsey. The 22,900-square-foot clinic, to be built at a yet-to-be-determined location in the city, will meet the needs...

Regions Hospital in St. Paul finishes first phase of expansion.
July 1, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Regions Hospital has put a wrap on the first phase of its $179 million expansion and renovation. Phase one construction includes a 54,000-square-foot Emergency Center, a new main entrance on...

Federal Register for Minnesota publishes Central Corridor document.
July 1, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report The Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Central Corridor project was published Friday in Federal Register. The publication of the 2,500-page FEIS -- which describes everything from the...

Twin Cities homebuilders avoid a June swoon as building permits rise.
July 1, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Residential building permits were up from May to June, according to the latest numbers from the Keystone Report. In June, homebuilders pulled 238 permits for 332 new housing units in the...

Coleman concedes long-disputed race for U.S. senator from Minnesota.
July 1, 2009... Byline: Bill Clements and Betsy Sundquist After a unanimous decision from the Minnesota Supreme Court that favored Al Franken, former GOP U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman conceded the race for U.S. Senate on Tuesday. And GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty...

Companies in all industries are finding financing hard to come by. Is there room for hope?
July 2, 2009... Byline: Dan Emerson With continuing healthy demand for student housing around the University of Minnesota campus, the Minnetonka-based Opus Group has big plans for a prime location: Oak Street and Washington Avenue S.E. Opus originally...

Finance for startups 101.(Reprint)
July 2, 2009... Byline: Austin Light This article was originally published in a Dolan sister publication, The Mecklenburg Times, but the advice in it is relevant to all locations. Comments were provided by Chuck Bamford, Professor of Entrepreneurship &...

Consultants can help when businesses face difficulties.
July 2, 2009... Byline: GAYE BUNDERSON Your business isn't about what you want to sell. It's about what your customers want to buy. Business consultants are helping people open businesses, stay in business or sell a business in unusually difficult times....

The Fine Art of Parking: Neighborhood tensions in south Minneapolis surface over.
July 2, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard Everybody wants a place to park, but nobody wants more parking in their neighborhood. That's the dilemma facing the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), which sits in an urban, residential area of south...

Minnetonka-based Opus East, Opus West to file bankruptcy.
July 2, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard Minnetonka-based Opus Group announced Wednesday afternoon that Opus East, LLC, and Opus West Corp. will file bankruptcy to facilitate orderly liquidation of their respective portfolios. Opus East, based in the...

Leinenkugel promotes new Classic Amber variety with pair of Minneapolis 'skyway transformations'.
July 3, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Walk through the skyways of downtown Minneapolis at noon on a busy weekday, and the solitude of the north woods may not be the first impression that comes to mind. Not normally, anyway. But that was the...

'Global portfolio restructuring' by Teijin doubles Minnetonka-based Cargill's stake in NatureWorks.
July 3, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Minnetonka-based Cargill Inc. has announced that it will assume full ownership of NatureWorks LLC, which manufactures Ingeo brand plastics and resins made from renewable resources. Ingeo products are used in...

Credit unions in Minnesota must overcome modesty to spread word about member benefits.(Company overview)
July 3, 2009... Byline: Mark Anderson For somebody like Mark Cummins, whose job is all about promoting the growth and success of credit unions, the traditional temperament of those organizations is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Cummins knows...

Want a loan in Minnesota? Bring collateral.
July 3, 2009... Byline: Mark Anderson Plenty of businesses felt a chill over the past nine months as they sat with their bankers, poring over balance sheets, and heard the quiet suggestion that they might want to look for a different lender. Slumping...

For lease: New Opus HQ building in Minnetonka.
July 3, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard Minnetonka-based Opus Group, grappling with the brutal climate in commercial real estate, has put its brand new headquarters expansion building up for lease. The 148,000-square-foot building was just completed in...

Minnesota-based USB climbs asset-based ladder.
July 3, 2009... Byline: Mark Anderson If timing is everything, then U.S. Bank's launch of a lending platform to make large, asset-based loans to national borrowers should be money in the bank. Demand is high for asset-based products in light of a...

As concrete-asphalt cost gap narrows, Minnesota cities reconsider options.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Brian Johnson The longstanding rivalry between concrete and asphalt suppliers is spilling over into the streets of Minneapolis. Specifically, it's affecting the $37 million Marquette and Second Avenue South (MARQ2) transit...

CVS leases Uptown site in Minneapolis, continues growth in area.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard Even amid the sluggish economy, the CVS/pharmacy juggernaut rolls on. CVS/pharmacy has signed a lease at 1010 Lake, a retail center at 1010 W. Lake St. in the Uptown area of south Minneapolis. We are turning...

RIP: Minnesota's politcal-contribution refund program, 1990-2009.
July 7, 2009... Byline: Betsy Sundquist Minnesota's political-contribution refund program is history. But it hasn't disappeared entirely. Gov. Tim Pawlenty suspended the program as part of his unallotments to help fix the state's $2.7 billion budget...

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities: College expansion plans hinge on next Legislature.
July 7, 2009... Byline: Brian Johnson At North Hennepin Community College, officials have long taken pride in emphasizing hands-on learning. But Ann Wynia, the school's president, recalls one zealous student who seemed to take the concept to a level...

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System's college wish list heavy on repairs.
July 7, 2009... Byline: Brian Johnson Repairs, replacements and science labs sit atop the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System's capital budget wish list for the 2010 Legislature. MnSCU's newly released list includes $403.6 million of new...

Unallotment to ax $33 million from Minnesota department budgets.
July 7, 2009... Byline: Charley Shaw State agencies are working right now to make $33 million in budget cuts as part of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unallotment program. Most agencies have been told to cut their 2010-2011 budgets by 2.25 percent. It's a...

COMET program to overhaul St. Paul's aging tech operations.
July 7, 2009... Byline: Scott Carlson For years, financial and accounting information in the city of St. Paul has moved at the proverbial snail's pace. But last week, the St. Paul Council approved issuing $14.4 million in bonds to finance COMET, a...