Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN articles from June 2009

Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN archives from June 2009

Microsoft choosing St. Paul over downtown Minneapolis.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard The $60 billion software giant Microsoft Corp. has picked St. Paul over Minneapolis as the new location for the company's local software development team. The office is a relatively small outpost: the 26 employees...

Julie Nielsen joins St. Paul-based Securian Financial.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report St. Paul-based Securian Financial Group has added a new member to its wholesaling team. Julie Nielsen was appointed regional vice president for wholesaling, and will manage sales through...

St. Paul-based Securian Financial Group adds job-loss protection for lenders.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Securian Financial Group has introduced a new debt protection product that will cancel or suspend a borrower's loan payment for up to six months after the borrower loses a job. The product,...

Seer Capital chooses Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp trust services.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Seer Capital Partners Master Fund L.P. announced last week that it had selected U.S. Bank Corporate Trust Services as custodian and U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC (USBFS) as fund administrator for...

U.S. Bank adds payment tool for medical practices.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report U.S. Bank this week announced its new Healthcare Payment Management (HPM) Essentials, a physician-focused payment tool that enables doctors' offices to collect more co-pays and deductibles at the...

Virchow Krause & Co. becomes Baker Tilly.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Virchow Krause & Company, LLP, announced this week that it has become the new, exclusive U.S.-branded firm in the Baker Tilly International network, the eighth-largest accounting and business...

Ed DiRocco joins Minneapolis-based Wolters Kluwer sales team.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Minneapolis-based Wolters Kluwer Financial Services has named Ed DiRocco vice president of sales for the company's PCi compliance analytics and GainsKeeper solutions. Wolters Kluwer Financial...

Personal finance tips for grads and other young folks.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Dan Emerson Last year, U.S. high school students who completed a nonprofit group's survey of their personal finance knowledge scored just 48.3 percent, on average. Minnesota students did only slightly better in the National...

Making financial planning decisions in tough times.
June 5, 2009... Byline: JOE D. JONES Let's agree on a couple of things before I make any recommendations: 1. We are experiencing the worst recession since the Great Depression and no one saw it coming. 2. Those of us who invest in the stock...

Minnesota's campaign war chest dwindling: Campaign subsidy program takes a hit in budget deficit.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Charley Shaw Minnesota pols' campaign coffers will be a little smaller in 2010 and 2011 due to the state's budget woes. The budget for the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure (CFPD) Board includes a $50,000-a-year shift from...

Small Business Administration to help fill credit gap with auto dealers.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Mark Anderson It's been a week of seismic change for the U.S. auto industry, and the end of an era for dealerships across the country. In the midst of all the bad news, however, there was a bit of good news: The U.S. Small...

Union targets Twin Cities Wal-Mart stores in new organizing drive.
June 6, 2009... Byline: Scott Carlson As a full-time cashier at Wal-Mart's Brooklyn Park store, Hodan Hassan earns $9.50 an hour - not enough, the 30-year-old mother of six says, to pay the premiums for the company's health insurance program. Stock...

Xcel asks Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to rule on ownership of renewable credits.
June 6, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Facing state-mandated increases in renewable-power generation, Xcel Energy Inc. is trying to garner as many Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) as possible, in an effort to avoid buying credits on the open market and passing...

Coalition files federal civil rights complaint over Central Corridor LRT in St. Paul.
June 6, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard The long-planned Central Corridor light rail transit line in St. Paul has yet to start construction, but continues to be contentious. Business leaders along University Avenue remain concerned about the potential...

State, local officials join chorus of praise for solar energy program, Minneapolis public works building.
June 6, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Sustainability ruled the day Thursday, as city and state leaders hailed the passage of solar energy legislation at the Capitol and touted the renewable attributes of a public works building in Minneapolis. On the...

Minnetonka-based Opus West weighs bankruptcy.
June 9, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard Opus West, the largest regional operating unit of Minnetonka-based Opus Group, is weighing restructuring options, which could include bankruptcy. It's a very fluid situation, said Winston Hewett, spokeswoman for the...

Rainbow coalition: Minneapolis-St. Paul area Rainbow Foods partnering with BP stations.
June 9, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger With gasoline prices once again on the rise, Minneapolis-St. Paul area Rainbow Foods is hoping that its new Fuelperks promotion with BP stations will woo more customers into its stores. The promotion, which began May 31,...

From dorm room to board room: CotterWeb becomes $17M online marketing firm.
June 9, 2009... Byline: Dan Emerson What began nine years ago as a college dorm room hobby has grown into a $17 million online marketing firm for 28-year-old Daren Cotter, CEO of Mendota Heights-based CotterWeb. Cotter paid his Minnesota State University,...

Where will states find new revenue'? National Governors Assn. says they'll need new revenue in 2010.
June 9, 2009... Byline: Charley Shaw A new report from the National Governors Association (NGA) shows that the financial conditions of most state budgets are getting worse. And options to deal with hundreds of billions in state budget shortfalls are...

Planned mixed-use projects in Minnesota reflect more active definition of 'retirement'.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard Roseville-based nonprofit Presbyterian Homes & Services has some pricey projects on its to-do list: the $60 million Carondelet Village in St. Paul, a $200 million mixed-use project in Eden Prairie and a $225 million...

New campaign in Minneapolis offering discounts on convention costs, hotel rooms.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Confronting the slumping recession, Meet Minneapolis has joined with the Minneapolis Convention Center and 52 hotels in the city to offer reduced-rate convention bookings and hotel-lodging rates through March 31, 2010....

Home prices in Twin Cities region up from April, still down from May of '08.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard Median home prices across the Twin Cities region increased in May compared with the previous month. Median homes prices climbed to $165,000 across the 13-county metro area in May - up $12,000 or 7.8 percent -...

Minn. Taxpayers Assn. says governor's cuts to cities should reflect health-care spending.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Charley Shaw A St. Paul-based think tank issued a controversial report this week that says cities getting local government aid are providing more generous health care benefits than cities that don't get the state aid. If Gov....

Gwen Schultz in Minneapolis office of CresaPartners joins national CresaPartners board.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Gwen Schultz, a principal in the Minneapolis office of CresaPartners, has been named to the CresaPartners' National LLC Board of Directors. The Boston-based CresaPartners is national tenant...

Seasonal Living opens at Mall of America in Bloomington.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Seasonal Living, a retail concept featuring seasonal gifts and home decor, begins its grand opening celebration at the Mall of America in Bloomington on June 12. Seasonal Living has operated Rudolph...

Emily Program buys St. Paul property for residential treatment facility.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report The local office of CB Richard Ellis represented The Emily Program in the purchase of a property in the 1400 block of Cleveland Avenue North in St. Paul. The property is slated to be the new home of...

NAIOP to release 2009 Industrial Market Update.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report The local chapter of NAIOP is slated to release its 2009 Industrial Market Update in a program titled, The Good, The Bad...and the Short-Term Lease Renewal. The discussion will be moderated by...

St. Paul Port Authority drops plan to seize Advance Shoring by eminent domain.
June 12, 2009... Byline: Betsy Sundquist The St. Paul Port Authority has dropped its efforts to acquire the property of a local business by eminent domain. Advance Shoring Co., at 1400 Jackson St., has been fighting the Port Authority's plan to condemn...

Hennepin County commissioners worry about crowding in multimodal transit hub near Target.
June 12, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Where's the old Minneapolis Great Northern Depot when we need it? The depot, a landmark building that overlooked the Mississippi River west of Hennepin Avenue, was razed in 1978. Today, as interest in light-rail transit...

Spaghetti junction.
June 12, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Where's the old Minneapolis Great Northern Depot when we need it?The depot, a landmark building that overlooked the Mississippi River west of Hennepin Avenue, was razed in 1978. Today, as interest in light-rail transit...

Signs of life? Appraiser sees signs of a bottom in land prices.
June 12, 2009... Byline: Mark Anderson Housing industry pros have been warning for months that, before we can expect to see new investment and development, land and lot prices have to finally reach a bottom. So here's some promising news: Robert Strachota...

Twin Cities-area Met Council approves new stimulus projects.
June 12, 2009... Byline: Brian Johnson A new Lowry Avenue bridge is among the final metro area projects that have a green light to receive federal stimulus funding. On Wednesday, in its final round of stimulus allocations, the Met Council approved $105...

Green roof installation in Minneapolis has workers seeing red.
June 13, 2009... Byline: Brian Johnson A dispute over pay and work conditions has added some drama to the green roof installation at Target Center. On Thursday, non-union employees of Stock Roofing Company joined with members of a local union to picket...

Green job training available at Minnesota colleges.
June 13, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Have a hankering to learn about wind energy or to land a job in the expanding field? Look south or southwest, where many of the 1,852 megawatts in Minnesota wind power currently wired into the grid are produced. ...

Twin Cities' Bacchus Partners' wine fund uncorks 28.7 percent gain in first two quarters.
June 13, 2009... Byline: Scott Carlson Like a top-grade Bordeaux or a vintage burgundy, one unusual Twin Cities' private equity investment fund is the toast of the town among investment connoisseurs. Bacchus Partners LLC said its Fine Wine Appreciation...

Help wanted: 'Green job' growth outpaces overall increase in Minnesota.
June 13, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Powered by expanding wind and solar energy sectors - and the companies that support those sectors - Minnesota's clean-energy economy grew much faster than the overall state economy from 1998 to 2007. According to a...

State slow on E-Verify.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Charley Shaw The clock is ticking on state efforts to implement a federal computer system that checks workers' eligibility to be employed in the U.S.Gov. Tim Pawlenty in January 2008 signed an executive order that requires state...

Slow on the switch.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Scott Carlson A Twin Cities group that has helped educate and encourage local residents to prepare for TV stations switching from analog to digital transmission says it has more work to do.Though the big changeover happened this...

Slow on the switch: Conversion to digital TV continues to be an issue in Twin Cities.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Scott Carlson A Twin Cities group that has helped educate and encourage local residents to prepare for TV stations switching from analog to digital transmission says it has more work to do. Though the big changeover happened...

Minnesota slow on E-Verify: Agencies struggling with system to check people's ability to work.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Charley Shaw The clock is ticking on state efforts to implement a federal computer system that checks workers' eligibility to be employed in the U.S. Gov. Tim Pawlenty in January 2008 signed an executive order that requires...

Utility-relocation work beginning in St. Paul on Central Corridor light-rail line.
June 17, 2009... Byline: Brian Johnson Met Council officials are seeking bids for utility-relocation work in downtown St. Paul, a long-anticipated project that will set the stage for the start of Central Corridor light rail construction late next summer....

Utility-relocation work beginning on Central Corridor light-rail line.
June 17, 2009... Byline: Brian Johnson Met Council officials are seeking bids for utility-relocation work in downtown St. Paul, a long-anticipated project that will set the stage for the start of Central Corridor light rail construction late next summer....

Utility-relocation work beginning on Central Corridor light-rail line.
June 17, 2009... Byline: Brian Johnson Met Council officials are seeking bids for utility-relocation work in downtown St. Paul, a long-anticipated project that will set the stage for the start of Central Corridor light rail construction late next summer....

Federal lawmakers debating size, source, of dollars for transportation infrastructure.
June 17, 2009... Byline: Brian Johnson Federal lawmakers are hammering out a new transportation bill that could nearly double the size of the existing budget for the construction of roads, bridges and mass transit. There's a sense of urgency in...

'Unallotments' hit Minnesota cities, counties hard.
June 17, 2009... Byline: Bill Clements GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday announced his recommendations for unalloting the nearly $2.7 billion needed to balance Minnesota's historically unbalanced budget - and as expected, cities and counties got hit the...

Best Buy gains bigger piece of consumer-electronics pie.
June 17, 2009... Byline: Scott Carlson Best Buy Co., the nation's largest merchant of consumer electronics, doesn't have any time to rest on its laurels. The company reported Tuesday that it had picked up 2 percentage points of market share in its...

Rochester-based Mayo Clinic plans 'gateway' at Mall of America.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Rochester-based Mayo Clinic on Wednesday announced plans to open the Mayo Clinic Gateway at the Mall of America as part of the retail center's Phase II development. Dr. David Herman, M.D., told media gathered at the...

Schaumburg, Ill.-based Ardea Beverage Co. relaunches Nutrisoda with outdoor ad campaigns.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Nutrisoda, launched in 2003 by a former executive of Swiss conglomerate Novartis, is being test-marketed in Minneapolis and San Diego by Ardea Beverage Co. First fielded as a premium-price wellness drink for frequent...

Some cuts by Minnesota governor less than feared, but crisis could get worse.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Steve Perry The budget cuts announced by Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday fell a little more gently than expected in a couple of key budget areas - health care and aid to local governments - but any sense of relief in those sectors and...

Minnesota legislator questions Pawlenty's authority to appropriate, change policy.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Betsy Sundquist Gov. Tim Pawlenty may be greatly overstepping his authority by proposing delayed payments to state health care programs and shifting money between accounts under his unallotment proposal, according to the chair of...

Minnesota's cities, counties fear consequences of $300 million in recommended cuts.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Charley Shaw Minnesota's local units of government, which had been bracing for drastic state aid cuts in Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unallotment announcement, weren't whacked as hard as they'd feared. But Gary Carlson, a lobbyist for...

Aaron Barnard of New York-based Cushman Barnard earns SIOR designation.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report The local office of New York-based Cushman & Wakefield announced that Aaron Barnard, Director, has earned the prestigious SIOR designation conferred by the Washington D.C.-based Society of...

Minneapolis-based Upland Real Estate sells Arby's property in Northfield.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Minneapolis-based Upland Real Estate Group, Inc., announced that it brokered the sale of an Arby's property in Northfield. A private investor paid approximately $1.75 million for the property, which...

Tim Murnane moves on: Exec with Minnetonka-based Opus Northwest exits company.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Tim Murnane casts a long shadow in Twin Cities development circles. Murnane, 50, has been a major player with Minnetonka-based Opus Northwest for two decades. In a Monday interview with Finance...

Groundbreaking scheduled for Bloomington senior project.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report A groundbreaking is set for Nine Mile Creek Senior Living, a 93-unit senior project in Bloomington. The project will combine independent living, assisted living and memory care units. The building...

St. Paul-based Wellington Management holds Shadow Falls grand opening.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report St. Paul-based Wellington Management, Inc., announced the grand opening for its Shadow Falls Rowhouses and Flats residential development at 205 Otis Avenue in St. Paul. The project will have 12...

Minneapolis seeks development proposals for Hollywood Theater.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard Call it The Son of the Dawn of the Revenge of the Hollywood Theater. The Sequel. The city of Minneapolis is set to issue a fresh casting call for the long-vacant Hollywood Theater, in the Audubon Park neighborhood....

Senior condos in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, now rental units (for seniors).
June 18, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard The small town of Cannon Falls, southeast of the Twin Cities, wasn't quite ready for market-rate senior condos. The 61-unit Two Rivers Condominiums project was completed in 2006, but the developer sold a mere five...

Minnesota's Rep. James Oberstar seeks $500 billion for transportation.
June 19, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Minnesota's transportation advocates had their high beams focused on the nation's Capitol as Rep. James Oberstar on Thursday unveiled what he's calling a blueprint for the next six-year federal...

U.S. SBA: Life preservers for small businesses.
June 19, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Small businesses quietly employ millions of Americans, and they're facing the same recessionary woes encountered by the giant banks and automakers. The U.S. Small Business Administration has been...

SBA recovery program offers no-fee, deferred-payment loans.
June 19, 2009... Byline: Mark Anderson AIG and General Motors got their bailout packages this winter and spring with proceeds reaching into the tens of billions of dollars. The U.S. Small Business Administration is trying to keep up, delivering its own...

Oak Grove Capital in St. Paul is one of few firms with preferred lending status.
June 19, 2009... Byline: Mark Anderson Is the second time the charm? Dave Williams and Kevin Filter, principals in the new Oak Grove Capital in St. Paul, certainly hope that's true. But then, they didn't have many complaints about their first...

GE Capital provides $75 million to Eden Prairie-based Arizant.
June 19, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services announced that it has provided a $75 million senior credit facility to Eden Prairie-based Arizant Inc. this week. The loan will be used to refinance...

Minneapolis-based Wolters Kluwer stays busy on FHA advice, products.
June 19, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report First Federal Savings Bank of Evansville, Ind., utilized the advisory and compliance products from Minneapolis-based Wolters Kluwer Financial Services to win approval as a Federal Housing...

Fitch affirms Minnesota-based St. Francis Regional Medical Center's A- credit rating.
June 19, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Fitch Ratings this week affirmed the A- rating on $50.2 million of the City of Shakopee, Minnesota's health care facilities revenue bonds series 2004, issued on behalf of St. Francis Regional...

Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group maintains high debt ratings.
June 19, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Insurance analyst A.M. Best Co. recently affirmed the financial strength ratings and issuer credit ratings for most of Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s insurance subsidiaries. A.M. Best...

U.S. Bancorp builds reserves, maintains dividend cut.
June 19, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report U.S. Bancorp's board of directors declared a quarterly dividend this week of 5 cents per common share, payable July 15, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 30. At this...

Small wind turbines see gust in sales, thanks in part to federal tax credits.
June 20, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger When it comes to wind power, small is beautiful. The same credit crunch that's depressed real estate has also made banks skittish about lending huge sums for utility scale wind farms, but the downturn is having no...

Minnesota-based Xcel's Northern States Power turns 100 as utilities seek new electricity sources.
June 20, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger A lot can change in 100 years. Just ask officials at Northern States Power (NSP), which celebrated its centennial this week. The company was founded as Consumers Power Co. in 1909 by Henry Marison Byllesby, an...

Minneapolis-based Campbell Mithun loses H&R Block account.
June 20, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger Tax preparation giant H&R Block has pulled its estimated $120 million ad account from Minneapolis agency Campbell Mithun, reassigning the business to DDB Chicago without a review. The surprise move by Kansas City,...

NAIOP Minnesota: Industrial market has worst showing in memory, and vacancies still increasing.
June 20, 2009... Byline: Burl Gilyard On Thursday afternoon, local real estate brokers gathered at a nice suburban hotel to assess the current state of the industrial property market. They told jokes. They showed brief clips from the movies Office Space...

Wind turbines, nonferrous mining could earn millions for trust that benefits Minn.'s K-12 education.
June 20, 2009... Byline: Charley Shaw For more than a century, Minnesota has been earning money by selling timber and minerals found on the state's school trust lands. Now, state officials plan to use the land for a new form of revenue: wind energy....

Building bioscience: With incentives, Minnesota could become major industry hub.
June 23, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Report Kraus-Anderson has had a string of success with bioscience projects of late, including significant projects for Danish medical device manufacturer Coloplast and Boston Scientific, among other...

House Speaker Margaret Kelliher claims Minnesota's 'long-term fiscal stability at risk'.
June 23, 2009... Byline: Steve Perry Gov. Tim Pawlenty's solution to the state's budget shortfall could actually result in much bigger deficits for his successor - nearly $5.9 billion in fiscal years 2012-13, or $7.3 billion when inflation is added. ...

Computer forensics coming into its own as civil litigation tool.
June 23, 2009... Byline: Michelle Lore The recent battle between St. Paul's Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis Star Tribune is a prime example of how important computer forensics have become in civil litigation. In March 2007, shortly after Par Ridder...

Minnesota criminal intelligence analyst seeks to prevent scammers from victimizing vulnerable.
June 23, 2009... Byline: Betsy Sundquist In her 18 months as a criminal intelligence analyst for the Anti-Fraud Unit of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Amber Stojevich has run into a lot of phone-fraud schemes - but just one of them so alarmed...

Real estate focused portfolio has Sioux Falls-based BankFirst hemorrhaging cash.
June 25, 2009... Byline: Mark Anderson BankFirst, the Sioux Falls-based bank that was a cog in the real estate-focused financial empire built by Twin Cities entrepreneur Dennis Mathisen during the past decade, was ordered by the Federal Reserve on...

Developer given deadline for Minneapolis Convention Center solar array contract.
June 25, 2009... Byline: Bob Geiger The Minneapolis Convention Center will be crowned with a 600-kilowatt, four-acre solar array - if a Colorado developer obtains financing amid a tight commercial lending market. A City Council panel earlier this week...

Chaska-based PeopleNet moves into former Petters headquarters.
June 25, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Someday, the Chaska-based technology firm PeopleNet Communications may be a high-profile name like Petters Group Worldwide. For now, though, steadily growing PeopleNet will be content to take over...

Ford Foundation grants Minneapolis-based Artspace $1 million for Predevelopement Fund.
June 25, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff The New York-based Ford Foundation has awarded Minneapolis-based nonprofit Artspace Projects, Inc., $1 million to create a national Predevelopment Fund aimed at advancing cultural diversity and community...

Minnetonka Welsh Capital arranges $900,000 apartment refinancing in Uptown.
June 25, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Minnetonka-based Welsh Capital announced the recent closing of a $900,000 loan to refinance Block Apartments, a two-building, 31-unit rental complex in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis. Welsh...

St. Paul Port Authority kicks off Minnehaha Lanes project with stimulus money.
June 25, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff St. Paul is home to the nation's first shovel-ready project launched with the help of federal brownfield stimulus money. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided the St. Paul Port Authority...

CB Richard Ellis lists Rush Lake Office Building in New Brighton.
June 25, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff The local office of CB Richard Ellis announced that it is listing the Rush Lake Office Building at 1820 Old Highway 8 in New Brighton for sale. The CB Richard Ellis of Jerry Driessen, Tom Lelich and Joe...

Bloomington-based NorthMarq announces deals completed in May.
June 25, 2009... Byline: Finance and Commerce Staff Bloomington-based NorthMarq announced a batch of retail, office and industrial deals completed in May. * Senior associates Ronn Thomas and Jen Helm represented The Avalon Group in the sale of a 34,000...