Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN articles from November 2003

Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN archives from November 2003

Former Wells Fargo worker convicted for embezzlement.
November 1, 2003... Byline: staff A former administrative assistant at Wells Fargo Bank was sentenced to two years in prison for embezzling more than $566,000 from the bank, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.Linda J. Decker, 34, of Minneapolis, also was ordered...

Credit unions take up residence in Minneapolis skyway.
November 1, 2003... Byline: Mark Anderson Two of the newest skyway tenants in the Minneapolis financial district are a pair of venerable credit unions, both of which utilized recent reforms to expand their traditionally restricted membership rolls into much...

Cephalon Inc. reaches deal to acquire Cima Labs.
November 4, 2003... Byline: staff Cephalon Inc. of West Chester, Pa., said Monday that it has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire all the outstanding common shares of Cima Labs of Eden Prairie for $34 a share in cash.Officials said the total value...

Nat'l Assn. of Credit Mgmt. index shows strength in business economy.
November 4, 2003... Byline: staff The Credit Managers' Index, a monthly survey of the business economy from the National Association of Credit Management, rose 1.6 percent last month to 57.9 Any number over 50 is a sign that the economy is expanding.The...

Fires underscore vulnerability of unfinished housing.
November 4, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson A string of fires that wiped out dozens of housing units under construction in the metro area this year is serving as a reminder that unfinished homes are especially susceptible to both accidental and intentional...

Commerce Secretary Evans to address Chamber group.
November 5, 2003... Byline: staff U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans will be in the Twin Cities on Thursday to discuss the economy and jobs.Evans, who recently returned from a trade mission in Asia, will address members of the Minnesota Chamber of...

Lander Group getting recognition for Twin Cities projects.
November 5, 2003... Byline: staff The Lander Group, a Minneapolis-based urban development firm, is getting national recognition for several Twin Cities residential development projects. Professional Builder Magazine, a publication targeting the residential...

Apogee finds Texas buyer for auto-glass unit.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Dave Price Apogee Enterprises has found a buyer for its retail auto glass business, announcing Tuesday it will sell Harmon AutoGlass to the Dwyer Group, a Texas-based franchise-management company.Terms of the transaction, scheduled...

Impact fees are pushing hot buttons among area builders.
November 6, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson Impact fees for new development are a chronic sore spot among builders and developers, who insist they unfairly add thousands of dollars to the cost of construction and that cities sometimes use fees to enrich...

Small banks gain ground in competition for deposits.
November 7, 2003... Byline: Mark Anderson The Twin Cities' largest banks continued to dominate the market in 2003, according to a midyear tally of deposits by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. But in a year of strong deposit growth throughout the...

Synovis Life Technologies names executive vice president.
November 7, 2003... Byline: staff Synovis Life Technologies said Thursday that Fariborz Boor Boor has been promoted to executive vice president.Boor Boor, 45, has been president and chief operating officer of the company's Synovis Interventional Solutions...

Ehlert Publishing Group purchases Poole Publications.
November 7, 2003... Byline: staff Maple Grove-based Ehlert Publishing Group Inc. purchased Poole Publications Inc.Carson, Calif.-based Poole Publications publishes Trailer Boats, Bass & Walleye Boats and Camping Life. The three magazines will be combined with...

Financial Women International Foundation names new chair.
November 8, 2003... Byline: staff Financial Women International said it has appointed Regina Barr to chair its foundation during the 2003-2004 term. As head of the group, Barr will manage daily activities, new product development, product marketing,...

MN Atty. General lashes out at drug companies in TwinWest forum.
November 8, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson Businesses, lawmakers and consumers who want to reduce health-care costs should look no further than the pharmaceutical industry, according to Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch. Hatch, speaking at a TwinWest...

Games people play inspire Roseville entrepreneur.
November 8, 2003... Byline: Jim Martyka Christian Petersen still marvels at how his attempt to distribute European children's books and comic books in the United States led to him becoming one of the leading fantasy game publishers in the country."I sometimes...

Check clearing now entering the electronic age.
November 11, 2003... Byline: Mark Anderson When President Bush signed the Check 21 legislation late last month, he was taking a major first step toward initiating a cheaper, electronic way to process the nation's 40 billion paper checks.But it was also a...

Zomax settles software copying suit with Microsoft for $3 million.
November 11, 2003... Byline: Dave Price In the end, simply paying Microsoft is a lot smarter - and cheaper - than trying to fight it.Plymouth-based Zomax Inc. has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by one of its largest customers, claiming a...

Builder fights jail time in case headed for high court.
November 12, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson A Stillwater-based home builder who faces jail time for violating the state building code is taking his case to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The builder, John Arkell, is appealing a district court decision that held...

OneLink Inc. approves one for three reverse stock split.
November 12, 2003... Byline: staff Minneapolis-based OneLink Inc. said that its board of directors has approved a one for three reverse stock split of its issued and outstanding $.01 par value capital stock. The reverse stock split will be effective for...

U.S. Bank increases SBA loans by 47 percent in 2003.
November 13, 2003... Byline: staff U.S. Bank, a leading Small Business Administration lender, increased its SBA loan production by 47 percent based on actual loans and by 11 percent based on dollar volume in 2003.Through its SBA Division, U.S. Bank provided...

MN firm announces class action against Putnam funds.
November 13, 2003... Byline: staff St. Paul-based Reinhardt Wendorf & Blanchfield has filed a securities class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf of those who acquired the Putnam capital appreciation fund, Putnam...

JLT Group unveils 'Bridges of St. Paul' development plans.
November 14, 2003... Byline: staff The St. Paul-based JLT Group Inc. has developed plans for the "Bridges of St. Paul," a mixed-use retail, residential and entertainment complex. The billion dollar project will be built along 75 acres of the Mississippi River...

Imation chief executive plans to step down next year.
November 14, 2003... Byline: staff Imation Corp. chief executive Bill Monahan announced plans on Thursday to retire by the end of next year. Monahan, 56, has served as the chairman and CEO of the Oakdale company since it was established in 1996 as a...

Eden Prairie dental reconstruction firm along with overall industry experiencing growth.
November 14, 2003... Byline: Lee Ann Owens Dave Hancock is all smiles about teeth. His family-run Westland Dental Studio in Eden Prairie specializes in dental reconstruction - creating custom-made replacement teeth that dentists have ordered for their...

Ryan Companies and City of Minneapolis have high hopes for latest Sears plan.
November 14, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson Hoping to succeed where other developers have fallen short, Ryan Companies believes it has found the right mix of talent and uses to revive the long-dormant Sears building in Minneapolis. Ryan Companies - which...

Indianapolis firm makes $10.6 million bid for Net Perceptions.
November 15, 2003... Byline: Dave Price There's a new twist in the slow demise of Net Perceptions after an Indianapolis-based holding company this week proposed buying the struggling Internet concern for a combination of cash and stock worth $10.6 million. ...

Restaurateur builds political ties the old-fashioned way.
November 15, 2003... Byline: Dave Price After a lengthy career in the restaurant business, Dave Anderson apparently knows how to tip. Less than a week before his nomination to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was announced, Twin Cities-area...

Military reservist economic injury loans still available.
November 15, 2003... Byline: staff Small businesses with essential employees called to active duty may still apply for Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the U.S. Small business Administration. For the last two years, the MREIDL program...

Shareholders approve PLATO and Lightspan merger.
November 18, 2003... Byline: staff PLATO Learning Inc. of Bloomington said Monday that its merger with Lightspan Inc. of San Diego has been approved by shareholders of both companies. PLATO, which makes educational software and online products and...

WTC Industries reviews strategic and financing alternatives.
November 18, 2003... Byline: staff WTC Industries Inc. said that it has retained the investment banking firm, Robert W. Baird & Co., to examine and evaluate strategic and financing alternatives for the company. "The company has made outstanding progress in...

Numbers can be deceiving in the battle of the mega-banks.
November 18, 2003... Byline: Mark Anderson First impressions are often deceiving, and that appears to be the case with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s annual market share rankings of Twin Cities banks. The Twin Cities' two longtime banking leaders,...

CEO of The St. Paul Cos. should feel at home after merger with Travelers Insurance.
November 18, 2003... Byline: Dave Price After a two-year absence, Jay Fishman is returning home to Travelers. Just don't tell that to Fishman. "I am home," said Fishman, CEO of The St. Paul Companies Inc., which on Monday announced a $16 billion...

Sistina Software receives $1.5 million investment.
November 19, 2003... Byline: staff Minneapolis-based Sistina Software has received $1.5 million in equity funding as part of a new strategic partnership with SAP AG, Europe's largest software firm. Sistina - which earlier this year secured nearly $10...

Minnesota loses almost 11,000 tech jobs over two years.
November 19, 2003... Byline: staff Minnesota lost nearly 11,000 technology jobs during 2001 and 2002, but fared slightly better than the rest of the nation, according to a new study by the Minnesota High Tech Association and the AeA national tech group. ...

United Bankers Bank taking the biometric plunge.
November 19, 2003... Byline: staff writer The customers of United Bankers Bank in Bloomington are rarely going to drop by on a Friday afternoon to make a deposit. UBB's customers are banks, mostly rural, and they're located in communities that stretch across...

Senior housing providers prepare for baby boomers.
November 19, 2003... Byline: staff writer The Boutwells Landing senior housing complex in Oak Park Heights isn't your father's retirement home. The facility, located on a sprawling 100-acre site near Highway 36 and Stillwater Avenue, will add 600 senior...

Definity Health delivers first positive cash flow quarter.
November 20, 2003... Byline: staff Minneapolis-based Definity Health, a privately held provider of consumer-driven healthcare benefits, reported record revenue and positive cash flows from operations of more than $500,000 during the quarter ending in...

Proposed light-rail projects are lightning rod for opposition.
November 21, 2003... Byline: Monte Hanson Tom Stransky calls it "blight rail envy," accusing St. Paul officials of wanting to build a light-rail line in the city because Minneapolis is about to complete one of its own. Stransky, who has owned Midway Used...

Eden Prairie group wants to preserve trail for biking and walking, not for light-rail line.
November 21, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson A group of Eden Prairie residents has a message for those who want to convert a walking and biking trail in their city into a light-rail transit corridor: take a hike. The group, which calls itself Trails Without...

Metropolitan Council chair touts more user-friendly regional planning document.
November 21, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson Met Council Chair Peter Bell estimates that 90 percent of the public doesn't know much about the Metropolitan Council and the other 10 percent "goes to bed thinking about our every move." The council's new 2030...

National Dentex acquires Thoele Dental Laboratory of Waite Park, Minn.
November 22, 2003... Byline: staff National Dentex Corp., a large owner and operator of dental laboratories in the United States, said it has acquired Thoele Dental Laboratory of Waite Park, Minn. Thoele had sales in excess of $3.4 million in its last fiscal...

Minneapolis architect believes some post-WWII buildings should be on national historic registry.
November 22, 2003... Byline: staff writer Does a 1940s-era hot-dog joint called "Superdawg" qualify as a historically significant structure? Some people apparently thought so. The building, located at Milwaukee and Devon streets in Chicago, has been...

St. Louis-based Buffalo Wild Wings makes impressive debut as public company.
November 22, 2003... Byline: senior writer No matter how you serve it up, $50 million isn't chicken feed. Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. made an impressive debut as a public company on Friday, with investors lifting the share price of stock in the St. Louis...

Northwest mechanics support security at foreign stations.
November 25, 2003... Byline: staff Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association Local 33, serving Northwest and Mesaba Airlines, applauded congressional legislation aimed at making security at foreign aircraft repair stations as stringent as in the United States....

Trial atty. joins Dorsey & Whitney's Denver office.
November 25, 2003... Byline: staff Trial attorney Van Aaron Hughes has joined the international Minneapolis-based law firm of Dorsey & Whitney as an attorney in the firm's Denver office. A trial lawyer with more than 13 years of experience in commercial and...

Twin Cities area sees increase in 'town office' development.
November 25, 2003... Byline: Brian Johnson The long row of one-story structures along Fernbrook Avenue in Plymouth could easily be mistaken for a residential development. Take a closer look, and you'll find more bankers and investment advisers than swing sets...

Fidelity Bank eyes 2nd niche.
November 26, 2003... Byline: Mark Anderson The real estate boom is finally fading, and that means Fidelity Bank's extraordinary three-year earnings bonanza is beginning to sag, too. But don't shed too many tears for the Edina-based small-business banking...

Condominium sales holding as a hot national trend.
November 26, 2003... Byline: staff Condominium sales are heating up nationwide, and the trend is likely to continue, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The builders group reported Tuesday that sales of new and existing condominiums...

U.S. Bank offers SBA loans for challenged communities.
November 26, 2003... Byline: staff U.S. Bank, in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, is rolling out a loan program for businesses in low-to-moderate income communities, areas with high concentrations of minority residents, and businesses...

Hormel Foods elects new member to board of directors.
November 26, 2003... Byline: staff Hormel Foods Corp. announced the election of John L. Morrison to the board of directors of the Austin-based multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded meat and food products. Morrison, 58, is director and...