Among the country's 50 most populous metro areas, Minneapolis and St. Paul together ranked first on the American College of Sports Medicine's list; the ranking is attributed to the area's relatively low smoking rate, above-average percentage of exercisers, and modest rates of chronic health conditions.

Minneapolis marketing agency Echo Creative will give away $250,000 in marketing services to a local small business-and it plans to make the giveaway an annual initiative.

The company said that e-reading opportunities are becoming increasingly important to it-and that it sees business possibilities in the education, library, and automotive sectors.

Samuel Alfred McCloud was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for intentionally concealing at least $595,000 in income when reporting his taxes.

The trial, which started Tuesday and relates to the 2007 deaths of five workers at a hydroelectric plant in Colorado, marks a rare instance when federal prosecutors have brought criminal charges against a company.

Cold Spring Brewing Company has plans to modernize its brewhouse and increase its capacity as it takes part in the growing craft beer trend.

Mortenson on Thursday began construction of Carlson's $137.5 million, 500-room Radisson Blu Hotel, which will be connected to the Mall of America by skyway.

William Garfield Sandison, the former CEO of Community National Bank, is one of three executives from the bank who executed a scheme to defraud other financial institutions through the financing of Ramsey Town Center.

Colorado-based Gevo is beginning a $22 million retrofit of the Luverne facility-which will become the world's first commercial-scale bio-based isobutanol plant.

In March, 19 of 20 major metro areas experienced falling year-over-year home prices-led by Minneapolis, which was the only city to post a double-digit decline.

A study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that employers plan to hire 19.3 percent more graduates in 2011 than they did in 2010.

The state's banks saw a significant jump in aggregate earnings during the first three months of the year, but much of the growth can be attributed to a drop in provisions for loan losses.

The Edina-based food distribution company hadn't been looking to sell its Hispanic-oriented Avanza stores, but it took Texas-based Lowe's Market up on an unsolicited offer.

A union that represents IBM employees recently reported that the company is reducing its work force across four divisions, including one that has a location in Rochester.