A labor agreement affecting 13,000 CenturyLink employees, including about 1,800 in Minnesota, expired Saturday night, but the company and the unions representing the workers have extended the contract while negotiations continue.
Technology
The 3M Streaming Projector, which comes equipped with a thumb drive-like device called the Roku Stick, allows users to project streaming content from sources like Netflix.
The company, which plans to hire roughly 15 employees in the near term, outgrew its space in the Fifth Street Towers and has relocated to the Campbell Mithun Tower in downtown Minneapolis.
Scott Durchslag will lead Best Buy’s website and e-commerce initiatives as the company attempts to turn itself around and its founder works on a private takeover attempt.
A union representing former employees of Qwest, which merged last year with CenturyLink, has authorized a strike in the event that workers are unable to reach a labor agreement by midnight on Sunday.
A company spokesman said that website visitors have experienced “intermittent delays,” but “personal data and funds are secure.”
The new openings are in addition to the roughly 600 Twin Cities positions the company has added over the past year and a half.
Digital River said that its acquisition of LML Payment Systems will help it to expand its global online payment processing business to companies of all sizes.
This year’s finalists span 15 categories, and the winners will be revealed at an awards event on November 1 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
The state gave Tata Consultancy Services a $500,000 loan to help with its expansion, half of which will be forgiven after the jobs are created; the company says the hiring will occur over the next two years.
The developer of the winning app will take home $5,000 in cash and receive $20,000 worth of mobile development services from Minneapolis-based MentorMate.
Preventice’s BodyGuardian Remote Monitoring System allows doctors to monitor patients’ heart rates via wireless technology, and the company plans to make the product commercially available by the end of this year.
Life Time acquired New Leaf software and support materials, product inventory, trademarks, and websites from MGC Diagnostics.
Code 42 Software, which has significantly expanded its U.S. work force this year, has opened a regional office and data center in Australia, and it’s eyeing expansion to Europe.
Cleaning tools of the future are coming soon to a Best Western near you.
A new agreement gives Richard Schulze access to Best Buy’s financials and 60 days to present a fully financed buyout offer. If rejected by the board, he can present a second proposal in January—and if rejected again, he can go directly to shareholders.
Best Buy—which on Monday named a new CEO and whose founder is pursuing a private takeover—reported a steep decline in second-quarter earnings and suspended its full-year forecast.
Best Buy offered to share financial information as requested by founder Richard Schulze—on the condition that he postpone bringing a buyout offer to shareholders—but negotiations appear to have stalled.