Tag: Articles

Xata’s Growth Vehicle

Xata’s Growth Vehicle

Former Lawson Software CEO Jay Coughlan wanted to get back behind the wheel of a company. He found Xata, a fleet management software company needing the right direction.
Glen Taylor’s Golden Egg

Glen Taylor’s Golden Egg

The printing business billionaire and Timberwovlves owner also holds 14,000 acres of farmland—and a sizeable investment in Rembrandt Enterprises, an egg production company that's grown 30 percent since its founding. What's the appeal of such a mature, low-margin business?
No Way, Jose

No Way, Jose

About tequila, I have good news and I have bad. The good news is that tequila sales are growing faster than those of any other spirit, and the Twin Cities
Tour de Farm

Tour de Farm

“We don’t want to make this a big educational moment and be preachy about it,” says Scott Pampuch, executive chef and owner of Corner Table in South Minneapolis. Better to
You Call This Hard?

You Call This Hard?

Doug Kelley is the court-appointed receiver of Tom Petters' assets. But for drama, it's hard to beat the time the mafia cancelled a hit on Kelley, figuring a Himalayan mountain would kill him instead.
Fiber Optimists

Fiber Optimists

After 22 consecutive years of losing money, the company now known as Clearfield is profitably supplying connectivity products to smaller telecoms.
Prairie Powerhouse

Prairie Powerhouse

The floods may have an effect, but North Dakota could be the state least likely to be wracked by the recession, thanks to an economy built primarily upon agriculture and energy- along with a helping of high technology.
Heartland’s Backyard Ingredient

Heartland’s Backyard Ingredient

Some vegetables are more fashionable than others. Who can say why? Ramps got rock-star attention when they started appearing on Twin Cities menus several years ago, heralded by servers as
Welcome to Blue Shirt Nation

Welcome to Blue Shirt Nation

Best Buy is using social networking and a philosophy of openness to change the way it interacts with employees and customers. Along the way, it's learning new ways to sell its products.
Steve Bergerson’s Glory Days

Steve Bergerson’s Glory Days

Now a buttoned-up marketing, trademark, and entertainment attorney at Fredrikson & Byron, there was a day when Stephen Bergerson was an entertainer himself, rocking the Arkota Ballroom in Sioux Falls,
How Mortenson Got Game

How Mortenson Got Game

The long-time Minnesota construction company's first sports project was the Target Center in 1987. Now working on the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium and the Minnesota Twins' Target Field, it has become one of the nation's largest sports-facilities builders.
Be a Bigger Magnet

Be a Bigger Magnet

For marketing, PR, brand, and design firms too small to catch the big jobs they want, Dan Mallin and Scott Litman have an answer: Join forces and split projects with other small firms.
Good Wine, Cheap

Good Wine, Cheap

Who’s profiting from this recession, you ask? The usual suspects: pawnbrokers, debt collectors, an entire gold-mining town in Nevada. But also Chris Eriksson, a 39-year-old financial advisor with Merrill Lynch
Biodiesel’s Next Stage?

Biodiesel’s Next Stage?

Quietly—with the backing of private investors, the central Minnesota Initiative Foundation, Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development, and the City of Isanti—the biodiesel industry looks about to take a