Don’t bet against Kelly Doran. For years, Doran was best known as a developer of retail properties. But when he returned to the industry after a sabbatical in 2007, Doran…

Duncan's career has come full circle. Forty-five years after bagging groceries at Albertsons in high school, and after a decade away from the grocery business running OfficeMax and ShopKo, Duncan…

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area has a reputation as a literary center, and Erdrich has been one of its leading lights since her debut with 1984’s Love Medicine. Erdrich’s work focuses…

Fallon and his ad agency put Minneapolis on the international advertising map. It was the hottest shop in town as the 20th century closed, and though it has lost some…

Feldman has kept MIA playfully stylish and up-to-date without sacrificing its fundamental class. Though membership has declined, endowments are up and visitor numbers have been setting records. An example of…

Flagg didn’t turn the Twin Cities into one of the top bicycling regions in the country on his own, of course. But he’s certainly been one of the big wheels.…

Under Karl Florida’s watch, FindLaw—an Eagan-based consumer legal website and attorney directory—extended its lead on the competition. Florida was promoted to president of FindLaw in 2010 after serving as the…

Al Franken has gone serious on Minnesotans since becoming a politician. In his first term, Franken wrestled with premium policies in the Affordable Care Act and privacy issues in the…

John Gabbert looked at his family’s eponymous furniture store and saw the future of retailing. His vision extended beyond furniture to include stylish casual home accessories such as blankets, picture…

Jacob Gayle joined Fridley-based Medtronic in 2011 to lead the company’s philanthropic and community affairs programs. Gayle brings deep experience and a global perspective: He has worked on six continents…

While consumer products make up only about 15 percent of 3M’s business, they’re how most of us know the company. Gilboe came on board in 2010 and brought design into…

When Atlanta-centric Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson calls your airport the best-run in the world, it’s a compliment not to be dismissed. Jeff Hamiel has put MSP at the…

When you're CEO of the nation's largest health insurance company, your words can shape indusrty trends. As the U.S. Supreme Court was considering overturning the Affordable Care Act, Hemsley announced…

After Hogan became Pentair's CEO in 2001, he helped chart a major tranformation, selling off its long-held tools business and building a global water-solutions company. His efforts culminated in 2012…

Satellite broadcasting pioneer and DirecTV co-founder Hubbard remains, at 81, a guiding force in what is now the last locally owned Twin Cities TV/radio conglomerate (son Rob runs the Hubbard…

The Obamacare medical device tax could have given Minnesota's largest device manufacturer a heart attack. But while the tax has done the indusrty no favors, and despite slow cardiac-device sales…

After riding the waterbed wave in the 1980s, brothers Wayne and Rod Johansen changed tack in the next decade and struck pay dirt in their astute observation that the Twin…

Being in charge of the Minneapolis schools has never been easy. The job carries very high turnover and your primary constituent groups are often at odds with one another. One…

Joly, who left the Carson travel conglomerate for Best Buy in August 2012, has taken the company from code blue to Renew Blue, a five-part intiative designed to resuscitate the…

Doug Baker is rewarding Ecolab shareholders with higher-than-expected earnings for 2014, thanks mainly to last year’s strategic acquisition of Champion Technologies, which is tapping the booming energy market. He is…