As our editorial team deliberated over the cover of our Person of the Year issue—every color, every word, even the precise placement of the caption that ultimately landed under Tim Connelly’s right foot—I couldn’t help but think: No one outside of our media bubble would believe the time and minutiae that go into making a magazine cover. But then, I’m sure that’s true in your work, too—all the details you pore over so that others can seamlessly experience the results of your work. It’s like the holiday feast that takes weeks to plan, hours to cook, and mere minutes to devour.

In that spirit, I hope our cover caught your attention for at least a moment or two. There’s photographer Nate Ryan’s elegant and powerful portrait of Connelly, Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations, which hints at why TCB’s editors chose him to be our person of the year. It’s not just the fairy-tale NBA playoff run that captivated our state this past spring and gave us hope (despite a rocky start to the current season) for 2025. It’s Connelly’s bold and strategic decision-making that finally turned the long-suffering Wolves (and Wolves fans) into contenders. His thoughtful determination produced results, as executive editor Adam Platt details in his profile. There’s much to be gleaned from that approach to leadership, even for those of us who work far off-court.

Another cover element that might have caught your eye: our updated nameplate, which aligns our print magazine with our online and in-person identity as TCB—from our TCB Daily Brief newsletter to our TCB Talks live conversation series. This is only the fourth iteration of the Twin Cities Business logo to grace the cover in the magazine’s 31-year history, so you know we don’t take this change lightly.

But there’s a fine line between consistency and complacency, and as we continue to evolve and expand our multimedia reach, we wanted to kick off the new year with a fresh update that reflects TCB’s energy: nimble yet grounded.

We believe in the gravitas of print and in putting something physical in the world that’s designed to make you stop and think, to spark a conversation, and—particularly in the case of this issue, which includes our annual TCB 100 list—to be a point of celebration and a valuable resource. Go ahead—dog-ear pages, circle headshots, make notes in the margins about the people you need to meet and the projects you want to follow.

We don’t take for granted the time you spend with us—in print, in person, on tcbmag.com, and via podcasts, newsletters, and social media—and that’s why we took pains to get this right. A great deal of credit goes to TCB art director Mike Novak, who has touched every inch of every page of the magazine you’re holding. He makes it look easy. “I tried to be bold and clean,” he says of the call to think about how TCB could show up in its next era. “It looks so simple up there, but it was a long journey to get to this particular combination.” And when our team—including publisher Shelly Elmore, creative director Michael Norseng, and president of MSP Communications’ Cities Media Group Jayne Haugen Olson—saw it, we knew it was the one.

Here’s hoping for more moments of clarity that move you and your work forward in 2025.