Innovation + Job News

There are plenty of new lunch trucks zipping around the metro, but keep your eyes out for a different kind of fresh food delivery system.
 
Twin Cities Local Food aims to connect farmers with customers in a unique way: by playing middleman. Started by Josh Kelly, who left the corporate world to pursue his dream of providing fresh, healthy food to the local community, the service intends to give people year-round access to locally grown and produced food.
 
Farmers benefit because they can directly market, sell, and package their own products, and customers can order online weekly and then pick up their food at a location in South Minneapolis. The system has been successful in other states, such as Michigan, but hasn't been tried here before. The first orders went out just last week, and Kelly is excited to see the online marketplace grow as it becomes better known.
 
"This is a different kind of model, but we feel that it's needed," he says. "People are busy, and sometimes they just want the convenience of shopping for good, local food online and picking it up easily."
 
The service includes numerous types of products, including fresh produce, meats and poultry, eggs, honey, syrup, dairy, grains, and preserved foods.
 
Kelly created the company with his wife, Natalie, and he notes that they always knew they'd make great business partners. Twin Cities Local Food is fulfilling that prediction, and they're both eager to keep the orders rolling in.
 
Source: Josh Kelly, Twin Cities Local Food
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

At accounting and advisory firm Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, industry experts advise clients on a range of issues, such as management, taxes, transactions, and international expansion. However, when the industries intersect, things can get even more interesting.
 
That's what's occurring among three to four practice areas within the firm, says John Jackels, Renewable Energy Development and Finance Manager, who notes that the energy group and waste management group are crossing paths with the food and beverage group. The result: huge potential for turning food waste into renewable energy.
 
Baker Tilly recently spoke at the International Cheese Technology Expo, on the topic of cheese waste becoming an energy product. Although it would take an awful lot of cheese to create a major energy source, when you consider the amount of other food waste that results from manufacturing, the impact could be formidable, Jackels believes.
 
"Food and beverage manufacturers all have waste as a result of production," he says. "This is called 'high-strength waste' because it requires more time and energy to process. Right now, manufacturers are paying a surcharge for this service, but what if we can use that by-product for energy? Then it would be prevented from going into the watershed, and we'd have a renewable source of energy."
 
Baker Tilly is looking into tax credits and other federal incentives, and plans to bring together clients from its multiple industry groups to begin working toward more food-to-fuel solutions. Jackels notes that in the near future more treatment facilities could be built to handle the conversion process. Baker Tilly will look at the financial support needed to handle these projects, and play a lead role in shepherding the process.
 
"This type of effort is just going to continue to get larger as people look for more ways to cut down on waste and find renewable energy sources," says Jackels. "As a result, we can drive more jobs and expansion as well."
 
Source: John Jackels, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

Most people don't think about the light bulbs that illuminate their homes and offices, but Jennifer Sethre isn't like most people.
 
One of the partners in the new Minnetonka-based venture Lumena, Sethre has been deeply involved with the lighting industry during her career, and is eager to drive more attention and sales to this fresh venture.
 
Started about a year ago, Lumena is an LED lighting manufacturer that already has operations in Miami and Denver, as well as a 700,000-square-foot factory in China. Going up against major competitors, the company is working to replace the traditional lighting used at large facilities like hospitals and factories with eco-friendly LED alternatives.
 
"When starting Lumena, we didn't want to be average," says Sethre. "We didn't want to be one more lighting manufacturer. We want to be great, and we think that takes just a little extra effort."
 
Although the company has barely had its first anniversary, business is already booming, thanks to strategic partnerships, sales and marketing efforts, and a market eager for new products. Sethre believes that the timing is crucial--before now, the LED lighting market wasn't quite ready, she thinks. But now, with the increasing push for environmentally friendly alternatives and a lower price point for products, the time is right.
 
"Our success is due to our innovation, I believe," says Sethre. "It may sound cheesy, but we really do pride ourselves on our products. We're excited to see where we can take this, and we believe that we'll just keep expanding from here."
 
Source: Jennifer Sethre, Lumena
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

"Taxi" is a universal word, the same in nearly every language. So, when entrepreneur Peggy Paul wanted to start a new company that would take off quickly and have cross-cultural resonance, she went with SheTaxi.
 
Paul began the company in 2010 after being laid off from a previous position as an "intrapreneur" who started companies within existing companies. She'd had cancer in 2004 at the age of 34, and she saw the layoff as part of a larger change she'd been making ever since her illness—to lead a life that was non-toxic and spiritually aware.
 
"After getting sick, I'd go on well-being sites and read blogs about different topics, like meditation," she says. "But alongside that content were ads for liposuction and celebrity gossip. I wanted a place where women could go and talk about real stuff in their lives, without being bombarded by that kind of junk."
 
SheTaxi became a personal development site that brought together insight on balance and well-being. Paul and others also provide coaching and training services as well as events like "Bringing Your Type A Life into Balance."
 
The site is geared toward working women, and Paul envisions an annual retreat where women can come together and connect to learn from each other. She's currently in the process of fundraising, and once some funding comes in, she plans to hire employees to keep the growth going.
 
"We're in an early stage right now, but I think it's very exciting to see how it's all coming together," she says.
 
Source: Peggy Paul, SheTaxi
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

As a registered dietician, Tamara Brown is used to counseling people about healthy food choices. Now, she can just take their order instead.
 
Brown had been leading classes and cooking on her own, but a few months ago she decided to take a leap of professional faith and go from advisor to purveyor. Her new venture, Sassy Spoon, will be rolling out at the beginning of May.
 
The food truck, with its distinctive logo and bright pink hue, stands out visually but also provides a unique culinary experience: gluten-free, high quality, low-glycemic food on the go.
 
"I felt like it would be such a fun idea to pair my nutrition background with a food truck," she says. "I've always wanted to have my own business, but never had an idea that really felt like a fit until now."
 
Brown will be basing her dishes around foods used to regulate insulin, which can help balance moods and energy levels. She's focusing on vegetable-oriented carbohydrates, to prevent the type of energy crashes that come from eating refined carbs.
 
Most of all, she aims to make the choices delicious. Her menu picks include braised beef, sweet potato hash, ginger-garlic coleslaw, and wild rice salad with black beans. Who says eating healthy has to taste boring?
 
She sees the venture as exhilarating, but also terrifying. "This is the scariest thing I've ever done," she says. "It's been a huge personal challenge, but I've always been drawn to women who have their own businesses, who put themselves out there. I respect them so much, and now I have the chance to be one of those women."
 
Source: Tamara Brown, Sassy Spoon
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

Many brides have fond memories their wedding days, but Meghan Phillips has an unusual recollection: the power of the photo booth.
 
She and her husband Jacob (founder of RoadTab, which was previously covered in The Line) had a photo booth at their nuptials, since she's always had an affinity for the quirky kiosks, and the French film Amélie just deepened that love.
 
In November 2011, they decided to create a side business, to help other wedding parties and guests, as well as corporate workshop attendees. VP Booths was born, and Phillips says it's taken off nicely.
 
"I've been surprised at how many people want booths at their events," she says. "We'll be busy for quite some time."
 
In order to accommodate more people in the booths, she and Jacob designed a kiosk that would be larger inside, and have a partition rather than a curtain. Because she missed having video clips from her own wedding, Phillips made sure that users could record short video messages as well as opt for traditional photo strips.
 
In terms of growth, Phillips has been talking with relatives in other states, as well as an entrepreneur in Canada, but nothing has been decided yet about possible expansion.
 
"Right now, we're just having fun with it, and enjoying creating the business together," says Phillips, then she laughs. "We now have a one-year-old, so working on VP Booths is like date night."
 
Source: Meghan Phillips, VP Booths
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

Google Workshop: Get Your Business Online
 
May 3
Rasmussen College
3500 Federal Drive, Eagan
10am - 11:30am
free
 
Create and publish a website for your business in less than an hour. Presenters will also teach attendees how to customize their Google Places online listing, and how to optimize their new websites. Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops. For more insight, stick around for the afternoon, when another free workshop, "Grow Your Business Online" will be presented.
 
International Conference on Robotics and Automation
 
May 14 - 18
RiverCentre, St. Paul
Rates vary; visit conference website for more info
 
The theme for this year's ICRA conference is "Robots and Automation: Innovation for Tomorrow's Needs." Some of the top researchers and entrepreneurs in the field will gather for numerous discussions on topics like nanorobotics and bio-integrated robotics. There will also be six "robot challenges" in which teams compete to solve problems in areas like integrated perception.
 
RailsBridge

May 20 & 21
Guthrie Theater, 8th floor classrooms
free
 
RailsBridge workshops were started about three years ago as a way to create more female Ruby developers in San Francisco. Now the organization will bring its expertise to Minneapolis, giving attendees a chance to look at every step involved in deploying a Ruby on Rails application.
 
Tech.2012
 
May 22
The Metropolitan
5418 Wayzata Blvd., Golden Valley
$25 for members of The Collaborative, $75 for non-members; rates increase after May 11
 
As part of The Collaborative's Vanguard Series for this year, the Tech.2012 event features a series of conversational sessions, breakfast, and networking opportunities. Speakers will focus on areas like cloud computing and how it's changing business, the app economy, and changing Minnesota business models. Scheduled to participate in panels are entrepreneurs and established business leaders from companies like Code 42 Software, UnitedHealth Group, and Split Rock Partners.

In a January opinion piece in TechCrunch, entrepreneur Jon Bischke suggested the most successful urban leaders are those who view cities like startups. CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders dedicated to creating next-generation cities, will examine that premise at its 2012 Spring National Meeting: The City As a Startup--Creating Demand, Attracting Talent, Taking Risks, and Going to Scale.

The meeting is set for May 17-18 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati and is made possible with support from The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation. Former AOL Chairman and CEO Steve Case will deliver the morning keynote and also sit on a panel conversation about Startup America.

CEOs for Cities will also release its latest City Vitals report, a framework for measuring the success of cities. Other panels include considering Songdo, South Korea as the planet's smartest city and using the collective-impact approach to catalyze social change. There will also be opportunities to tour Cincinnati attractions and examples of success.

Register here. View a draft agenda here.

Issue Media Group, the parent company of The Line, partners with CEOs for Cities in exploring new options for urban growth.

About 13 years ago, business partners Cameron Henkel and Dave Gooden were both looking for lake property and shared their war stories about going through newspaper listings and calling multiple realtors.
 
"We wondered why there wasn't a one-stop shop for that kind of thing," says Henkel. "So, we decided to create it for ourselves." The pair had been selling computer equipment online, and began adding cabin rentals on their site as well. About a year later, they had about 600 realtors and thousands of properties on their site, LakePlace.com.
 
They decided to expand in 2006 and become a real estate brokerage. That meant giving up their classified-ad revenue and taking a big chance. Henkel says, "We had to make a bet that being a brokerage would be better. It was hard to make that gamble, but it paid off."
 
They added another site to the lineup, LandBin.com, and opened offices in Brainerd, Hayward, and Wayzata. They employ 30 real estate agents and LakePlace.com has become the second most visited site in the Midwest, with 1.5 million visitors a year.
 
"We're growing every day, I'm not kidding," says Gooden. "Hopefully, we'll be making some exciting announcements this year. We have a solid roadmap of where to go."
 
The founders, who've been friends since kindergarten, foresee abundant growth through acquisitions and hiring. And for site visitors, there's finally a place to shop for cabins and land without resorting to the classifieds.
 
Source: Cameron Henkel, Dave Gooden, LakePlace.com
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

Discarded potato waste, manure from dairy cows, and piles of old onions: could these be the ingredients for a renewable fuel source?
 
Those at Novus Energy think so, and they're working to take "low-value" products such as these and turn them into high-value energy.
 
Started about seven years ago, the Minneapolis company based its name on the Latin word for "novel, new, fresh." The three founders saw the effects of the ethanol boom and thought that there would be an even better way to achieve energy independence.
 
"Our chemistry is very innovative, and makes us different than traditional approaches," says CEO Joseph Burke. "We create energy from waste, taking items that might be discarded and turning them into biomethane and liquid fertilizer."
 
The startup faces challenges in terms of funding and adoption of its technology, Burke says. In the case of its fertilizer, the liquid organic emulsion it produces isn't yet in high demand since it's not as utilized in the agriculture market.
 
However, with growing interest in organic farming, and a social trend toward more sustainable products, Burke is confident that Novus will be the fresh approach the market needs.
 
Currently, the firm employs four people, and plans to grow at a manageable rate. Burke notes that the company is structured to bring in partners in order to have a smaller staff, so it can remain a nimble startup. In terms of market growth, though, the opportunities seem endless.
 
"Wherever there's a combination of low-value feedstock and food processing, we'll have a market," says Burke.
 
Source: Joseph Burke, Novus Energy
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

Never underestimate the power of a basement office.
 
Take recruitment professional Stacey Stratton. She decided to leave the Minneapolis-based staffing firm Celarity and strike out on her own in 2008 to start True Talent Group, and she laughs now about the timing: "It was a terrible time to start a business, just dismal."
 
But she wanted to give it a try anyway. She set herself up in the basement, with a bathmat as her office rug, and told her husband that she was giving herself 60 days to make it work. Over the next year, she did sales recruiting, and then got back into working with creative professionals. "I'm so passionate about this industry, I just love it," she says. "And that's translated into triple-digit growth."
 
In 2009, she brought on three employees and all work out of their homes, which Stratton believes is beneficial for achieving a strong work/life balance.
 
Although the firm initially focused only on permanent placement for creatives, the industry at the time was more geared toward contract work, so Stratton added freelancers to the pool. She focuses on marketing and creative professionals partly because marketing is her background, but mainly because she finds the fields exciting.
 
"There's nothing cooler than looking at great creative," she says. "Also, creative is its own animal. If someone says they need a production artist, we know exactly who to find. There's value in sticking with a niche instead of trying to build expertise in all areas."
 
To keep the growth rolling, Stratton will be launching a new website in the near future, and focusing on keeping her 90 percent referral rate. "The Twin Cities has such a vibrant community when it comes to marketing and creative," she says. "That makes our opportunities seem limitless."
 
Source: Stacey Stratton, True Talent Group
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

Assessing tornado damage, mapping Minnesota's water quality, creating new views of the Frogtown neighborhood, measuring the performance of a fire department's response: these tasks might seem unrelated, but they fall under the umbrella of geographics research, and a new startup is ready to take on even more.
 
Flat Rock Geographics, based in St. Paul, is the blend of two previous startup companies, mixing the skills and talents of their founders.
 
Paul Wickman started Northstar Geographics in 2007, growing it into a sizeable organization with international clients. GIS Rangers, started by Blaine Hackett in 2002, provided on-site GIS services to numerous municipalities, watershed districts, and private clients.
 
The two met while sharing coworking office space at CoCo, and Hackett notes that they complemented each other nicely. "Paul is more into web application development, and I'm in the geographic information systems realm," he says. "In this field, you get many people from a geography background, but they don't know much about computer science. Now, we have the best of both worlds."
 
They kicked off 2012 with the formation of the new company, and already they have a robust list of services that they offer, including GIS consulting, web applications, mobile apps, and geospatial business intelligence. Clients include municipalities like Fridley and Columbia Heights, as well as the Science Museum of Minnesota, 3M, and Second Harvest Heartland.
 
Projects can vary--the Frogtown effort, for example, had Flat Rock look at map data collected by interns over the past few years. There wasn't any consistency to the mapping, so Flat Rock created a tool that allowed users to do mobile data collection about the neighborhood.
 
For the future, Hackett believes that Flat Rock is off to a strong start, thanks to the business and market experience of its founders. "This is a very exciting time for us," he says. "We're looking forward to seeing where we can go." 
 
Source: Blaine Hackett, Flat Rock Geographics
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

As more companies focus on providing preventive health services to employees, RedBrick Health is finding itself in constant hiring mode.
 
"As we expand our ability to innovate, we're seeing growth in client numbers and in employees," says Eric Zimmerman, the company's chief marketing officer.
 
Founded six years ago, the Minneapolis-based firm offers health improvement platforms designed to increase employee engagement and provide reporting and analytics to clients.
 
"There's a rising tide of interest in these types of platforms right now," Zimmerman says. "If you look at health care costs and insurance costs, you can see that it's imperative to create high-performing work forces, particularly in a rapid timeframe."
 
As a way to get employees more involved in health initiatives, RedBrick recently launched a mobile version of its platform. The app allows people to check in with a health coach, track progress with a personalized plan, and play games related to health. For example, a company that's sponsoring a weight loss contest might create teams, and an employee can use a mobile device to see how the team is doing on the leaderboard.
 
"The market is very hungry for this type of approach," says Zimmerman. "Employers are frustrated with the slow-moving 'legacy' approaches."
 
RedBrick has seen triple-digit growth for the past three years, and the strong emphasis on innovation means that it's hiring most within its technology departments.
 
"We'll continue on this trajectory," Zimmerman notes. "We're seeing robust growth, and we're looking forward to keeping that going."
 
Source: Eric Zimmerman, RedBrick Health
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

Finding a savvy mechanic can be a challenge, especially if you want to compare multiple quotes. But if RoadTab finds its footing, that search might take only a few clicks instead of a dozen phone calls.
 
Started in January by entrepreneur Jacob Phillips, RoadTab stems from Phillips' experience as an owner of a small car dealership. He constantly had to call auto repair shops, and felt that there had to be a better way. So he partnered with Twin Cities web and mobile development firm Tiny Mission and developed a free system that brings together mechanics and consumers.
 
Users can anonymously input their vehicle's make, model, year, and repair issue. By also inputting zip code, they can search for a shop within a certain radius. Mechanics get a notification of the job and respond with a parts and labor estimate.
 
Mechanics can choose between two membership levels: a free level that lets them get three repair queries per month, or $199 per year for receiving unlimited queries.
 
One strength of the service is that consumers can send in queries for a specific job--such as windshield repair--and get only auto glass repair shops in response.
 
The next phase, due within a few months, is the inclusion of reviews from people who have used the system to find shops. Phillips notes that the app is also expanding to Milwaukee this month.
 
"We'll be moving throughout the Midwest, and eventually we'd love to have this be national," he says. "People are really responding well to the service, because we've simplified it as much as possible. You can send out a query about brake pads, for example, and get quotes from two dozen mechanics about what it would cost to replace them."
 
The company's name is based on the cost of upkeep, or “tab," that a car owner builds up over time, Phillips says. With this new app, that tab may be more reasonable in the future, he believes.
 
Source: Jacob Phillips, RoadTab
Writer: Elizabeth Millard

It's a simple idea, artfully executed: people who are seriously ill create one central, online page where they can update friends and family about health changes and treatments. This reduces the need for the ill person to repeat the same information, while still keeping loved ones informed.
 
That concept sparked the creation of CaringBridge back in 1997, and since then the site has recorded more than 1.8 billion visits, with more than 250,000 personal pages created. Founder and CEO Sona Mehring notes that as the site keeps growing, the potential for its use expands.
 
"When we started, the phrase 'social networking' didn't exist," she recalls. "But the idea that you can support people through online connections was a powerful one, and it still is. We're looking at how to take CaringBridge to the next level of connection."
 
A nonprofit organization, CaringBridge employs 68 people, and hired nearly 40 percent of them within the last year and a half. That surge came from increased popularity and a stronger focus on innovation, Mehring notes.
 
The next iteration of the site will have a new service that will allow users to schedule tasks for the friend or family member who's ill. For example, a visitor to a page might see a calendar that lists doctor visits and a request for rides to the clinic offices. Using the online planner, the visitor can sign up to provide a ride on a specific day.
 
This significantly reduces the need for an ill person to ask for help with certain tasks, and it gives friends and family members more options for assistance.
 
"This is our first step in expanding our services, and we're very excited about providing more options like this," says Mehring. "People who use CaringBridge are going through a journey, and we want to be able to help them with that, in any way we can."
 
Source: Sona Mehring, CaringBridge
Writer: Elizabeth Millard