Creative Leadership : Buzz

Business magazine Forbes released its ranking of "America's 100 Most Trustworthy Companies" and three Minnesota companies made the list: Hawkins, Apogee Enterprises, and Patterson Companies.
 
The magazine rated U.S. companies using AGR scores, a statistical method that links accounting reports with financial statements and governance to detect any fraudulent activity. Companies on the list also show positive forecasts for equity returns, and don't have any SEC enforcement actions pending. The analyst firm that provided the rankings, GMI Ratings, noted that 60 different governance and forensic accounting measures were used.
 
The companies on the list have "consistently demonstrated transparent and conservative accounting practices and solid corporate governance and management," Forbes noted. "They do not play games with revenue and expense recognition, or with asset valuation."

Last week, the James Beard Foundation released the names of the nominees in its various chef and restaurant award categories, in Charleston, S.C., Vita.MN reports.
 
Jack Riebel, the chef and co-owner of Butcher and the Boar in downtown Minneapolis, is up for best chef at these “Oscars of the food world,” according to Vita.MN.

Riebel used to work at the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant in Minneapolis and La Belle Vie in Stillwater, the story states.
 
Michelle Gayer, the chef and owner of the Salty Tart, who’s been nominated for outstanding pastry chef before, is a candidate for regional best chef.
 


 

The Current blog has a recent post about Minnesotans in the running for a couple of Independent Music Awards, in which individual songs are judged by a group of well-known artists.

Sleep Study, a pop quartet, is up for an award in the Indie/Alt. Rock category for “Flower Song,” which the post describes as “a lo-fi, driving ’70s pop cut off their debut full-length, 2012′s Nothing Can Destroy.”

Secondly, Minnesota Remembers Vic Chesnutt, a compilation, is a nominee in the Tribute Album category. Luke Redfield, a Duluth songwriter, led the project, which nonprofit Rock the Cause released. It features covers of Chesnutt songs by local performers, including Dan Wilson, Haley Bonar, Dave Simonett, and Charlie Parr.

The results of the contest will be tallied up later this summer.

Business magazine Forbes recently released its annual list of the world's billionaires, and five Minnesotans landed on the roster again, with no real surprises since they've been on the list in the past and are all prominent in the state's business scene.
 
Tying at number 316 (out of nearly 1,500 billionaires) are Barbara Carlson Gage and her sister, Marilyn Carlson Nelson, each with a net worth of $4.1 billion. The two own Carlson jointly, and saw their fortunes rise significantly over last year, when they each had a net worth of $2.5 billion.
 
Coming in at 395th on the list is Whitney MacMillan, one of the owners of Cargill, considered the largest private company in the United States. He has a slight increase in net worth over last year, from $3.3 billion in 2012 to $3.4 billion today.
 
Stanley Hubbard, chairman and CEO of Hubbard Broadcasting, is 704 on the list with $2.1 billion in net worth, while the fifth Minnesotan is Glen Taylor, majority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and founder of Taylor Corporation. Number 719 on the list, Taylor has a net worth of $1.7 billion.
 
Best Buy founder Richard Schulze also appeared on the list as he did last year, but he isn't identified as a Minnesotan this year, since a city of residence isn't listed for him. Twin Cities Business spoke with Schulze's daughter, who told the magazine that her father's primary residence is in Florida.

DC.Streetsblog.org gives a shout-out to the Twin Cities’ Nice Ride bike-sharing program in a post, “Midwest Cities Race to Adopt, and Grow, Bike-Share.”

Recently, Pittsburgh announced it was adding a similar program, while several other cities plan to follow suit.

The post goes on to say, “And of course there’s the grandaddy of them all: Minneapolis’ Nice Ride. Launched in 2010, this system currently boasts more than 1,200 bikes. Late last year, the system surpassed half a million trips.”

The post also includes a photo of a local bicyclist taking advantage of the pioneering bike-sharing program.

The Walker Art Center’s Internet Cat Video Festival was “an unparalleled and unexpected success,” according to a museum magazine piece.

The film festival turned out to be a viral success, “sparking news headlines worldwide, the festival itself saw the convergence of 10,000 people—some in costumes, others cradling kitty companions, all feline fanatics—on the Walker’s hillside one warm August evening last year,” it reads.

The festival has since led to a national tour, lots of media attention and an expanded event for next year. And a "legitimate" film festival in Austria has made a bid to host it.

Scott Stulen of the Walker is quoted, saying, “It was something unique. Also, we were very aware that we were tapping into a powerful meme, and we knew there was some interest with it.”

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Minnesota is becoming a top state for telecommuting, as more employees work from home.
 
The StarTribune reports that the Twin Cities posted the fifth-biggest increase among metro areas in workers who are based at home at least part time. According to the agency's estimates, about 82,500 people in the state telecommute part-time or full-time.
 
Among the states containing the top 10 metro areas in the country, Minnesota is the only state with two additional large telecommuting job areas, Mankato and St. Cloud. According to the StarTribune, the exceptionally high work-at-home numbers in those two cities may be an extension of the same phenomenon as in the Twin Cities--tech-savvy employers and, in the words of a Mankato city official, "a culture in this state where people have a good work ethic and can be trusted to work at home.”

City Parks Alliance, a national urban parks advocacy group, has set its sights on the Twin Cities for its 2017 International Urban Parks Conference.

In a prepared statement, Catherine Nagel, who heads the alliance, says the park systems demonstrate “some of the most innovative work happening today around urban park planning, design and programming and each clearly demonstrates the power of partnerships in creating and sustaining urban parks.”

The Twin Cities have two of the most established park systems in the country, the prepared statement reads. That has contributed to the Twin Cities’ reputation as “green cities.”  

“Anchored by the iconic Mississippi River, the Twin Cities offer more than 350 parks and open spaces for experiential learning,” the statement adds.

St. Paul’s Community Neighborhood Housing Services recently put together its own version of the “Harlem Shake,” the music and dance video that went viral on YouTube in February.

Thousands of 30-second “Harlem Shake” videos featuring part of the song went up on YouTube every day when the Internet meme hit its peak.    

In the video, staffers break out in a dance in what appears to be the office lobby.

“Our counselors are up on the latest trends,” it states on the organization’s Facebook page, adding, “It was a great team-builder.”

Three major Minnesota companies have made Fortune magazine's annual list of the world's 50 most admired companies. Target Corporation, St. Jude Medical, and 3M all won a spot, although last year's 50th place entry, General Mills, did not make the list this year.
 
Fortune judged companies based on the opinions of 3,800 executives, directors, and analysts, who were asked to rank companies based on attributes such as quality of products and services, global competitiveness, financial soundness, and social responsibility.
 
The magazine noted that 3M, at number 21 on the list, is "in the history books as one of the world's most innovative companies." Fortune pointed out that 3M is an idea-generating machine, and aims to have 30 percent of its $30 billion annual revenue come from products introduced in the last five years.
 
Target, at number 22, is "known for selling cheap products that don't feel, well, cheap," the magazine noted, before praising the retailer's decision to debut a new collection of stores that promise modern luxury.
 
For the sixth year in a row, Apple was at the top of the list, with Google coming in second place.
 

Minneapolis has the sixth largest arts economy in the country, according to city information.

A report from the Creative Index, which takes into account arts jobs, consumer spending, and revenue of arts organizations, shows that in Minneapolis, the arts scene “is an integral, thriving part of the local economy that has stayed steady even during tough economic times,” the city’s website states.

Go here to see the Minneapolis Creative Index data for 2013.

The index used some indicators “that have never been measured before in Minneapolis,” drilling down to the zip-code level.

Other cities that came out ahead of Minneapolis in the Creative Index include Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston.

Minneapolis outpaced the national average creative index score by 4.8 times, according to city information.

Local artist Jennifer Davis got a shout-out in the national art magazine, Juxtapoz.

Scroll through a gallery of her work on the magazine’s website.

Davis, who has shown her work all over the U.S., Canada and the U.K., studied art at the University of Minnesota.

It was during that time that she fell in love with painting and drawing, specifically. She’s continued to work in those mediums since she graduated with a B.F.A. in 1998.

“Her portraits of people and animals, acrylic paintings on panel (and sometimes paper) have a surreal candy-land exterior full of innocent charm, which only hint at an undercurrent of darker truths," says the magazine. 
 

The University of Minnesota's recent decision to begin offering free online courses via development firm Coursera caused a nice amount of stir after the announcement. Local business and news publications highlighted the story, as well as popular technology blog TechCrunch.
 
A story in the Pioneer Press noted that the university is among a growing number of educational institutions that will be offering free online courses. These types of courses have attracted millions of students, the article states, and five U. of M. professors have already signed on to create the courses.
 
"This partnership will give people from around the world the opportunity to learn from the U's world-class faculty at a time when we are working harder than ever to increase access to higher education, reach broader audiences, and strengthen our land-grant mission," University Provost Karen Hanson told the Pioneer Press.
 

Fast Horse featured Public Functionary, a new nonprofit art gallery in Northeast Minneapolis, in a Q&A on its blog.

The post’s author, Jen Kreilich, was among the 230 people who contributed to the gallery’s $30,000 Kickstarter campaign.

Right now, the gallery is preparing for an event centering on building momentum for such a campaign.

Kreilich says in the post, “I can’t wait for Public Functionary to open its doors. I’m thrilled by their focus on making art more accessible, cultivating young collectors and using content to expand the experience beyond the walls of a gallery.”

Major local companies Target and ReconRobotics have landed on business and technology magazine Fast Company's recent list of "Most Innovative Companies 2013."
 
Given the number of technology firms on the list, Target was a surprise pick, but Fast Company noted that it scored a place at the number 10 spot (out of 50) for its ability to "shrink the big box" with a forward-thinking, half-size store that's ideal for urban environments.
 
The smaller footprint stores were launched in Chicago, Seattle, and Los Angeles last year, and the magazine noted the appeal of strong signage, the use of rehabbed buildings, and free WiFi.
 
Robot maker ReconRobotics got a nod at number 44 for "building the stealthiest robot you'll never see." The article notes that the company's strong growth--with 2012 revenue nearly four times that of 2010 — makes it an innovative company worth watching.