Strong Local Economy : Buzz

U.S. News & World Report recently released its annual "Best Hotels" rankings, listed according to state.
 
Of the 272 hotels in Minneapolis and St. Paul, 16 received recognition on the list, with the rest coming in from elsewhere in the state. Rankings are based on an unbiased analysis of awards, expert recommendations, and user ratings.
 
Nabbing first place is Graves 601, in Minneapolis. The hotel draws a "trendy, urban crowd that aims to be at the center of the city's orbit," the news magazine notes, adding that its location across from Target Center is ideal for exploring the city, and that amenities are abundant.
 
Rounding out the top three are The Saint Paul Hotel, chosen for its history and comfort, and Hotel Ivy, singled out for spacious rooms and luxurious bedding.
 
None of the state's hotels made the top 100 in the US. The magazine determined that the best hotel in the country is Amangani in Jackson, Wyoming.

Employee survey company WorkplaceDynamics released a poll of employees at nearly 900 companies across the country, and a dozen Minnesota companies are recognized as "top workplaces" on the list.
 
The company surveyed businesses with at least 1,000 employees, and asked employees to rate 22 factors involved in job satisfaction, including training opportunities, company values, pay rates, and benefits, as well as work-life balance.
 
On the list of 150 workplaces, the top-ranked local company is the Minnesota Twins, coming in at number 11. Following that within the top 50 are Bremer Bank, Graco Inc., Mortenson Construction, and Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare.
 
 Quicken Loans in Detroit was named as the top workplace in the country, with The Container Store coming in second and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation at number three.

A story in the Southwest Journal highlights a documentary film, “Food for Change,” which features a number of local food cooperatives.

“The Twin Cities enjoys the greatest concentration of food co-ops in the country,” the story reads.

This fact piqued the interest of Steve Alves, a Massachusetts filmmaker.

He wound up producing “Food for Change,” which includes footage of The Wedge Natural Foods Coop and Linden Hills Co-op in Minneapolis and Eastside Food Co-op in St. Paul.

““Food for Change” was recently screened at the United Nations as part of the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives, and many local co-ops provided funding for the project,” the story reads.

Wedge membership and marketing manager Elizabeth Archerd is quoted in the story, saying, “We have such a rich history in the food co-op world, and our founders are maturing,” adding, “Their stories need to be told. ... We were on board right away.”

The Atlantic Cities ran a story in January from Richard Florida that asks, “Does Human Capital Tend to Cluster in Center Cities or the Suburbs?”

Human capital, another way to describe educated people, represents “a key factor in the growth of cities and metro regions,” the story reads.

Florida studied the way that human capital spreads out in cities and suburbs throughout the country and its impact on local economies. He used 2000 U.S. Census data to get the percentages of college grads for those areas.

Minneapolis and St. Paul are among the top 10 large metros with the most college grads in the center city, it reads. About 35 percent of the area’s residents hold bachelor’s degrees, the study found.   

“Knowledge-based high tech metros top the list,” the story states.

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America and the Mayo Clinic both nabbed spots on Fortune magazine's recent, annual list of "100 Best Companies to Work For."
 
Although both made the list last year, the Mayo Clinic showed a significant jump over its previous ranking. It's in 41st place in the current list, compared to 71st place in 2012. Allianz went the other direction, but only slightly, coming in at 59th this year, down from 51st last year.
 
Fortune noted that Mayo stands out for its on-site massages, as well as "stress-free zones" that let employees take a break from hectic workday schedules.
 
The list is compiled based on employee surveys, which cover job satisfaction areas such as hiring, pay rates, and benefit programs. This year, employees at 259 companies participated, according to Fortune.
 
Topping the list for the fourth time is Google, which is rich with perks like wellness centers, a seven-acre sports complex, and a roller hockey rink.

Open Table, the restaurant reservation website, recently put together a list of its top 100 picks for dining out across the country.

The Capital Grille in downtown Minneapolis and Restaurant Alma in the city’s Marcy-Holmes neighborhood both made the list, beating out thousands of other restaurants.

“Out of more than 5 million restaurant reviews submitted by OpenTable diners for more than 15,000 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, these outstanding restaurants are the top 100 'Best Overall' restaurants in the nation for 2012,” an Open Table posting reads.

Several Minneapolis and St. Paul neighborhoods made ArtPlace America’s list for 2013 of the country’s top art destinations.

Every year, ArtPlace, a consortium of national arts groups, puts together a report that pinpoints the top “art places” in 33 of the country’s largest metro areas.  

Art places are those that have a “backbone of creative culture,” the ArtPlace website reads. Small local businesses and shops define these areas, which are often walkable. These are “neighborhoods where the arts are central to creating the kinds of places where people want to be.”

ArtPlace uses indicators such as the percentage of independent and arts-related businesses and organizations, walkability, and the number of people in creative professions.

In Minneapolis, Downtown West and Loring Park are on the list, while across the Mississippi River the Lowertown neighborhood is included.

The Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State reported that new business filings in 2012 represented an 18 percent increase over the previous year, and constituted the second highest number of new filings in the state's history.
 
Over 60,000 new businesses were filed last year. As noted by Twin Cities Business, the record was set in 2009, when the state had over 63,000 new filings. However, that increase is largely attributed to a shift in filing practices implemented by the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
 
"New business filings reflect Minnesota's great business climate," said Secretary Mark Ritchie in a statement. "As our economy continues to improve in 2013, new business filings will remain strong."  

Minneapolis is one of the top five cities for advancing in one’s career in 2013, according to Monster.com.

For those moving into a new city, a post from the website states, “it might be smart to factor wage and employment potential into your city choice.”

Monster looked at the online salary database to pull that kind of information for cities across the country.

It found that Minneapolis, rated fourth, is seeing 3.2 percent wage growth. The city “enjoys an economy that thrives on manufacturing, including electronics, medical equipment, and machinery,” while popular jobs are actuary, senior business manager, project manager, and marketing and category manager, according to Monster.

Houston topped the list, with 3.9 percent in wage growth.



 

Minneapolis is included in a list from BillMoyers.com of a dozen cities that are “leading the way in sustainability.”

For example, the city has put a lot of effort into becoming more bike-friendly: “With over 160 miles of bikeways, 85 miles of which don’t run alongside a road, Minneapolis is among America’s greener large cities,” it reads.

But that’s not the only area where Minneapolis is getting attention for its green initiatives.

It has also worked to promote the importance of tap water as opposed to bottled water. Also, Mayor R.T. Rybak has “recently become a major advocate for his city’s tap water, arguing that it is less expensive and better for the environment than bottled water,” the article states.

Pizzeria Lola in Minneapolis recently got props from Food and Wine magazine as one of the best pizza joints in the country.

On its website, Food and Wine quotes TV star and chef Andrew Zimmern, who says,

“Yes, it’s true, Minnesota has the best pizza in America,” adding, “Better than New York City and Chicago put together.”

Although the piece acknowledges that Zimmern, a Minnesotan, could be biased, “his favorite order makes a case for thinking outside those major pizzaiola hubs: The Sunnyside is topped with guanciale and leeks that have been caramelized in the cured pork fat and finished with a hint of cream. A sprinkle of Pecorino Romano cheese and two fresh sunny-side up eggs complete the recipe,” it reads.

Thanks to Scandinavian-inspired cuisine, Minneapolis has landed on Travel + Leisure's list of the Hottest Travel Destinations of 2013.
 
The magazine highlighted the "foraging-and-farming ethos" of Copenhagen's famed Noma restaurant as represented at Bachelor Farmer, which has the city's first-ever rooftop garden.
 
Also given a nod was Fika, the American Swedish Institute's new cafe, which opened in June. One to watch, the magazine notes, will be Union, run by Noma alum Jim Christiansen.
 
Only 13 destinations worldwide were chosen for the list, and Minneapolis was the only U.S. city to nab a spot. Other locales that got a nod include Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Marseilles, and Nepal.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis brought some economic sunshine to January, forecasting strong growth for the Midwest in the coming year.
 
The most growth is expected in North Dakota, where oil drilling continues to drive prosperity. But other states will see some robust activity as well, the Fed predicts.
 
The housing sector is showing signs of recovery and despite drought in many areas, agriculture is holding steady. Although there are some concerns lingering over national fiscal issues and governmental wrangles, personal income and employment are expected to grow in 2013, according to the Fed. That could drive more consumer spending.
 
The Fed's forecasting models show that employment will grow moderately in 2013, with stronger growth in North Dakota and Minnesota. 

The Capital Grille and Restaurant Alma, both located in Minneapolis, won rave reviews from the users of the OpenTable restaurant reservation system recently, landing both eateries on the site's "Top 100 Best Restaurants of 2012" list.
 
OpenTable notes that the list is based on over five million reviews from the diners who use the site. Reviews for more than 15,000 restaurants were considered in compiling the list.
 
Although both Minneapolis restaurants lean toward fine dining, the two local favorites chosen certainly have very different approaches. The Capital Grille is part of a nationwide chain of upscale steak-and-seafood restaurants, while Restaurant Alma derives its charm from the inventiveness of its owner/chef, Alex Roberts.
 
As for the rest of the list, California was the big winner, with 24 restaurants represented, followed by New York.

In a recent blog post at OnEarth.org, Andrea Northrup, who has won awards for her work to improve school lunches nationwide, talks about a strategic career move: coming to the Minneapolis Public Schools.   

She works for the district, “to source local food for school meals and coordinate food, nutrition, and agricultural education for the District’s 32,000 students,” the post states.

She credits Bertrand Weber, who leads the school district’s nutrition program, with making it possible for her to do this work. “He was hired at the start of 2012 to transform MPS’s school meal program, and knew that farm-to-school had to be a part of it,” she states.

The NRDC Growing Green Young Food Leader award, which she was given last May, “is one success that helped catapult me into this next exciting chapter of my career,” she says, adding, “Things are just getting started at MPS, but do look for news and updates about the exciting changes we’re making!”