Buzz

The locally produced comedy variety show “Wits” has made it to the next level.

A number of other National Public Radio stations are picking up the MPR show, which is recorded live at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul, Kare11 reports.   

“Wits” includes such well-known talent as singer Rufus Wainright and “30 Rock” alum Kristen Schall, the story states.   

The show’s senior producer, Larissa Anderson, describes the winning formula for “Wits,” which mixes improv, comedy, music, and theater: "It's comedy, it's music, it's surprises; and sometimes things go off the rails, and we love it when that happens,” she says.

Personal finance website NerdWallet celebrated May's designation as Small Business Month with a report on "Best Cities to Start a Business," and Minneapolis landed on its list of top 10 cities in the nation.
 
Coming in at number eight, Minneapolis was lauded for strength in healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services, and was called "a growing hotspot for startups and small businesses."
 
The city has a very low unemployment rate of 6.3 percent, the article noted, and a highly educated population. Minneapolis business resources got a nod, including technology group MHTA, nonprofit community development association MCCD, and technical assistance groups funded by the city.
 
The site calculated the results based on ease of obtaining funding, business-friendly resources, local economic indicators, hiring, and affordable living. The top three cities, according to NerdWallet, are Atlanta, Raleigh, and Austin.
 

Food and drink website The Daily Meal recently ran an article about dining options at Twin Cities museums, highlighting three major local museums.
 
Although the article is titled "Minneapolis' Best Museum Food," one of the entries is Cafe Minnesota at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul. The article notes that the cafe highlights sustainable, local ingredients, and offers self-service dining with a grill and an array of entrees.
 
Another notable museum dining experience, according to the site, is FIKA at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. The Nordic-inspired cafe serves a seasonally inspired menu dedicated to regional ingredients, which includes smoked sturgeon with pickled beets.
 
The third highlight is the Walker Art Center's Gather restaurant, which also focuses on locally sourced ingredients for its globally inspired dishes.
 
The article notes, "As we know at The Daily Meal, a key part of any traveling experience is the food. Although food service at a museum might not be the establishment's first priority, many do cater to their guests' appetites, and they do it well."

The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports that a Minnesota lawyer, John Levy, is teaming up with celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern on an Arizona food truck.

Levy leads the new Minnesota Food Truck Association.

The story quotes Levy as saying, “Through my friendship with Andrew and my experience as a business lawyer, I thought it would be cool on the side to have an interest in a food truck.”

The deVine Film Fest, which runs June 23, features six-second videos made by locals with the Vine app.

The film fest is a part of Comedy Corner Underground, which hosts an open mic night.

Right now, the group is accepting submissions for the film fest.

On the fest’s website, founder Andy Erikson writes, “My friends and I have loved using the Vine app immensely, and wanted a way to showcase the six-second videos made by local Minneapolis comedians and artists.”  

At the film fest, the best submissions will be played several times. “There will be prizes and also some standup comedy planned for the evening. The best part is, you don’t have to be from Minneapolis to submit, nor do you have to be a trained filmmaker,” the website states.

Online service Thumbtack.com, in partnership with the entrepreneurship organization Kauffman Foundation, conducted its second annual study about business friendliness, compiling survey results from over 7,000 small business owners throughout the United States.
 
Minnesota received a grade of "A-" in the study, showing marked improvement over its "B" grade in 2012. Survey respondents gave high grades to the ease of starting a business in the state and overall friendliness. Zoning and training programs both received lower scores of "B-."
 
In terms of areas for improvement, the state's small business owners gave the state a "D+" for ease of hiring and a "C+" for regulatory issues like health and safety and the tax code.
 
The site also includes some comments from survey respondents, highlighting both advantages and challenges for small businesses in the state. For example, the owner of a moving company in St. Paul complained that "workman's comp in Minnesota is extremely brutal," while an entrepreneur in Cottage Grove noted: "This is a great place to start a business." 

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport made the "World's Top 100 Airports" list, compiled by travel research firm Skytrax.
 
Coming in at number 71, down from 65th last year, the local airport is one of only 15 U.S. airports to make the list. The highest-ranked in the U.S. is Denver International Airport, at number 36.
 
Skytrax identified Singapore's Changi Airport, South Korea's Incheon International Airport, and Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport as the top three airports in the world.
 
The firm came up with its rankings through surveys filled out by over 12 million airline passengers over a nine-month period. The questionnaires covered almost 400 airports and asked respondents to rate aspects of service and performance, such as dining options, security procedures, baggage delivery, and cleanliness.

Next month, Peter Kelsey of the New French Bakery will be honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as the Small Business Person of the Year for Minnesota, according to the Star Tribune.

Kelsey, who started out modestly in 1997, “credits his success to hard work, luck and the SBA,” the story states.

In the past, he ran a small shop in the Warehouse District. “Kelsey believed bread could trump booze and a hard-rock joint,” but he needed the money to make it happen, the story states.

Luckily, others believed in him and the New French Bakery grew into the 400-person operation it is today, according to the story.

John Rimarcik, a Minneapolis restaurateur, is quoted in the story, saying that Kelsey "is just driven to be one of the best bread bakers in the United States."

The Twin Cities is in first place in the area of “wallet wellness,” according to an online company that compares credit cards, the Pioneer Press reports.  

The company defines “wallet wellness” cities as those that “lead to a financially satisfying, low-stress lifestyle,” the story reads.

To evaluate the country’s 30 major cities, the company examined “factors such as rate of job growth, cost of living and average commute time. CardHub.com listed the Twin Cities above second- and third-place finishers Houston and Dallas,” the story states.

Given the importance of science and technology in every aspect of social and professional life, being a nerd is a great thing, and it appears that Minneapolis has plenty of that greatness.
 
Real estate site Movoto recently released a list of "nerdiest" cities in the country, and found Minneapolis to be the 5th nerdiest, after Atlanta, Portland, Seattle, and Sacramento. Rounding out the top ten were Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, San Jose, and Denver.
 
The site created the ranking by measuring the number of science museums and computer stores in each city, as well as comic book stores, video game stores, and sci-fi/fantasy conventions. Even distance to a Renaissance faire was a factor.
 
In his blog post, survey author Randy Nelson noted that these cities are "Nerdvana" and that when nerds eventually take over the world, their new capital will be Atlanta. 

The Twin Cities brewery boom isn't going unnoticed.
 
Brewers Association, a craft beer organization, has released its annual list of the top 50 brewing companies in the U.S., based on 2012 beer sales volume.
 
Three Minnesota breweries appeared on the list: Summit Brewing Co., Cold Spring Brewing Co., and August Schell Brewing Co. Topping the craft beer list is Boston Beer Co.
 
Last year, craft beers took just over six percent of the total beer market, with record sales, noted Brewers Association director Paul Gatza.
 
In releasing the association's top brewing companies list, he noted: "Increasingly, beer lovers are turning to craft brewed beer from small and independent producers to satisfy their thirst for bold, innovative and flavor-forward beers."

A recent New York Times story titled “Quietly, Indians Reshape Cities and Reservations,” shows the impact of American Indians in Minneapolis and other major U.S. cities.

In recent years, there’s been a “largely unnoticed mass migration of American Indians, whose move to urban centers over the past several decades has fundamentally changed both reservations and cities,” it reads.

Despite major challenges such as poverty, “many view Minneapolis as a symbol of progress.”

That is, in Minneapolis, the Indian population is “more integrated than in most other metropolitan areas, and there are social services and legal and job training programs specifically focused on them.”

Also, the city also has several Native American leaders,the story states.  

The Star Tribune picked up two Pulitzer Prizes on Monday for local reporting and editorial cartooning, the newspaper reports.

The story goes on to say that Brad Schrade, Jeremy Olson, and Glenn Howatt won the reporting honor for their “powerful series of reports on the spike in infant deaths at poorly regulated day-care homes, resulting in legislative action to strengthen rules.,,,Since the series ran, the number of deaths at day cares has dropped dramatically.”

Steve Sack, an editorial cartoonist, won for his “diverse collection of cartoons, using an original style and clever ideas to drive home his unmistakable point of view,” the story reads.

St. Paul-based public-private partnership Connect Minnesota recently released data from a series of residential technology assessments in the state, and found that approximately 2.1 million adults use the Internet on their cell phones or subscribe to a mobile wireless service for a laptop or tablet computer. That usage represents 51 percent of Minnesota's adult residents.
 
The survey was conducted to support the organization's efforts to close Minnesota's digital gap. Connect Minnesota explores the barriers to broadband adoption among various demographics as a way to boost more Internet usage.
 
Connect Minnesota State Program Manager Bill Hoffman noted that the research shows that mobile broadband plays an ever-increasing role in how Minnesotans get online. A previous study showed that only 39 percent of the state's adults used a mobile Internet service.
 
"As we look ahead, I think mobile broadband will continue to be an integral part of Minnesota's broadband landscape," Hoffman stated.

Design review firm 10 Best Design recently released its ranking of the country's top web design companies, and Minneapolis-based Artropolis won a spot on the list.
 
Coming in at number eight, Artopolis specializes in driving visitor purchases on e-commerce websites. Featured work on the 10 Best Design site included sites for temporary staffing firm Current Temp and restaurant company Big Thrill Factory.
 
10 Best Design evaluated firms based on multiple variables within its proprietary analytics system. The top three agencies were The Creative Momentum in Atlanta, Kohactive in Chicago, and Vento Solutions in New York.